ImaginativePRO Blog

INVENTOR MAKES LOW-COST NATURAL DEXTEROUS PROSTHETIC HAND

Sitting at the kitchen table of his Affton home, Mark Stark pulls out his friend Dave's left hand.

The fingers are clenched. With a quick movement, Stark opens the hand and picks up a wine glass.

Stark, a mechanical designer and basement inventor, stands up, then places his prosthetic hand on the table, and says,

"It's delicate enough to hold a glass. But you can also lift a chair." 

Constructed from plastic, each finger and joint on the hand operates individually. The fingertips have attached rubber finger cots, much like postal workers use for rifling paper. The palm of the hand uses the grip from a glove. Other building materials include rivets, fishing line, screws and springs.

Stark calls his invention the "Natural Dexterous Hand," or "Stark Hand."

It's mechanically simple and decidedly low-tech.

But this humble device has already changed the life of Dave Vogt.

Pending negotiations with a manufacturer, it could soon be available to thousands more. At least one expert believes that it has the potential to have a major impact on the market for prosthetics.

Keeping it simple

Vogt, a long-time friend of Stark, was born without his left hand because of a congenital birth defect. He had used a hook prosthesis from birth.

Stark had always mused about improving his friend's quality of life, but the idea for the Stark Hand took years to crystallize.

Stark said, 

"There really was no epiphany.  My friend had used a hook his whole life and I saw the limitations. I always wanted to help him, but had no specific idea."

After a lengthy period of incubation, the idea for the hand finally emerged in the wake of another invention.

Stark said his idea came to him about 15 years ago after a robotic hand was developed by an American university. The hand used three motors on each finger to provide individually controllable joints.  Stark said. 

"It was an awesome device. But it was also incredibly complex."

Stark, operating from the "keep it simple" principle of mechanical design, thought he could do better while gearing the device to prosthetics rather than robotics.

In the mold of the true basement inventor, he began scrounging for readily available items to create a prototype. Among the parts used for the first hand prototype were plastic cable housing and a hinge from a screen door. Stark said.

"Things I could buy at a hardware store."

While Stark was fairly certain the prototype would work, given its simple design, building the hand was no quick task. Working as a full-time mechanical designer for Emerson Electric's White-Rodgers division, Stark tinkered in his spare time.

Putting it to the test

When the first prototype was completed in 2004, Stark invited Vogt over to test it out. Vogt unscrewed his hook and screwed the hand into the slot.

Stark tossed him a tennis ball. Vogt caught the ball on the first attempt. Stark said.

"It was absolutely amazing."

Vogt was thrilled and gratified by the gift.  Vogt said.

"I didn't know he had been working on it for years. Then he called me and told me he had this thing. I was surprised and excited."

Vogt took awhile to adapt to the hand. He said.

"I was so used to the hook. My body and brain had adapted to it."

Soon the compulsion to use the hook faded. Now, Vogt wears the hand everywhere, with the exception of work, where his job as a machinist requires heavy lifting better suited for the hook.

The hand works in much the same way as a hook. Vogt wears a body harness and a cable and can control the hand with upper body movement, such as a shrug. In essence, the hand is a screw-on attachment that replaces the hook.

Vogt said the Stark Hand offers superior functionality.  He said.

"On a personal level it's been a great help."

Though the hand can grasp, it does not have the ability to perform more specialized tasks such as punching keys on a remote control.

Along with function, Vogt said the hand is an aesthetic improvement over the hook. Such considerations were in the forefront of Stark's mind during the design process.  Stark said.

"They give bad guys in films hooks to make them look more evil. That's terrible."

A low-cost alternative

The hand may have been designed to help a friend, but it also provides another choice among limited prosthetic options.

Hooks can cost only a few hundred dollars, but are limited functionally. Cosmetic prosthetic hands resemble the real thing, but are about as functional as a mannequin's hand.

Electric models offer the best of both worlds, but are often prohibitively expensive. The hand, plus surgery to attach, can cost up to $60,000.

Stark's hand aims to offer increased functionality at a cost closer to hooks.

He spent seven years and roughly $17,000 developing the device. Most of that money was spent in securing a patent.

When asked why such a relatively simple and useful device had yet to be invented, Stark conceded he wasn't sure.  Stark said.

"That's a good question. The basic concept could have been whittled from wood 100 years ago."

Stark said the final production model of the hand will likely feature changes, including improved materials and a more life-like appearance.

Commercial prospects

Publicity shy by nature, Stark didn't set out to make a pile of money, but the commercial prospects for the Stark hand appear promising. Edison Nation, a company that helps amateur inventors, is working with Stark to market the device to manufacturers. Said Karen Dickson, a spokeswoman for Edison Nation.

"This is a low-cost solution to a pretty widespread problem." 

Dickson said the company is negotiating with a major prosthetics manufacturer with the goal of bringing the Stark Hand to market. Kenneth Paulus, Edison Nation's vice president of business development, said the device could prove popular on the international market, given its projected cost of around $1,000.  Said Paulus.

"There's an opportunity to transform the lives of people in war-torn countries. People with war injuries, land mines, that kind of environment."

Jack Engsberg, an associate professor of occupational therapy at Washington University, said the invention possesses significant commercial potential. Engsberg said.

"I believe there's a huge market for the device if it is as functional as it's (claimed to be)." 

Engsberg, who developed an easier and less expensive way to make sockets for artificial limbs, said the device takes the best elements of the hook system (feel and touch) while adding the extra-capability of five digits.

Achieving notoriety

Stark's invention has drawn national media attention. The Stark Hand earned a spot on the cover of last month's issue of Popular Science magazine, a mention on CNN, and is slated to appear on PBS this fall.  Stark said.

"The attention is kind of strange."

Stark, who gives the impression he'd rather be quietly tinkering in the workshop, said he's trying his best to manage expectations.  He said.

"It's difficult.  I don't know how much money I'll make or even how much I want. Notoriety was not the goal."

The goal was more personal.  Stark said.

"I was trying to help a friend.  But there's more than one person out there missing a hand."

Tying shoelaces takes a degree of manual skill that is difficult to achieve among some prosthetic limbs, but the Natural Dexterous Hand can easily handle tasks that require smaller, more intricate hand movements.

 

Courtesy of an article dated June 10, 2011 appearing in Suburban Journals article dated June 17, 2011 appearing in Ecopressed

HOW SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY COULD MAKE IT POSSIBLE TO GAUGE YOUR HEALTH OR PRESENCE OF DISEASE WITH COLOR-CODED POO?

Daisy Ginsberg worked with scientists engineering e.coli strains that secrete color-coded signals -- and that's just the beginning, as designers turn their talents to Mother Nature.

Synthetic biology is all about re-engineering living organisms to make them do stuff we would find useful -- like eating oil spills or excreting superfuels. It's a tall order, but we're well on our way already. Still, a slightly easier tactic would be to just tweak the design of organisms that already exist, rather than building synthetic genomes from scratch.

Designers Daisy Ginsberg and James King and their scientist colleagues at Cambridge University did exactly that with a project called E.Chromi, which turned e.colibacteria into living, color-coded sensors that can be "programmed" to secrete an array of bright hues in the presence of certain chemicals. In the future, E.Chromi-like bugs could live in your gut and give you an early-warning signal for an oncoming illness by turning your poop blue. (Yup, they're serious.)

E. chromi from Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg on Vimeo.

The Cambridge team accomplished this feat by designing an array of standardized DNA building blocks called BioBricks. The name is no accident -- scientists and genetic engineers can "snap" these BioBricks together in simple patterns, insert them into simple microorganisms like e.coli, and turn them into tiny machines. In E.Chromi's case,

"Bacteria could be programmed to do useful things, such as indicate whether drinking water is safe by turning red if they sense a toxin."

