3-D Bio-Printers Allow Scientist to Be "Co-Creators"

The latest "game changer" in biomedical technology is undoubtedly the three dimensional bio-printer. It takes bio-labelled(DNA) and bio-copied protein to be used to make virtually any body part. Not, only can a 3-D bio-printer do this, but a regular 3-D printer has been used to make dental dentures and hearing aids. Now, a titanium jaw has been replicated by a 3-D bio-printer for implantation into a patient's mandible.

The Biggest Game Changer In Medicine Ever :Part 1

With the advent of wireless real-time hand held devices that can monitor all bodily functions, one would think that it would be another few years for the next big step in health. But, one only has to blink their eyes to wait to see the latest and perhaps the greatest innovations in medicine. Bio-medical technology has advanced in ground breaking tech to allow you to "print" your own body part! Sounds like science fiction? But, its's not. As Early as 2008 Japanese scientist Makoto Nakomura had started developing a three-dimensional bio-printer(3-DBP)). The chemist set about making a printer that "prints out" human tissue for bio-tubing to replace worn out blood vessels. Today this technology has advancde even further where one's own DNA can be used to "copy" and print a 3-D structure based on an individual's own the DNA blueprint. Virtually any blood vessel or organ such as a liver, kidney or heart could be actually "printed' into existence. The journal Science

Wireless Medicine & Digital Doctors Part 4

Doctors of the 21st century will be "hard-wired" technicians geared up with new ultrasonic stethoscopes, miniature tablets with applications that pull up algorithms for diagnosing and others that take echocardiograms and EKG(ECG), along with x-rays or bone density by the bedside. All this will become pretty much standard. On admission patients will have a sticker about the size of a band-aid placed on their skin that acts as a wireless digital device that monitors blood, oxygen, heart rate, heart rhythm, blood sugar, metabolism,respirations and temperature. In the time which it takes to write vitals and perform a history and physical exam today, virtually 90 % of the diagnosis will have already been made by digital wireless device input. The triaging of a patients before "hitting" the floor will make for faster as well as more efficient physician diagnostics and utilization of their time. These "Band-Aid" technologies are not meant just for hospitalized patients either, but for everyday normal healthy personal uses. Personal devices are already being built to be placed into the Nike running shoe to measure personal metrics for example.Tje Nike shoe's ability to help patients with a sensor that can improve balance for walking and improve ambulating normally. Today's Technology has gotten so advanced that these wireless devices can now assist in diagnosing are assist in numerous chronic diseases such as Alzheimer's, asthma, breast cancer, chronic obstructive lung disease, diabetes, heart failure, high blood pressure, sleep disorders and obesity. Many of these technologies will utilize an application that can extrapalate your own DNAs code. Your genomic material(DNA) can be genotyped and phenotyped based on DN markers. The genetic material will be monitored for predisposing diseases not noted at birth or later in life.This is preventive medicine on a molecular level with the use of bio-medical technology.

Wireless Medicine & Digital Doctors Part 3

Perhaps one of the greatest pioneers in "Wireless Medicine" is Dr. Eric Topol a world re-known cardiologist and author of the book the Creative Destruction of Medicine . He has helped co-create a very useful digital tool known as "Band-Aid" technology. These "band aids" are stick on digital sensors that can be placed virtually almost any place on the human body to scan its physiologic activity. Currently these sensors can give real time -continuous data of an organism or organ's function. These include sensors for continuous heart rate even fetal heart tones. Other monitoring functions that can be monitored are continuous glucose and sleep-wake cycles. These sensors can count a person's caloric intake and output in real time as well as provide information on dietary restrictions. Both the quantity and quality of the calorie of a meal can be monitored. These can all be helpful for the dietician, sleep specialist, diabetic specialist all sub-specialist including primary care physicians. General Electric's upgrade on the hand-held ultrasound makes old fashioned stethoscopes a thing of the past for nostalgia sake.The old stethoscope used for over a hundred years will become a virtual museum piece yet revered relic. The newer brand GE devices can perform abdominal, cardiac and fetal echo(ultrasound) imaging in real time, as well. The "band-aid" bio-med tech has also taken to further pronounced forms of heart monitoring. Once upon a time to measure the heart's activity for 24 hours required a large bulky device strapped to the chest . Now a "band-aid" strip can be placed that looks like a patch which can monitor heart rhythms and rates interrupted for prolong lengths of time. A patient won't have the discomfort of larger , clumsier boxes and wires hanging off them. These new "band-aid" technologies can monitor not only heart rate and rhythm, but also blood conduction(how thick or think blood flows), body temperature, respiration and oxygenation. These heart devices are currently most effective in heart failure patients. These will become evermore important in providing info to cardiologist, pulmonologist, critical care specialist as well as primary care physicians in both remote and academic locations by exchanging information more readily. Other types of "personal metrics" will be able to be used daily for individuals who want to measure and maintain "tighter" control of their body's own activities. Virtually every activity in life will be able to be measured in some value or its data interpreted mathematically. This is already exampled by Phillip's fitbit that measures food calories, weight, metabolism, sleep and yes- even sexual activity. These devices are merely a glimpse into the future for all of us. But, the question still remains as to just how far is it taking us and to what levels? Is this the future....no, it's here already. Dr. Topols book reads more like a "re-creation" of medicine in the future as opposed to merely the "destruction" of current medical methodology.

Wireless Medicine & Digital Doctors Part 2

Today there is an application on your smart device for almost everything and that includes for medical doctors. It used to be that medical students and residents alike would have to lug around large charts and handbooks on therapeutics to thumb there way at 2:00 A.M. to diagnose their patient. Now, all they have to do is push the "app" called "MedCalc" which can digitally upload for all types of diagnosis based on inputting symptoms they are observing. The same goes for the App called, Evernote. eProcates is another "app" that stores all types of drug dosages for precise usages. ZX Calculate gives risk profiles and if that's not enough today's intern can use his or her electronic stethoscopes that can increase the sounds of the heart beat higher and better acoustic amplitudes. Even the prestigious journal The Archives of Internal Medicine reveals in one study how residents with Ipads can increase efficiency and the timeliness of doing orders.These technologies are being moderately used , but with new apps being applied to these devices a new type of faster, more efficient and accurate type of medical diagnosis will be integrated to assist practitioners.

Wireless Medicine and Digital Doctors Part 1

By now most of us have seen the commercials by General Electric, Verizon and Cisco revealing their digital biomedical technology in passing. But, it hasn't really registered to most that these devices are now being produced to be held in the palm of your hand. Another company also making real strides in hand-held and small device technology is Samsung. Not to be overlooked , Samsung is well advanced into the 21st century's new version of how we all will be diagnosed and treated by our smart devices(cell phones, tablets, lap tops). Doctors in the 21st century will have a new team player in the lab, ER, clinic and hospital. Samsung has a really neat portable ultrasound device that gives real time data in 3-D. the Accuvix is 21.5 inches and can be used on the go. There's no need of going to a hospital or clinic to wait for long hours anymore. Samsung's digital x-ray, the X-GEO is another device that can be utilized for more practical x-rays on the go. The "Lab-on-a Disc" blood scanner at only 18 pounds is compact and just like a large state-of-the-art lab can do up to eighteen blood chemistry tests from remote geographical locations. So, if you're caught out in the sticks somewhere practicing medicine-no worries. All it takes is a squirt of blood on a disk-like device and blood is canned. What does this all spell? Diagnostics can really be done in real time and at lower costs. It is time to utilize these technologies and they benefits they offer in reducing inefficiency, waste and costs to those of us who utilize it.