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Hospital makerspace lets nurses build their own tools
Makerspaces are great for bringing your gadget ideas to life, but they're not usually much help to nurses who may want to invent (or improvise) tools needed to take care of their patients. That's where the University of Texas' new, permanent MakerHealth Space might just save the day. Nurses and other workers at the school's John Sealy Hospital now have a dedicated area with 3D printers, laser cutters and other equipment that lets them create or modify devices (say, a pill bottle sensor) without leaving work. The facility sterilizes and reviews every product before it's put into service, so you shouldn't have to worry about a risky tool ruining your hospital stay.
London's E-Health Cloud program will send patient records to the stratosphere next month
You'd think that the recent spate of high-profile cyberattacks would've deterred the healthcare industry from sending patient records to the cloud -- but you'd be wrong. Beginning next month, all data on patients at London's Chelsea and Westminster Hospital will be stored in a centralized database, accessible from any computer, smartphone or tablet. Under the National Health Service's pilot program, known as E-Health Cloud, patients will be able to decide which doctors, nurses or family members can view their records, allowing them to easily share their data with other specialists. Flexiant, the Scottish software company that developed the platform, hopes to eventually expand it to other treatment phases, including assisted living, and insists that its system will help the NHS save money in the long-term. Security, however, will likely prove critical to the program's success. Users will have to pass multiple ID checkpoints to access the database, but privacy-wary Londoners might demand protection a bit more robust than an automated bouncer. You won't need to adhere to a dress code to view the full PR, available after the break.
UCSF's robotic pharmacy automatically distributes medication, scrutinizes human error (video)
Robots are slowly taking over the world, right? Well, their latest conquest is the pharmacy. The UCSF Medical Center has implemented three robotic pill-dispensing machines that handle and prepare medication that's dangerous to the common human. The process works as follows: doctor writes a prescription, hospital clerk sends it over to pharmacist, pharmacist enters slip into the computer, robot picks up it and does the dirty work. The automated machine will grab the proper dosage, package it and slap a label indicating instructions and patient info. Rather than fearing for their jobs (or lives), the folks at the UCSF at are excited about this robot-takeover 'cause it increases the time care-givers spend with patients while allowing pharmacists to work more efficiently with physicians in determining what medication to supply. The most impressive thing, we think, is that our robot pals have not had a single error since preparing 350,000 doses of meds. Take that, meatbags!
Robo-nurse gives gentle bed baths, keeps its laser eye on you (video)
When they're not too busy building creepy little humanoids or lizard-like sand swimmers, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology like to concern themselves with helping make healthcare easier. To that end, they've constructed the Cody robot you see above, which has recently been demonstrated successfully wiping away "debris" from a human subject. The goal is simple enough to understand -- aiding the elderly and infirm in keeping up their personal hygiene -- but we'd still struggle to hand over responsibility for granny's care to an autonomous machine equipped with a camera and laser in the place where a head might, or ought to, be. See Cody cleaning up its designer's extremities after the break.
Voalté One iPhone and iPad apps streamline healthcare communications
We've posted about the use of both the iPhone and iPad in the healthcare industry before, and there are a number of apps that have been developed to take advantage of the iPhone in hospitals and clinics. One of our readers pointed out that Voalté, a company that specializes in hospital paging and communications, has had a free iPhone app available for over a month. The free Voalté One app works to integrate VoIP calling, text-messaging, and all of the alarms and alerts from patient monitoring systems onto an iPhone or iPod touch. Of course, there's more to using this than just installing the app on an iPhone -- the company designs and builds communication systems for hospitals -- so deploying an iPhone or iPad-based solution isn't exactly "free." Screenshots found in the App Store show the app being used by a nurse to designate available or busy time, sending quick messages with a single tap, and a directory of hospital personnel listed by their current availability. Voalté has also announced a version of the app for iPad. The company realizes that the size of the iPad isn't exactly perfect for nurses on the go, so they're targeting physicians and other clinicians who can benefit from the larger screen real estate for viewing medical images or educating patients. Voalté says that they'll have the iPad app available when the device ships, presumably later this month. Thanks to reader Alex B. for the tip!
