Trends in Mobile Medical Technology

Technology has made leaps and bounds.  One of the most important and influencial aspect of technology is mobility.  Power, storage, speed, and communication when users are on the go.  Mobile technology has impacted the medical field.  "...it's revolutionized the way medical professionals work, from world-class hospitals down to nursing schools."  Below are 4 trends in mobile medical technology"

1.  Using cell phones to detect airborne toxins:  scientists want to place a chip in cell phones to detect any dangerous chemicals that might be in the air.  This would also allow the scinetists to subsequently map their source and cause.

2.  Pay with your phone:  This can greatly reduce paperwork for medical payments and also speed up visits to the doctor's office.

3.  Medical records on cell phones:  medical professionals are using mobile phones to view health records.

4.  Using cell phones for diagnosis:  Smartphones are permitting doctors to make diagnoses remotely. Right now, the tech is devoted to the early diagnosis and treatment of appendicitis.

For more trends click on the link below.

http://www.nursingschools.net/blog/2010/06/top-10-trends-in-mobile-medical-technology/

World First: Localized Delivery of an Anti-Cancer Drug by Remote-Controlled Microcarriers

Professor Sylvain Martel, Director of the Nanorobotics Laboratory at Polytechnique Montréal was known for being the world's first researcher to have guided a magnetic sphere through a living artery.  Professor Martel is now adding to his achievement.  Professor Martel is announcing a new breakthrough in the field of nanomedicine.   By utilizing a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system, his team successfully guided microcarriers loaded with a dose of anti-cancer drug through the bloodstream of a living rabbit, right up to a targeted area in the liver.  The drug was successfully administered.
"This is a medical first that will help improve chemoembolization, a current treatment for liver cancer."


For information click on the link below.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110316084417.htm

Positron emission tomography

Positron emission tomography (PET) is a nuclear medicine medical imaging technique which produces a three dimensional image or map of functional processes in the body. 

PET is a medical tool and research tool.  In research PET is used to map the human brain function and human heart function.  PET is also used in clinical oncology for clinical diagnosis of brain diseases such as dementias.  Clinical oncology is the medical imaging of tumors and the search for metastases.

Functional neuroimaging — Functional neuroimaging is the use of neuroimaging technology to measure an aspect of brain function, often with a view to understanding the ...  > read more

Bone scan — Bone imaging is a study to visually detect bone abnormalities. Such imaging studies include magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), X-ray computed ...  > read

SmartWatch Could Serve as 'Seismograph' for Seizure Detection

February 01, 2011
Caregivers of people with epilepsy and related disorders harbor a major fear: that a seizure could occur without their knowledge. Now, a wristwatch-style device aptly named the "SmartWatch" can detect seizures and alert caregivers within seven to 10 seconds, explained Stanford University pediatric neurology professor Donald Olson, M.D., one of the technology's developers. http://www.technewsworld.com/perl/section/med-tech/

Miniature Wearable Pet Scanner

Science News

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ScienceDaily (Mar. 14, 2011) — Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory, Stony Brook University, and collaborators have demonstrated the efficacy of a "wearable," portable PET scanner.  The scientists developed the mechanism for rats. The scanner allows neuroscientists to study brain function and behavior while the animal is alert and moving.

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"The researchers describe the tool and validation studies in the April 2011 issue of Nature Methods.
"Positron emission tomography (PET) is a powerful tool for studying the molecular processes that occur in the brain," said Paul Vaska, head of PET physics at Brookhaven with a joint appointment at Stony Brook, who led the development of the portable scanner together with Brookhaven colleagues David Schlyer and Craig Woody. PET studies in animals at Brookhaven and elsewhere have helped to uncover the molecular underpinnings of conditions such as drug addiction.
.Srilalan Krishnamoorthy (Stony Brook), Fritz A. Henn "

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory.

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Journal Reference:

1. Daniela Schulz, Sudeepti Southekal, Sachin S Junnarkar, Jean-François Pratte, Martin L Purschke, Sean P Stoll, Bosky Ravindranath, Sri Harsha Maramraju, Srilalan Krishnamoorthy, Fritz A Henn, Paul O'Connor, Craig L Woody, David J Schlyer, Paul Vaska. Simultaneous assessment of rodent behavior and neurochemistry using a miniature positron emission tomograph. Nature Methods, 2011; DOI: 10.1038/nmeth.1582

DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory (2011, March 14). Miniature 'wearable' PET scanner: Simultaneous study of behavior and brain function in animals. ScienceDaily. Retrieved April 8, 2011, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2011/03/110313160023.html

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PET scans of a rat's brain made with the RatCAP scanner (horizontal view superimposed on a rat brain atlas figure, left, and a coronal slice, right). The rainbow scale (red = high, violet = low) indicates the level of a radiotracer that binds to receptors for dopamine, which are concentrated in the striatum, a brain region involved in reward and motivation.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110313160023.htm

Introduction

This blog was created to present information about different uses of technology in the medical field.  The blog will discuss different technological advances and innovation of technology in the medical field.  The categories will be X-rays, the brain, mens health, womens health, and surgery.