The E.Chromi BioBricks are open-source and listed in a genetic "parts database" run by MIT.  Ginsberg tells Co.Design,

"The colour generator bricks are being used in labs around the world, integrated into other systems and circuits." 

E. chromi won the Grand Prize at the 2009 International Genetically Engineered Machine Competition and was nominated for a 2011 Brit Insurance Design of the Year Award, but Ginsberg hasn't been sitting on her laurels. She currently working as a Design Fellow at Synthetic Aesthetics, a multidisciplinary research project by the University of Edinburgh and Stanford University that joins designers with scientists to explore answers to the question: How would you redesign nature?

But nature may not play by the rules that engineers are used to, and if synthetic biology is going to yield useful, mainstream technology and products, a broader design philosophy has to be implemented, explains Ginsberg,  

"Traditional synthetic biology (if such a new discipline could even be said to have traditions), is focused on control -- about realising the work of design into a functional reality.  Synthetic biologists talk about 'design', but the exact use and meaning of this word in the context is quite fuzzy here. Do we want a version of nature that is purely about function and control, or should other forms of creative, social and cultural thinking be at play when we are redefinining the world around us?"

In that regard, even relatively simple projects like E.Chromi have an almost user-focused aspect to them in addition to the formidable engineering challenges that must be solved in order for them to function at all. Instead of just demonstrating a proof of concept that an e.coli could be induced to emit pre-programmed colors, the E.Chromi team carefully selected actual, specificcolors for the bacteria's "output" that are optimized for visual interpretation by humans.

In Ginsberg's view, this is the kind of design thinking that must be applied to synthetic biology as a whole, if it's ever going to make a big dent in solving our problems. Geniuses like Craig Venter may invent the synthetic-biology version of a computer, but it'll take product designers like Jony Ive to get us to the iMac level. And innovators like Daisy Ginsberg are leading the way.

COMMENTARY:   Synthetic biology is now being used by Amyris to produce synthetic biofuels from algae that has been engineered synthetically to produce ethanol or a fossil fuel-like by-product that can be refined into gasoline and jet fuels.

It's not too farfetched that synthetic biology could be used to detect pathogens and toxins in your body.  Color-coded poop fits is a great example, but how about color-coded blood, or color-coded sweat.  Using "helper organisms" that would change color to represent a certain pathogen or toxin, could definitely help in detecting bacterial and viral infections.

We are already using a form synthetic biology in AIDS, pregnancy, drug and alcoholic detection tests.  It would be funny to hear, "Your poop or urine is blue, you've got the flu."  This would could help doctor's to quickly diagnose pathogenic infections.  And, depending on the deepness of the color, could decide whether to ask the patient to come in for treatment or go to the hospital.

The science of synthetic biology combines biology and biology.  Synthetic biology is more than color-coded poop. Wikipedia does a great job of explaining what synthetic biology is.  

Courtesy of an article dated April 17, 2011 appearing in Fast Company Design

 

 

 

 

NEW SUPER-TOXIC KILLER STRAIN OF E.COLI SPREADS THROUGHOUT EUROPE, ORIGINATED IN GERMANY, RESISTANT TO ALL ANTIBIOTICS

LONDON -- Scientists on Thursday blamed Europe's worst recorded food-poisoning outbreak on a "super-toxic" strain of E. coli bacteria that may be brand new.

 

But while suspicion has fallen on raw tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce as the source of the germ, researchers have been unable to pinpoint the food responsible for the frightening illness, which has killed at least 18 people, sickened more than 1,600 and spread to least 10 European countries.

An alarmingly large number of victims - about 500 - have developed kidney complications that can be deadly.

Chinese and German scientists analyzed the DNA of the E. coli bacteria and determined that the outbreak was caused by "an entirely new, super-toxic" strain that contains several antibiotic-resistant genes, according to a statement from the Shenzhen, China-based laboratory BGI. It said the strain appeared to be a combination of two types of E. coli.

Hilde Kruse, a food safety expert at the World Health Organization, told The Associated Press,

"This is a unique strain that has never been isolated from patients before. The new strain has various characteristics that make it more virulent and toxin-producing than the many E. coli strains people naturally carry in their intestines."

However, Dr. Robert Tauxe, a foodborne-disease expert at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, questioned whether the strain is truly new, saying it had previously caused a single case in Korea in the 1990s. He said genetic fingerprints may vary from specimen to specimen, but that is not necessarily enough to constitute a new strain.  Said Dr. Tauxe,

"Though it appears to have been around awhile, it hasn't called attention to itself as a major public health problem before."

Elsewhere in Europe, Russia extended a ban on vegetables from Spain and Germany to the entire European Union to try to stop the outbreak spreading east, a move the EU quickly called disproportionate and Italy's farmers denounced as "absurd." No deaths or infections have been reported in Russia.

In Hamburg, Philipp, a 29-year-old photojournalist, was hospitalized on Monday after falling ill. He would not provide his last name because he did not want people to know he had the E. coli strain.

After suffering from stomach aches and bloody stools, he developed neurological symptoms and couldn't feel his left arm or leg. Despite three blood plasma transfusions to wash the toxins out of his blood, he hasn't improved.

Philipp said he recalls eating some vegetables the night before he got sick.

Some scientists suspect the deadly E. coli might have been in manure used to fertilize vegetables.

Kruse said it is not uncommon for bacteria to evolve and swap genes. It is difficult to explain where the new strain came from, she said, but bacteria from humans and animals easily trade genes.

Previous E. coli outbreaks have mainly hit children and the elderly, but this one is disproportionately affecting adults, especially women. Kruse said there might be something particular about the bacteria strain that makes it more dangerous for adults. Other experts said women tend to eat more produce.

Nearly all the sick either live in Germany or recently traveled there. British officials announced four new cases, including three Britons who recently visited Germany and a German on vacation in England.

The WHO recommends that to avoid food-borne illnesses, people wash their hands, keep raw meat separate from other foods, thoroughly cook their food, and wash fruits and vegetables, especially if eaten raw. Experts also recommend peeling raw fruits and vegetables if possible.

The fact that the strain may be new may have complicated the response to the outbreak.  

Paul Hunter, a professor of health protection at the University of East Anglia in England said,

"Officials may not have had the correct tests to detect it, which may explain the initial delay in reporting," 

He said the number of new cases would probably slow to a trickle in the next few days. The incubation period for this type of E. coli is about three to eight days.  Said Hunter,

"Salads have a relatively short shelf life and it's likely the contaminated food would have been consumed in one to two weeks."

But Hunter warned the outbreak could continue if there is secondary transmission of the disease, which often happens when children are infected. E. coli is present in feces and can be spread by sloppy bathroom habits, such as failure to wash one's hands.

 

Meanwhile, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero slammed the European Commission and Germany for singling out the country's produce early on as a possible source of the outbreak, and said the government would demand "conclusive explanations and sufficient reparations."

Spanish farmers say the accusations have devastated their credibility and exports. In Valencia, protesting farmers dumped some 300 kilos (700 pounds) of fruit and vegetables - cabbage, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and other produce - outside the German consulate.

The outbreak is already considered the third-largest involving E. coli in recent world history, and it may be the deadliest. Twelve people died in a 1996 Japanese outbreak that reportedly sickened more than 9,000, and seven died in a Canadian outbreak in 2000.