NTT DoCoMo's latest FOMA device aids the elderly
Providing emergency assistant kits for the geriatric set seems to be all the rage these days, and now NTT DoCoMo is jumping into the mix in a presumed attempt to look after the constantly aging Japanese population. The firm's latest
Speci-Minder delivers patient samples autonomously
Although the mainstream media would have you to believe that the nursing field is a great one to get into, we're starting to doubt the longevity of RNs here of late. Of course, there's no substitute (right?) for a nurse's touch, but just after we got wind that the IWARD nursebot would be handling the third shift duties and the HOSPI would handle all the bloodwork, there's not too many more aspects that need TLC. Unfortunately for humans, the Speci-Minder is stepping up to the plate to handle one more task, as it autonomously delivers medical samples to laboratories, enabling the staff to "spend more time with their patients." This collaborative effort between CSS Robotics and MobileRobots is already loose in Christiana Hospital near Wilmington, DE, and it can supposedly "adjust to changing environments sans wires, reflectors, or traditional guidance," allowing it to find its own way around without crashing into flesh and blood co-workers or structural obstacles. Apparently, the bots are ready and willing to go to work for your hospital ward for an undisclosed up-front charge, but we seriously doubt these poor machines will ever see a dime for their efforts. [Warning: PDF read link]
Motion Computing unveils RFID-reading C5 medical tablet PC
Although we sincerely hope your only encounter with a clinical assistant tablet PC comes by way of your occupation, it looks like Motion Computing is busting out a medically-focused device to help the dear LPNs keep things in order for the high-falutin' doctors. The C5 touts a vertically centered design, top-mounted carry handle, handwriting recognition, built-in digital camera for documenting wounds, time-stamp / voice-tag capabilities, and even an optional RFID reader to easily check patients in by scanning their wrist straps. Claiming to be the world's first device in the new mobile clinical assistant (MCA) category of PCs, it packs a 1.2GHz Intel Core Solo U1400 processor, Windows Vista Business or Windows XP Tablet PC Edition, a 10.4-inch XGA touchscreen, up to 1.5GB of DDR2 RAM, 30 / 60GB 1.8-inch hard drive options, 802.11a/b/g, Bluetooth, and a rechargeable Li-ion to boot. Furthermore, it weighs in at just 3.1-pounds, so toting this bad boy around the office shouldn't be too much of a burden, and the "durable, semi-sealed enclosure" shouldn't have any issues handling the daily mishaps of your average doctor's lounge. So if you've been looking for a way to digitize your office and get far, far away from those paper-filled drawers, we're sure your IT rep will be hitting you up soon to sneak a peek at this $2,199 tablet.[Via GottaBeMobile]
IWARD nursebot looks to clean hospitals, fend off intruders
We all know security gets a little heavy eyed when the wee hours of the morning roll around, and we highly doubt the janitorial staff is humming along at maximum efficiency when the residents are snoozing away, so implementing a robot to tackle both tasks seems quite practical. The IWARD project hopes to develop a "nursebot" that wears several hats, and can handle cleaning up spills, utilizing face and voice recognition technology to "communicate with patients and spot unauthorized visitors," and even working in "swarms" to distribute tasks between the robotic crew. Researchers are aiming to have a three bot prototype ready to rock by 2010, and want to integrate sensors and camera to avoid collisions whilst "traveling along high-speed lanes in the hospital corridors." Better steer grandma's wheelchair clear of the robotic raceway, eh?[Via TechieDiva]
Surgical snakebots crawl down your throat
The Johns Hopkins University must employ some seriously bright folks, as researchers at the school are unveiling yet another marvel to benefit mankind, and this time their creation is headed for the nooks and crannies within your body that surgeons have difficulty reaching unassisted. Sure, the diminutive locales within your guts have been explored by robotic creatures before, but these "snake-like robots" could enable surgeons, operating in the narrow throat region in particular, to make "incisions and tie sutures with greater dexterity and precision." The invention consists of two thin rods tipped with "tentaclelike tools" capable of moving with six degrees of freedom; during surgery, the doctor would utilize a 3D visualization system to watch, control, and dictate the robotic tubes. Moreover, the snakes are crafted from nonferrous metals so it can be used around magnetic imaging equipment, and considering its ability to "make up 100 adjustments per second," nimbleness is in its nature. But if you're not exactly fond of such slithering creatures, you've still got time to escape, as researchers estimate that there's still about "five more years" of lab testing before we see Snakes on a Hospital Bed.[Via Physorg]
Trauma Center: Second Opinion video
Forget spending thousands of dollars to go to medical school! Forget dissecting real cadavers! Forget getting a piece of paper that tells people they have to pay you a lot of money for the rest of your life! You have Trauma Center! Trauma Center: Second Opinion will teach you everything you need to know about surgery and the operating room in a fictional environment. In this video, we will learn how to drain blood! Yes! As always, you must put in the work and click the continue link. Trust us, it's worth it.[Via Go Nintendo]
