Health tech

During a recent visit to the doctor, I marveled that all the patient files were still in paper form, filling up multiple filing cabinets in the small office.

Well, they're having none of that old-time clutter at the New York University Langone Medical Center, which started scanning palms last month to reduce paperwork and prevent identity theft.

Instead of asking patients for insurance cards, the hospital uses a PatientSecure device to scan palm vein patterns with infrared light, associating unique biometric traits to electronic health records.

This certainly isn't the first palm scanner in use, but its presence in a hospital may signal growing acceptance. The hospital says more than 22,000 patients have already used the system.

The system is optional, the data is protected by law, and it's designed to increase efficiency. Still, it wasn't surprising that at least one patient wasn't keen on the high-tech palm reading.

"It was the kind of intrusion that, if government needed it, you'd have to be under arrest or something," the patient was quoted by the New York Daily News as saying.

What do you think? Would you mind having your palm scanned at the hospital if it could protect your identity and speed up service? Vote in our poll and be sure to add your comments below. … Read more

A New York City hospital is using patients' palms, not insurance cards, to pull up their records, according to a new report.

The New York University Langone Medical Center started scanning palms last month to reduce paperwork and prevent identity theft, the New York Daily News reports, using a device that images the veins in a patient's hand.

Shaped like a butter tray, the black PatientSecure device uses infrared light to scan palms, then links the unique biometric trait to a patient's electronic health records.

That's right: no need to pore through a purse for an insurance … Read more

Researchers have invented a silicone lab on a chip they say could make genetic analysis far more sensitive--not to mention rapid and cost-effective--by routing fluid through microscopic tubes and valves, and allowing individual cells to fall into place much like balls in a pinball machine.

Standard genetic testing involves vast numbers of cells that, when analyzed, provide a sort of composite picture that cannot reveal the behaviors of individual cells.

"It's like trying to understand what makes a strawberry different from a raspberry by studying a blended-fruit smoothie," said Carl Hansen, an assistant professor who led the … Read more

The miracle of life, brought to you by a robot.

An Irish couple who lost their unborn son last year recently welcomed a daughter into the world with help from the da Vinci Surgical System robot.

Anne and Patrick O'Mahony became the parents of 6-pound baby Lucy at Cork University Maternity Hospital (CUMH) last week.

The robot was used to perform a minimally invasive cervical stitch to treat the mother's weak cervix.

The condition can cause the cervix to not close fully during pregnancy, increasing the likelihood of miscarriage. She lost her son at five months.

Conventional cervical stitches may require weeks or months for recovery. Using the da Vinci robot for the procedure can help get the patient back to her normal routine within a week. … Read more

FDA approval is a big deal for medical device manufacturers. Reflexonic is celebrating the recent approval of its Viberect device, a gadget designed to tackle the issue of erectile dysfunction.

The device's name offers a clue to how it works. It's a handheld device that stimulates the penile nerves with vibrations sent through medical softpads. It's battery-operated. This all may sound familiar. Essentially, it's a high-tech vibrator for men (but we're not sure how the "it's a back massager" explanation will go over, guys).

Anyone who has been hit by the potential side effects ascribed to pills like Viagra and Cialis may find the Viberect to be a welcome alternative. It doesn't require popping pills or getting injections.

There are no side effects listed for the Viberect as long as users stick to the operation manual. That means one application per day for less than 10 minutes.

The $300 Viberect is available by prescription only with sales getting underway in the middle of August. So far, no health insurance providers are covering the device.

This video of the device has visuals on par with a progressive high school sex ed class, so keep that in mind before you click on it at work.… Read more

The power of self-incrimination is now at your fingertips, thanks to a new device out of the U.K. that can test for drugs in a person's system simply by taking a fingerprint.

The technology developed by Intelligent Fingerprinting, a spin-off company from the University of East Anglia in in Norwich, England, can simultaneously confirm a subject's identity and detect the presence of a number of drugs, including cocaine, cannabis, methadone, and nicotine.

The tip-off to the presence of drugs has less to do with the actual fingerprints, and more with the sweat that is secreted through the pores of the fingertips and then detected using dyed antibodies. Those antibodies are applied to the fingertips via gold nanoparticles on the device.

The antibodies stick to metabolites secreted through the pores when a person is under the influence. In other words, if a subject's fingerprint turns a bright, pretty color, it could mean an extended conversation with law enforcement.

The device, which is expected to be available this year, represents a significant advance for detecting whether a driver is under the influence, which usually requires more invasive testing and produces results that can often be easily tainted. The whole testing process can take as little as 15 minutes, which coincidentally is about the time required to concoct a story about your roommate's hilarious practical joke involving switching the baking soda with his stash.

(Via New Scientist)… Read more

Scientists at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland have designed an artificial lung that uses air instead of pure oxygen as a ventilating gas--an advance that could turn accompanying oxygen cylinders into relics of the past.

What's more, the device for use in humans could come in at just 6x6x4 inches, which is roughly the volume of the real human lung, meaning it could conceivably pave the way for implantable artificial lungs.

"Current technology involves complex systems that are limited to intensive care units, so [the] device has the potential to provide clinically relevant oxygenation levels using ambient air, opening the door to portable systems," says Jeffrey Borenstein, an expert in microsystems technology and biomedical devices at the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory in Cambridge, Mass., in a news release.

Joseph Potkay, an electrical engineering and computer science professor and the lead author of the paper describing the lung, estimates that based on current performance the unit could be powered by the heart instead of a mechanical pump.… Read more

Yesterday's story on the Pollee urinal for women stirred up plenty of interest. Now here's one just for the fellas. Ladies, you can go ahead and move along to the next post.

Go-Guy from U-R-IN-Control is a pocket urinal. The device consists of a plastic bag filled with superabsorbent polymer crystals. Open it up, relieve yourself into it, and let it solidify. Seal it up and dispose.

The whole thing comes in a small package that would easily fit in a pocket. A wet wipe is included for cleanup.… Read more

Marketing and design company SapientNitro unveiled an app today that allows smokers to see exactly what cigarettes are doing to their lungs.

The AR Lungs app uses augmented reality and a database of medically correct digital lungs to illustrate the effects of cigarettes. People point a Webcam or smartphone camera at their chest and see a superimposed image of the digital lungs.

Using sliders, a person can adjust how many cigarettes they smoke a day and for how long to get a visual representation of the damage and discoloration they've suffered. A nonsmoker, meanwhile, would see healthy, pink lungs.

The app was developed as an unconventional way of spreading the antismoking message. The company said it is using the potential of augmented reality to help raise disease awareness. The digital lungs paint a stark image of the consequences of smoking.

Computer users with a Webcam can check the app out for free here. … Read more