 

COMMENTARY:   This is one scary E.coli bacteria.  The two previous strains are killer's but this strain is believed to be a combination of two different E.coli strains.  It's  a super-toxic strain that has already killed two individuals (both females) in the U.S.   They supposedly returned from Europe.  If you watch the above video, this does not look good at all because the new strain is resistant to all anti-biotics.  It's back to the lab and find out how to kill it.  If it spreads to our agricultural food chain, it could really create panic.  

The real concern is that the new super-toxic strain could morph into another E.coli strain and all of a sudden we have more than one version.  So far they suspect organic vegetables, but God only knows the real source.  You can become infected with E.coli just be touching the surface of any object, desk, chair, table, utensil, etc.  Every year it calls thousands in our hospitals.   

Courtesy of an article June 2, 2011 appearing in HuffPost AOL News 

INFOGRAPHIC: WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TYPE I AND TYPE II DIABETES?

Every year millions of individuals catch the common cold, influenza and child hood diseases like the mumps and measles, but there is a far more serious health menace that is infecting American's than ever before:  diabetes.  The number of Americans infected bu diabetes has reached epidemic proportions, and most American's are not even aware of this.

In a previous blog post dated December 25, 2010, I mentioned that 24 million Americans have diabetes, including as many as six million individuals who have diabetes and don't know, that the annual costs to treat diabetes exceeds $200 billion and that diabetes claims the lives of nearly 300,000 Americans each year. 

Diabetes Fact Sheet

• Almost 24 million Americans have diabetes, including as many as six million individuals who have diabetes and don’t know it.
• Diabetes kills more people than AIDS and breast cancer combined.
• In 2007, diabetes claimed more than 284,000 American lives. 
• Diabetes costs the American people an estimated $218 billion each year.  
• Diabetes impacts all social, economic, and ethnic backgrounds.  
• Diabetes is caused by the body’s inability to create or effectively use its own insulin, which is produced by islet cells found in the pancreas.  
• Insulin helps regulate blood sugar (glucose) levels – providing energy to body cells and tissues.  
• Without insulin, the body’s cells would be starved, causing dehydration and destruction of body tissue.
• Injecting insulin is not a cure for diabetes.  It is a critical life-saving component of a daily treatment program. 
• Diabetes is the sixth leading cause of death by disease among adults and reduces life expectancy by one-third. 
• Approximately 4,110 new cases of diabetes are diagnosed each day.
• Almost three million Americans are hospitalized each year due to diabetes. 
• Diabetes is the leading cause of new blindness in adults ages 20-74. 
• Sixty-five percent of deaths among people with diabetes are due to heart disease and stroke.
• Persons with diabetes are two to four times more likely to develop heart disease than people without diabetes. 
• More than 60 percent of all nontraumatic amputations occur among people with diabetes.       
• Nearly 44 percent of all kidney failure is caused by diabetes.  Diabetic patients are 17 times more prone to kidney disease than people who do not have the disease. 
• Diabetes is also the leading cause of end stage renal disease. 
• Women with diabetes face high-risk pregnancies, which can result in babies born with many health problems.  

The sad thing is that many American's do not know idiabetes' symptoms or the debilitating and destructive nature of diabetes until it is too late.  The kind folks at Achieve Medical Researcb, a company that conducts clinical trials testing for new and innovative drugs and treatments that are under development by the biotech and pharmaceutical industries for numerous diseases including diabetes, provided me with the following infographic titled "What's The Diff? Between Type I and Type II Diabetes".     

  

I hope you will this information informative and review my previous blog post about the U.S. diabetes epidemic.  By the way, Achieve Clinical Research is always looking for individuals interested in volunteering for their numerous clinical trial tests.  The information is available on their site.  

Courtesy of Achieve Clinical Research

INTUITIVE SURGICAL'S DA VINCI MINIMALLY INVASIVE 3D HD SURGICAL SYSTEM REVOLUTIONIZES MEDICAL SURGERY

The da Vinci robot surgery system is a significant breakthrough in medical robotics field. Although relatively recently there was another system of this type - ZEUS robot, as far as I'm aware, the da Vinci system is the only one being actively marketed, sold and used world-wide at the moment.

The initial prototype of the da Vinci surgical system was developed in the late 1980s under a contract with the U.S. Army. As you can understand, the army was interested in tele-robotics capabilities of robotic surgery systems. However, the designers found the idea of broadening the possibilities of minimally invasive surgery appealing.

So, the company Intuitive Surgical was founded in 1995. In 1999 they released the da Vinci Surgical system. It was approved for general laparoscopic procedures by the FDA in 2000. Around that time there was a dispute between Intuitive Surgical and their direct competitor Computer Motion that developed a similar robotic assisted surgery solution - ZEUS.

ZEUS has written its name in history because it was used in a surgery dubbed the Lindbergh operation. This was one of the first complete tele-robotics surgeries in history. French surgeons seated in New York performed a gallbladder removal surgery on a patient in France.

The dispute ended when Intuitive Surgical acquired the Computer Motion. Thus all their patents, as well as rights on the ZEUS surgery system, went over to Intuitive Surgical. As Intuitive Surgical focuses on its product, the ZEUS platform is not being sold anymore.

The latest addition to Intuitive Surgical's product line is the da Vinci Si HD system. It was released in April, 2009.

 

Operation

I guess at this moment you can be a little bit confused. I'm talking all the time about robotic surgery, robotic surgery systems, et cetera, without giving a slightest nod on what it actually is and how it works. Let me correct this.

One of the most common misconceptions is the level of AI involved. Although I use here the term robotic surgery it may be a bit misplaced. The da Vinci robot surgery system doesn't do anything on its own. The surgeon controls everything that happens.

From this point of view it is a disputable question whether the da Vinci system can be called a robot as it lacks artificial intelligence. However, this kind of discussions is unnecessary in my opinion. Theoretically the software could be made and all the hardware is there.

As the level of AI needed to perform surgeries on its own is very advanced it is better to leave the thinking to human surgeons. That is exactly what the da Vinci system does - it enables a human surgeon to do things more effectively.

The da Vinci robot surgical system uses the minimally invasive approach. This means that several small incisions are made instead of one large. This way the levels of blood loss, post-surgical trauma, as well as the amount of scar tissue and time spent in hospital are reduced.

Of course, it is not necessary to have a robot to use this method. Still, the da Vinci system takes this approach to an entirely new level. A surgeon seated at the da Vinci system's surgeon's console can control the tools at the patient's side while viewing a 3D image of the operation's site. This way the hand - eye coordination is preserved.

Basically, it's like scaling down the surgeon and putting him into patient's body through a few small incisions. As I said, this approach can be used with tools other than robots, however, robotic system enables a surgeon to control the tools more or less naturally. So it is possible to apply minimally invasive approach to a broader range of surgeries.

To grasp the idea and scale of the operation you can watch the video below where a surgeon from Japan uses the da Vinci robot surgery system to do origami. You can also find videos of actual surgeries on YouTube - just search for "robotic prostatectomy" or "robotic hysterectomy".

Application

I already mentioned two procedures where the da Vinci robot surgical system is used. As you can understand, this is not limited to them. One of the benefits of this system is that it can be used for different procedures if equipped with suitable tools.

The system is used for various gynecologic, urologic, cardiac, thoracic and other procedures. I won't count all surgical procedures where the da Vinci system is used because I must admit I have to look them up in dictionary to find the meaning. However, if you are a physician interested in the da Vinci system, searchIntuitive Surgical's site for more precise information.

It is pretty straightforward that a robotic system like this can be used for procedures where the main reason to make large cuts is to provide space for surgeon's hands. Moreover, it turns out that this approach can be used to aid transplantations as well.

In case of robot aided kidney transplantation the largest incision has to be made to insert the kidney. The minimally invasive approach is then used to complete the procedure. This way the transplantation can be carried out using one larger (approximately 5 cm) incision and a few smaller ones, as in case of minimally invasive approach instead of one large (approximately 15cm) incision.

The Future

As I'm not Intuitive Surgical's employee (although it'd be cool), you have to understand that info in this section is pure fantasy and my personal view on possible future applications of this system. Although the manufacturer states that current the da Vinci robot surgery systems are not intended to be used for tele-surgery the possibility is there.

Theoretically, the distance between the surgeon's console and the patient's cart could be a lot larger than it is now. Of course, there are issues with communication but they can be overcome. We already have events of successful remote surgeries carried out by the ZEUS robot surgery system that is not sold anymore.

The other possible way of development that I find particularly unlikely is "true" robotic surgeries. In this case artificial intelligence would carry out the surgery.

The da Vinci system has all the hardware needed. Nevertheless the AI needed is way above our current possibilities.

I hope you found this article interesting! Oh, and thanks to Intuitive Surgical for photo courtesy!

COMMENTARY:   Surgical robotics was little more than a medical curiosity until 1999, the year Intuitive Surgical introduced the da Vinci^® Surgical System. Today, Intuitive Surgical is the global leader in the rapidly emerging field of robotic-assisted minimally invasive surgery. Since its inception, the company has consistently provided surgeons and hospitals with the tools needed to improve clinical outcomes and to help patients return to active and productive lives.

With its corporate headquarters located in Sunnyvale, California, Intuitive Surgical serves customers throughout the United States and internationally, providing technology and procedural innovation across cardiac, thoracic, urology, gynecologic, colorectal, pediatric and general surgical disciplines.

Since its first da Vinci System shipment, Intuitive Surgical has expanded its installed base to more than 1,500 academic and community hospital sites, while sustaining growth in excess of 25% annually.

Intuitive Surgical is proud to be fulfilling its mission to extend the benefits of minimally invasive surgery to the broadest possible range of patients, while providing extraordinary value for its customers, investors and employees.

ntuitive Surgical’s da Vinci® Surgical System combines superior 3D high definition vision, patented EndoWrist® instruments and Intuitive® motion to allow for unparalleled precision, visualization, dexterity and control. The end result: a breakthrough in surgical capabilities that is changing the experience of surgery.

Surgeons and patients around the world have found da Vinci Surgery to be safe and effective minimally invasive treatment option for a range of complex conditions. In fact, roughly 3,000 peer-reviewed studies have been published demonstrating the clinical effectiveness of da VinciSurgery.

The da Vinci System is used in several surgical specialties including:

• Urology
• Gynecology
• Cardiothoracic
• General Surgery
• Colorectal
• Head & Neck

da Vinci Surgery is used to treat a wide range of conditions, including:

• Bladder Cancer
• Colorectal Cancer
• Coronary Artery Disease
• Endometriosis
• Gynecologic Cancer
• Heavy Uterine Bleeding
• Kidney Disorders
• Kidney Cancer
• Lung Cancer
• Mitral Valve Prolapse
• Obesity
• Prostate Cancer
• Throat Cancer
• Thyroid Cancer
• Uterine Fibroids
• Uterine Prolapse

Courtesy of an article appearing in All About Robots

ALLEN INSTITUTE FOR BRAIN SCIENCE UNVEILS GENETIC MAP OF THE HUMAN BRAIN

Scientists funded by Microsoft Corp. co-founder Paul Allen unveiled a $55 million computerized atlas of the human brain Tuesday, offering the first interactive research guide to the anatomy and genes that animate the mind.

A project of the Seattle-based Allen Institute for Brain Science, the online atlas offers researchers a powerful new tool to understand where and how genes are at work in the brain. That could help them find new clues to conditions rooted in the brain, such as Alzheimer's disease, autism and mental-health disorders like depression.

"Until now, a definitive map of the human brain at this level of detail simply hasn't existed," said Allan Jones, the nonprofit institute's chief executive. "For the first time, we have generated a comprehensive map of the brain that includes the underlying biochemistry."

The institute is making the atlas freely available at www.brain-map.org as a resource for scientists studying brain diseases, along with a set of computational tools to help them analyze the data for clues to conditions such as Alzheimer's disease, autism and mental-health disorders like depression.

 

Scientists have unveiled a computerized atlas of the human brain that charts the underlying biochemistry of the mind. WSJ's Robert Lee Hotz talks with Kelsey Hubbard about how it was created and how researchers hope to use it

Advances in the ability to probe the human brain have driven a renaissance in neuroscience in recent decades. The new online atlas is considered significant because it combines several reliable imaging techniques into one three-dimensional interactive archive that accurately maps overall anatomy, nerve structure, cell features and a comprehensive read-out of gene activity.

"The Allen atlas tells you where a gene is turned on in the brain and that's why it is important," said neurologist Jeffrey L. Noebels, who studies epilepsy at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

Until now, researchers have been hard-pressed to link symptoms of the diseases they study to the biochemistry of genes that might be responsible for them.

"The location of where these genes are active is at the very center of understanding how brain diseases work," Dr. Noebels said.

The atlas has cataloged 1,000 anatomical landmarks in each of two normal adult brains, donated for research, and then linked those tissues to thousands of genes that must act in complex combinations for normal neural development and function. The atlas encompasses more than 100 million data points measuring how strongly or weakly different genes acted at each landmark.

As they assembled the brain images and genetic data, the researchers were surprised to discover that by this neural measure, any two people are 94% alike. Moreover, they found that more than 80% of all known human genes are actively at work in the brain.

This first edition of the atlas took four years to compile and, in its preliminary drafts, has already become a research tool for 4,000 scientists who have adopted it to probe brain biology. It builds on computer techniques that the Allen Institute developed during the creation of an interactive atlas of the mouse brain, which it released in 2006.

Yet the human brain atlas is far from finished. So far, the online archive is exclusively male. The researchers expect to add eight more brains to the archive by the end of next year, to better account for variations between people. The researchers said that, when completed, the online archive will include one or more female brains.

In the meantime, "We feel confident that we are giving a good average picture of the human brain to the people who are mining this data," said Dr. Jones.

COMMENTARY:  The Allen Institute for Brain Science is located in Seattle, Washington, and was founded in 2003 with a generous contribution from philanthropist Paul G. Allen and co-founder of Microsoft.   Allen Institute for Brain Science is home to a state-of-the-art facility comprising premiere bench laboratories, a custom-designed robotic systems, and a powerful computational infrastruture.  The Institute tackles projects at the leading edge of science—far-reaching projects at the intersection of biology and technology—intended to fuel discovery for the broader scientific community worldwide.

 

On July 17, 2008, The Allen Institute for Brain Science unveiled a groundbreaking Allen Spinal Cord Atlas, the world's first genome-wide map of the mouse spinal cord. Researchers can immediately access the free online data to advance their research surrounding spinal cord diseases and disorders.

Until now, the scientific community's efforts to research spinal cord injury and disease have been hindered by the absence of a genome-wide map of gene expression. The Allen Spinal Cord Atlas is designed to address a gap in the scientific community's knowledge of gene expression in the spinal cord, giving researchers the gift of time in gathering data that might otherwise take months or years to discover.

Industrial-Strength Science
To create a complete genetic map of the brain, scientists at the Allen Institute had to invent a high-throughput system that can process tissue and data on an unprecedented scale. Traditional methods would have taken decades, but by using assembly-line robots and new protocols, they expect to finish the human brain atlas in four years. Here's how it's done.

1) As soon as the institute receives a fresh human brain—fewer than 15 specimens will ultimately be used to create the atlas—it's immediately hand-sliced into 5-mm slabs, which are frozen.

2) Using a machine called a microtome, technicians shave each slab into thousands of transparent slices only a few microns thick. These are mounted on 2 x 3-inch barcoded glass slides.

3) In a process called in situ hybridization, specialized robots work round the clock using fragments of RNA to probe each sample for a particular gene, which is stained with colored dye.

4) Robotic microscopes equipped with high-speed loaders take digital photographs of each slide. The intensity of dye color is used to quantify the amount of gene expression in the tissue.

5) The complete atlas, correlated by both gene and location, is stored on the institute's servers. Powerful tools to explore the data will be available for free to all researchers at brain-map.org.

The Allen Institute for Btrain Science's Human Brain Atlas map is located HERE.

I find brain research fantastic, because brain specialists and researches are only now beginning to understand its mysteries and functions.   How such a delicate organ can perform all the thinking processes, control the five human senses, perform incredible feats of creation, and allow human beings to express emotions is just incredible to me.

I am glad to see philanthropists like Paul Allen putting their billions to work in the aid of mankind.  

Courtesy of an article dated April 13, 2011 by Robert Lee Hotz appearing in The Wall Street Journal Health

By TwitterButtons.com  

 

 

THE DRUGGING OF AMERICA--THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY FROM THE INSIDE BY RX REFORMER GWEN OLSEN

Washington D.C., March 27, 2011 - Pharmaceuticals are a $650 plus billion dollar a year industry. For years the most profitable business in the U.S. has been the pharmaceutical corporations, which routinely top the annual fortune 500 list. Doctor prescribed drugs support an industry which out-earns the GNP of many nations. 

A core attribute to big Pharma's overwhelming 'success' lays in the liaison between the corporations and the 'symptoms management' health care industry: The pharmaceutical representative. The men and women we see meeting with physicians, walking into offices with gifts of lunch for the staff, meeting with the doctor while you wait for our appointment. 

Gwen Olsen was a top level pharmaceutical rep for some of the biggest in the industry: Johnson & Johnson, Syntex Labs, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Abbott Laboratories and Forest Laboratories. 

Through some chilling wake up calls in her tenure, and the tragic drug-related death of her niece, Gwen has dedicated her life to making people aware of the dangers of prescription drugs and how the drug industry manipulates doctors into prescribing, and over prescribing, their drugs. 

She is exposing the dark, deep-rooted deception and corruption that is prevalent in this industry. 

Gwen Olsens words are powerful. Her message absolutely frightening. Below is a transcript of our conversation as well as a video of Gwen speaking out, including her appearance on a CBS Evening News Eye On Your Children news segment. 

Adam Omkara: So you went into the industry with an altruistic mindset and you wanted to help people. When was it made apparent to you that the industry wasn't based on that altruism, or even healing? 

Gwen: Well, it was on the 2nd stage interview with the regional manager. He asked me why I wanted to get into the pharmaceutical industry. I said 'well I really want to help people, that's what I want to do'. 

He kind of laughed, smiled, and said "Well, I'm not so sure about that. If altruism is what motivates you, then you better join the peace corp." Then he smiled, turned around to his desk and started working on his calculator. He said "however, if money is what motivates you, let me tell you how you can retire a millionaire from this job young lady." 

He went into delineating my benefits, stock options, and it all turned into a big blur for me. I saw dollar signs. It sounded pretty good to a 26 year old. So, that's how initially I was told it wasn't altruistic. 

Adam Omkara: And you said you were actually trained to misinform people- Can you elaborate on that? 

Gwen: Well, initially when you start pharmaceutical sales training you are taken into the home office for a sort of 'indoctrination' that's 2-6 weeks of intensive training. That's where the industry turns representatives into psychological profilers and people pleasers. The reps learn how to be people analyzers, so they know how to best influence people. We were taught in training sessions called 'knee to knees' and 'toe to toes' where you have a line of reps that play the doctor and opposing lines that play the rep position. 

You have to learn verbatim the company's position and their marketing lines- you can't even vary from that. You practice and practice until it flows naturally and doesn't sound rehearsed. 

I started recognizing really that I was being trained to divert doctor's attention away from his/her concerns. So, I was learning to misinform and disinform- to counter the doctor's valid concerns. I wasn't trained to say "this drug is bad for that patient" or "watch out for this drug's interaction with that one." Any information perceived as a negative was always being candy coated. 

In fact many times we would be called into a meeting when a new sales piece was being introduced. Managers would ask us questions on what aspects of the piece we received the most objections on. What were the parts that raised the most concern? After we gave the marketing department that feedback, the next period they would come up with a different layout that had manipulated and minimized the objectionable data. So, it was a constant set of circumstances where I began to see that I wasn't allowed to give good information and I wasn't given good information to share. 

The industry knows that many of their drugs aren't safe and that they don't heal people. In fact, some drugs are designed to make symptoms worse later on. 

When I started becoming pro-active and began to ask too many critically intelligent questions, management objected and discouraged me. I was frequently met with answers such as "We do it that way because we can", or "We sell more pills that way." 

It was apparent my inquiries were not welcomed! 

It was almost like being in the military, in fact, many of my ex-managers had been in the military. Many are hired because they have great work ethics and they don't ask a lot of questions. Military personnel are used to working on a 'need to know' basis. 

Adam Omkara: How did you come to an awakening towards the industry. Did it all hit you all of the sudden, or was it a slow process? 

Gwen: I realized early on I was in a position where I could harm people; In a position where I could literally take lives. My grand realization arrived when I started promoting a specific new drug. 

I went to a national sales meeting for this new drug launch and was told the wonders on how it was going to help people. We immediately were sent out into our individual territories to get support for the new drug with key prescribing physicians. 

Drug reps are given profiles of all the physicians in the territory on what their 'writing habits' are, i.e. their general personality, their prescribing habits like whether they are high volume prescribers or early adopters, or late adopters/skeptics. 

Reps have all this information available before making a sales call so that they know how to approach the doctor and can develop a sales strategy. 

So there was one doctor in my territory that was profiled as a "late adopter/skeptic." That meant he was going to be difficult for me to get him to prescribe my new drug. 

The marketing plan developed at launch emphasized to the sales force that as a last ditch effort, if a doctor didn't want to write prescriptions for the new product, then the rep was to ask for just one patient- the most difficult patient that the doctor had. The theory was that if the drug worked for them, then the doctor would be more likely to use it in his broader practice later. 

I did my presentation and the doctor told me his policy was he didn't prescribe a new drug until it's been on the market for at least a year. He had been burned on new drugs before. 

However, with some hesitation he agreed to try it in his most difficult patient who had failed all other therapies and I left him samples. 

Some time later I got a call from my district manager. I was being sent out to gather information for an Adverse Drug Reaction (ADR) report, as there has been a death in my territory from our new drug and it was a patient of that doctor. And guess what- it was his mother! She had gone into renal failure and died from complications in dialysis. I was devastated! 

After I went to get the ADR info, it took me almost 6 months to work up the nerve to go see that man again and look him in the eye. I was acutely aware that it had been my over-zealous and persistent marketing of the product that had influenced him to do something against his better judgment and, as a consequence, his own mother had paid with her life! 

I'll never forget his angry, terse remark to me, "Well, I see you all put a lot more effort into your marketing plan than you did your drug research and development!" What could I say to him after that? 

That was my very first clue as a young rep that my job had serious ramifications. Once this happened more and more things started falling into place. So with that awareness I began to see the job and industry with new eyes... 

Adam Omkara: And no one seems to questions this? Why don't you think there is more of this awakening or questioning? Representatives, psychiatrists, doctors, managers? Is there some desensitization process that comes into play that's very effective? Where does the disconnect come into play and how is it sustained? 

Gwen: Yes, there is definitely a desensitization process. A re-programming if you will. The indoctrination is usually done at the home office during the initial training and is similar to how they do boot camp in the military. They tear you down physically and psychologically, reps are kept up late nights studying for exams, preparing presentations, filming videos, deprived of sleep, deprived of good nutrition, required to dress to the nines and constantly compete with one another as they are being watched and evaluated in the corporate fish bowl. 

It's a very psychologically grueling, but effective grooming environment. 

Then when they release you back into your sales territory, you have this false sense of bravado feeling like you're someone special who is going to go out and help the world. It's literally a brainwashing process. 

What they are effectively doing is trying to weed out the mavericks and break the weak ones. The one's who can't handle the job long term and, therefore, will be a wasted investment. 

Adam Omkara: Do you know if the same basic training policy is upheld for other companies? 

Gwen: I worked for five different companies and it happened in every single one. And I was no flunkee who lost my job and then started bashing the industry. I was the best of the best and performed at the top 3% in each company that I worked for full time. 

Usually, as soon as a rep starts asking too many questions or makes unnecessary waves with management they are easily dispensed of and told there are plenty more eligible people behind them waiting to take their job. The only reason I was tolerated was because of how valuable I was to them. 

I always made my district and managers look good at the bottom line. 

Adam Omkara: And what about the psychiatrists and that industry? Do they not question? 

Gwen: You really want me to be honest? The pharmaceutical industry makes so much fun of the psychiatric profession that it's not even funny. They actually refer to psychiatrists as 'drug whores.' The reason they call them that is because they have no loyalty to any one company or product, it's whoever is paying them at the time. 

I was told in the initial training I received to sell antipsychotic drugs that most psychiatrists got into the field of psychiatry in order to figure out why they were so screwed up. There were definitely some very odd birds! So yeah, they were not held in very high regard. My colleagues and I looked down on them as though they were a 'lower class' quasi-physician. Because we knew that they didn't do anything scientifically, it was all subjective diagnosis in nature, dependent on third-party observation of symptoms. 

So they were easy to sell drugs to. Most psychiatrists are so ego-driven they would literally recommend anything when given the appropriate sales pitch! 

In this day and age, most psychiatrists don't use talk therapy anymore- just 15 minute appointments, what are your symptoms, try this and come back in a month. You're lucky if you can get counseling these days (under coverage) and children rarely get it. 

So, you can see there is a huge incentive to continue the psychopharmacologic-based treatment paradigm. Because if this huge house of cards actually implodes there will be all these doctors that have no way to practice in psychiatry anymore. Without drug therapy, how would they practice? 

Parents Beware: Children have become the largest demographic for the Pharmaceutical Industry. 
Adam Omkara: So what are you working on now? 

Gwen: I'm presently contributing to an anthology of works, called "Drugging our Children: How Profiteers are Pushing Antipsychotics on our Youngest," coming out this fall. 

A Medco Health Solutions Report in 2009 showed children to be the largest growth demographic for the pharmaceutical industry. Prescriptions in kids grew at 4X the rate of the general population. Antipsychotics were the #1 drug category in both 2008 and 2009 making $14.6 billion each year. 

Furthermore, there are 1100 people who enter the social security disability rolls on a daily basis because of mental illness. Of that number, 250 are kids. 

Adam Omkara: Do you have a message for the parents? 

Gwen: Yes, my campaign is one of informed consent. I'm not anti-drugs, but I am anti- misinformation, and parents have been sorely misinformed, if not straight out lied to in many circumstances. My message is for parents to be pro-active. 

Stop taking people's words for things- start doing your own due diligence and research when it comes to drugging your kids. Remember that it not only takes a village to raise a child, it takes a village to protect one. We all have to do our part! 

Adam Omkara: Thank you very much Gwen 

Please visit Gwen's website at www.gwenolsen.com for more information. 

Also, check out her first book: Confessions of an Rx Drug Pusher. 

This eye opening accurate information gives you a peek into an industry that doesn't want you or your family to be well. If Gwen's account does anything, please let it give you the realization that you should take your own health into your own hands. 'Let thy food be thy medicine', laugh, love, forgive, move, and get plenty of rest. Do your own due diligence and research, if you do get ill. Let this simple motto and plan keep big Pharma from ever manipulating and profiting off you and your loved one's again. 

COMMENTARY:   The pharmaceutical industry is one of industries that I totally mistrust and despise.  It's an industry that spends huge sums through their vast Washington, D.C. lobbyists to influence politicians so that they are "friendly" to the industry.  

I have covered the pharmaceutical industry quite extensively in my blog, and most of what I have written is bad.  We have all heard about the pharmaceutical industry's price fixing practices, including "gifts" to doctors to get them to prescribe their drugs.  There are countless horror stores of drugs being recalled because of supposedly unknown side effects of drugs that caused needless discomfort, pain and even death.  Those drugs run the gamut from pain relief, weight control and controling high blood pressure, to name a few.     

I admire Gwen Olsen for giving us the inside story of how Big Pharma markets their drugs, and her endless quest to reform the pharmaceutical industry.  The following video should open your mind, eyes and ears as to the true goings on within Big Pharma.

  

If you are experienced unusual side effects from the drug your doctor prescribed you, I encourage you to report this to your doctor, and if you are not getting satisfacton, report these drug side effects to the Food and Drug Administration's MedWatch: The FDA Safety Information and Adverse Event Reporting Program.  MedWatch's provides patients with information about drug recalls and safety alerts to keep them properly informed.

  

Courtesy of an article dated March 29, 2011 appearing in Sott.net     

By TwitterButtons.com  

MEDICAL MARIJUANA COULD BE AN $8.9 BILLION INDUSTRY IN 5 YEARS, THE PRO'S, CON'S AND THE ILLEGAL MARKET TOO

The first ever study of its kind by Sea Change Strategy takes a deep dive into medical pot, a growth industry. Here's a free sample of the data. If you want more, though, you'll have to buy it.

The pipe dream has come to pass: Weed is legal. Fifteen states plus the District of Columbia have adopted medical marijuana laws and 20 more states may soon follow suit. And a slew of entrepreneurs may find themselves seriously considering what they never thought would be a legitimate business opportunity.

To help them consider their next moves, See Change Strategy (of which I'm a principal) has just produced the first-ever business analysis of the legal marijuana market. The report hits the streets next month, but here's a preview of the top-level numbers. It turns out, people are making real money. Here's an infographic to help tell the story.

[Infographic by Ready Set Rocket]

But before you become a ganja-preneur, you might want to digest a few other bits of research our report uncovered:

Not all Markets are Created Equal. Alaska’s weed has been legal for 10 years, but before you open a dispensary in downtown Anchorage, consider this: There’s no state law governing retail marijuana businesses. Compare that to Colorado where you can plunk down $7,500 at the Department of Revenue and apply for a Type 1 MMC license, permitting you to operate a medical marijuana center serving up to 300 patients. Prison or paperwork? You make the call.

Don’t Hold Out for Free Checking. That first buyer may come easily, but don’t assume the same goes for processing his credit card. National banks like Wells Fargo have turned away marijuana businesses, which are still considered illegal under federal law. That makes simple business processes like a checking account, corporate credit cards or a merchant services account costly, time-consuming challenges. Lucky for you, there are smaller, local banks eager to win business in a growing industry.

Tax Laws. When tax time comes around, you’ll have to skip all of those normal business expenses. The bean-counters at the Internal Revenue Service will be following guidance under Section 280E of the tax code: No business deductions for trafficking in controlled substances. That means medical marijuana operations can expect to pay 50% to 200% more in taxes than other businesses (but don’t worry too much: the fat margins the report uncovered, especially on the grow side, should help ease the blow.)

The report also conducted the first-ever survey of medical marijuana business owners. Apparently, 90% are confident that the market will grow over the next three years.

Of course, you know what they’ve been smoking.

COMMENTARY:    $8.9 billion for medical marijuana by 2015.  That's a serious business.  $18 billion in illegal sales of marijuana.  Should be legalized and taxed.  

Courtesy of an article dated March 16, 2011 appearing in Fast Company Design

By TwitterButtons.com  

 

20 BLOGS AND TWITTER ACCOUNTS EVERY ENTREPRENEUR SHOULD FOLLOW

Reading and learning is crucial to building a successful company. While not everything you read may be ground breaking or directly related to your industry it is important to stay on top of trends and learn about what others are doing. There are a ton of blogs out there talking about small businesses, startups and entrepreneurship but a bunch really standout from the crowd.  These bloggers are all also active on twitter which is a great way to engage them and see what else they are reading, thinking and talking about.

Below is a list of some of the top blogs and their twitter accounts to follow when it comes to entrepreneurship and small business. These sites are sure to make you think, teach you some things and overall help you build and grow your business.

QuickSprout – Twitter: @NeilPatel - Neil Patel has founded 2 companies and was named one of the top influencers on the web by the Wall Street Journal. QuickSprout is his way to communicate what he has learned with a very straight forward approach. He has built a strong following on the site and is active in engaging with readers.

Mixergy – Twitter: @Mixergy - If you’re looking for in-depth interviews with some of the biggest names out there then this is the blog for you. Andrew Warner was the co-founder of a company that reached $30+ million in annual sales and created Mixergy as the site he wished he had when he was starting out.

I Will Teach You to be Rich – Twitter: @Ramit - Ramit has become one of the leaders of personal finance through his blog. However as you read it you will see that it goes way beyond personal finance and into entrepreneurship and life. His content is specifically catered to young people and he should know how since he only graduated Stanford in 2005.

Escape From Cubicle Nation – Twitter: @PamSlim - Looking to drop the career and break into a business of your own? Pamela Slim offers advice on how to do just that. As a former corporate employee herself she understands the process of moving from that world to starting your own business. Her blog has become one of the leading blogs on career and personal development.

Personal Branding Blog – Twitter: @DanSchawbel - If you’re looking for information on personal branding this is the blog for you. Dan Schawbel has built himself into a personal branding expert and features in-depth articles and interviews daily covering the topic. He has brought in some great guest writers and built a strong following in the personal branding community.

Seth Godin – Twitter: @ThisIsSethsBlog - Seth Godin is simply a legend. He has founded multiple companies and authored 12 best selling books and counting. He is one of the most respected figures in the world on marketing and leadership. His blog is followed by 100′s of thousands of people and his style of short, concise posts is truly unique. You won’t find comments or him personally active on twitter but you will see that just his blog updates are plenty to get you thinking.

Chris Brogan – Twitter: @ChrisBrogan - Chris Brogan is a leader on communication, social media and new media. His blog is straight forward, witty and was around before most people knew what a blog was. Chris is also a best selling author and has spoken all over the world on community building.

Problogger – Twitter: @Problogger - If you can’t tell this blog is all about blogging. It is one of the best resources out there focused on how to make your blog or your companies blog better. Since every small business out there is starting a blog this site will offer insight into how to write and develop that blog into something others actually want to read.

The Rise to the Top – Twitter: @therisetothetop - David Siteman Garland calls it the #1 non-boring resource for building your business which is pretty much true. The blog is generally in video format with guests and interviews talking about marketing and small business. If your looking for some entertainment and maybe something besides text this is a great start.

Copyblogger – Twitter: @Copyblogger - Another blog focused on helping you create compelling content on your site others want to read. Copyblogger has created a massive following and is out to help you sell more stuff through the free content you create on your site. With content being so important in today’s online world you can never have enough ideas for what to write about or how to write it so you can stand-out from the crowd.

Young Entrepreneur – Twitter: @thebizguy - Young entrepreneur is one of the longest running sites for entrepreneurs out there. In recent years the founders have taken a focus on the blog and have turned it into a great source of content on all business topics for people just starting out.

Small Biz Trends – Twitter: @smallbiztrends - This site offers up news, advice and tips for small businesses. On a daily basis you will find new content with tools to help you build a foundation for your business. The founder Anita Campbell is a leading small business expert but she has also brought in a team of experts to help deliver diverse and useful content on the site.

Penelope Trunk’s Brazen Careerist – Twitter: @Penelopetrunk - Penelope is the founder of Brazen Careerist, a leading community on career management and development. While Penelope does not focus on entrepreneurship her writing speaks to many things that go into making yourself successful. Anyone looking to better understand them-self, become a better leader and be more productive should follow her site.

Gary Vaynerchuk – Twitter: @Garyvee - Looking for a little energy? Then Gary Vaynerchuk is the guy to follow. Gary is known for his over the top style and passion for what he does. While he does not post as frequently as many of blogs on this list when he does it is usually energetic and thought provoking. Even if he doesn’t have new content check out his past keynotes if you need a spark for the day.

How to Change the World – Twitter: @GuyKawasaki - Guy Kawasaki is known around the world for his work in the startup world and his advice for entrepreneurs. He has started several companies, is a venture capitalist and has authored numerous books on small business. Get ready for a ton of updates on twitter because its all the top stories from his company Alltop.com but even the non business stuff is usually pretty interesting.

Duct Tape Marketing – Twitter: @Ducttape - This site has developed a huge following over the years with founder John Jantsch leading the way.  The site offers small business marketing advice and tips in a practical way. John has developed numerous marketing products for small business owners and regularly speaks on the topic.

Zen Habits – Twitter: @Zen_Habits - With all of the clutter and craziness that starting a business brings about its good to have someone talking about simplifying everything. That is what Leo Babauta does with Zen habits where he helps people focus on what’s important and finding happiness. It is also one of the top 25 blogs in the world.

LifeHacker – Twitter: @LifeHacker - It’s simple: Lifehacker is tips, tricks and downloads for getting things done.  Being productive is a challenging task today with so many tools out there trying to help you but Lifehacker cuts through it all and showcases some of the best ones.

OnStartups – Twitter: @Dharmesh - Dharmesh Shah is the founder of the popular and successful internet marketing software company, Hubspot.  At OnStartups he talks about entrepreneurship and startups in a fun but very informative way. He is looked at as a leader in internet marketing and startups especially in the software space.

Social Media Examiner – Twitter: @SMExaminer - Every small business owner is trying to figure out how to best use social media for their business. So what list would be complete without a blog focused on social media news, how tos and tools. The site is made up of a handful of social media experts and updates almost daily with insightful articles into the social media world.

What blogs and twitter accounts do you follow? What blogs should be on this list next time.

COMMENTARY:   I would also like to recommend the following:

• @oneforty and @pistachio - Laura Fitton - http://www.oneforty.com
• @bogusky @commonworks - Alex Bogusky - http://fearlessrevolution.com
• @steveology - Steve Farnsworth - http://stevefarnsworth.wordpress.com/bio-steve-farnsworth/
• @ducttape - John Jantsch
• @TinaCook - Tina Cook
• @shawnaseigel - Shawna Seigel
• @mashable - Pete Cashmore
• @TechCrunch - TechCrunch

And just for fun, I recommend:

• @hughhefner - Hugh Hefner (Playboy)
• @charliesheen - Charlie Sheen #winning, #tigerblood #torpedo #fastball
• @BrianWilson38 - Brian Wilson (closer S.F. Giants)
• @eMarketer - eMarketer
• @kickstarter - Kick Starter

Courtesy of Under30Ceo blog

By TwitterButtons.com 

 

VARIAN'S NEW TRUEBEAM LINEAR ACCELERATOR DESTROYS CANCEROUS TUMORS WITHOUT SCARING PATIENTS

BMW Group DesignworksUSA had to figure that problem out when redesigning the Varian TrueBeam, a high-energy X-ray machine which treats tumors.

all images ©2010, Varian Medical Systems, Inc.  All rights reserved.

Some say that the best industrial design is invisible, and if you notice it, something's wrong. That's seems especially true with medical devices, which most people only encounter when... well, something's wrong. So when med-tech firm Varian wanted to redesign their line of high-energy X-ray machines (which are used to treat scary stuff like malignant tumors), they brought in the big guns at BMW Group DesignworksUSA. The result of their collaboration, the Varian TrueBeam, may not look much different at first glance from any other hulking piece of hospital equipment. But as with any effective industrial design, it's the details that matter most.

 

The designers were constrained by the technology inside the TrueBeam -- no matter what kind of skin you put over a linear accelerator, it's going to be big (about the size of a 3-Series automobile tipped on its edge, according to BMW Group DesignworksUSA). But that skin hadn't been updated in about 25 years, says Dean Ryan, BMW Group DesignworksUSA Senior Project Manager. "The fit and finish of the fiberglass panels was improved with the use of pressure-formed plastic panels and the color scheme was updated from a combination of muted greys and blues and beiges -- typical older medical colors," Ryan tells Co.Design. "Our task was to give [the Varian TrueBeam] a geometry and color and texture that would be reassuring to patients who are feeling vulnerable, and at the same time make it more efficient for the RT to set up and run it as smoothly as possible."

That meant replacing the older, angular shapes of Varian's products with smooth curves and soft shapes "so all the surfaces seem flow in a way that looks organized -- both to the patient, who's about to get into the thing, and the radiotherapist, who has to use it," Ryan says. And the TrueBeam's white isn't just any old white: "There's a bit of mica in it, to give a quality of reflectivity, a little more presence."

It sounds hand-wavey, but this is the same kind of nano-attention to detail that Steve Jobs applies to an iPad. Besides obvious connotations of cleanliness and clarity, the designers needed a white that would be neutral enough to fit into any hospital, while looking like a trustworthy, ultra-precision tool. "When they're dealing with cancer, patients want to be reassured that they're entering into a process that's going to solve their problem," Ryan explains. Bonus: the white color actually makes the entire device appear smaller.

The Varian TrueBeam is actually two products under one name: one marketed to oncology departments with a lot of patient-facing interaction, and another meant for radiosurgery. BMW DesignworksUSA created subtle but distinct accents on each product to appeal to its primary users: "For the machine used in surgery, we made the curved surfaces slightly tighter and added silver accents to give it more of a sense of 'technical confidence,'" Ryan explains. "Meanwhile, the oncology device has matte titanium accents that are more about soothing softness, because patients are often going to be in there several times over the course of days or weeks."

Battling cancer is no easy task for patients or medical professionals, but thanks to the sensitive attention to detail by BMW Group DesignworksUSA, hopefully the experience can be a bit less arduous.

COMMENTARY:  God All Mighty, what an incredible machine.  When I see the word "accelerator", I think radiation.  With all the computerized controls, tilting and swiviling of the electron beam heads, it is amazing how it does its work with such precision and speed, killing and removing cancerous tumors no matter where they are located in the body.  Hope I don't have to go through that.

The TrueBeam was first was introduced in April 2010.  Designed to advance the treatment of lung, breast, prostate, head and neck, and other types of cancer, the TrueBeam platform for image-guided radiotherapy and radiosurgery has been  introduced by Varian Medical Systems as the first fully-integrated radiotherapy system designed from the ground up to treat a moving target with speed and precision.  

With dose delivery rates that are 40 to 140 percent higher than earlier generations of Varian technology, the TrueBeam can complete a treatment significantly faster. This makes it possible to offer greater patient comfort by shortening treatments, and to improve precision by leaving less time for tumor motion during dose delivery. “Intelligent” automation further speeds treatments with an up to five-fold reduction in the number of steps needed for image guidance and dose delivery.

Dr. Rena Zimmerman, Olympic Cancer Medical Center, Sequim, Washington, whose TrueBeam becomes operational in April 2011 said, “We will see significant reductions in treatment time and patients will spend less time lying still, immobilized, resulting in increased patient comfort.”

The precision of the TrueBeam is measured in increments of less than a millimeter (smaller than a mustard seed). This accuracy is made possible by the system’s sophisticated architecture, which synchronizes imaging, patient positioning, motion management, beam shaping and dose delivery, performing accuracy checks every ten milliseconds throughout the entire treatment. As the treatment progresses, critical data points are measured to ensure the system maintains a true focal point of treatment.

For lung and other tumors subject to respiratory motion, TrueBeam offers gated RapidArc® radiotherapy, which makes it possible to monitor patient breathing and compensate for tumor motion as it quickly delivers its dose during a continuous rotation around the patient. “This helps us treat lung cancer, but will greatly enhance our ability to treat breast cancer – the leading cause of cancer death in Clallam County – and we expect this to make a meaningful difference for breast cancer patients in our area,” says Dr. Zimmerman. “We can treat the tumor as if the patient were not breathing.”

At the end of February 2011, more than 170 orders have been placed for TrueBeam systems globally and about 40 installations are completed or in progress.  At the end of December 2010, there were only five TrueBeam operational installations in  the entire world.  

• VU University Medical Center (Netherlands). 
• Zurich University Hospital (Switzerland).
• The Stanford Cancer Center (Palo Alto, Ca.)  
• John Theurer Cancer Center, Hackensack University Medical Center, NJ. (two installed)

The new TrueBeam linear accelerator is the “top-of-the-line,” said Mike Harral, a construction project manager for Varian.  He said the new unit has “more capabilities than any other out there.” 

TrueBeam linear accelerator's, weigh 21,000 pounds, are shipped in a climate-controlled moving van.  New units are installed in specially designed vaults.  According to Mike Harral, each vault is designed to ensure that radiation created by the linear accelerator can’t escape. The wall toward which the beam is pointed is solid concrete, 7 feet thick. 

Harral provided a layman’s description of the accelerator’s function, saying it “takes electricity and bumps it up to a pulse.” The unit runs on just “480 volts — 80 amps,” but this is multiplied by the accelerator, with the resulting energy transformed to microwaves. That in turn accelerates particles to “just under the speed of light. The particles crash into a metal plate, creating radiation.” 

The rest of the equipment is used to “shape the radiation … minimizing the dosage to healthy tissue and maximizing the dose to the tumor.”  

What does a new TrueBeam installation cost?  How about $2.7 million, not including the cost of the vault, testing and training medical personnel to use the new machine.    

If you want to know more about the new Varian TrueBeam click this link for their press release or click this link for their literature piece.

Courtesy of an article dated February 25, 2011 appearing in Fast Company Design and various press releases from Varian Medical Systems