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Archive for March, 2006

Ambulance to Hospital Connectivity Speeds Cardiac Care

Researchers at Duke University Medical Center have been using wireless connectivity to transmit ECGs from ambulances to hospital located cardiologists in an effort to bypass the emergency department and take patients straight to the cath lab. The defibrillator/patient monitor in the ambulance is connected to a gateway device (usually a PDA) that transmits the patient's […]


Zoll Acquires Lifecor

It seems that in March 2004, Zoll entered into a license agreement with Lifecor,
where they acquired exclusive distribution rights
to Lifecor's technology for the hospital market, and acquired an option to
purchase the remainder of Lifecor's assets. Well, they excercised that option today. You can read an earlier post about Lifecore's product here (press release).
At the closing […]


Site Update

Yes, I've been particularly busy lately and just now getting caught up. Thanks for being patient and checking back.
And thanks to those of you who took the time to respond to my query about problems viewing the site. I made an adjustment to the template that will hopefully clear up the “overlapping columns” problem that […]


Biomedical Engineering's Role in Hospitals Shifting

The other day I received a GE “SmartMail” announcing a new training program for biomedical and clinical engineers. The training focuses on PC hardware (components, ports, booting and setup), operating system basics, and lots on networking. The cost is $3,500 for the 5 day class. In reviewing the course outline, this looks like a great […]


New Wireless Implant Delivers Drugs on Schedule

Startup MicroCHIP has developed technology to dispense drugs over extended periods using microchips that are implanted in the body. Unlike other passive internal drug-delivery methods already on the market, MicroCHIP can control time of delivery and dose externally. The MicroCHIP active drug delivery system uses a wireless device to control the release of
multiple drugs from […]


Mayo Clinic Competes with Medical Device Vendors

Many of today's large university teaching hospitals have established track records of new technology innovation. The Mayo Clinic has traditionally licensed new technologies to other companies for them to productize. With all the outsourcing that's available today, the Mayo decided to do it themselves this time (press release). That's the product, pictured at right.
[…] in […]


Brigham and Women's Combines Wireless Monitoring and Patient Location in ED

Under a trial funded by a $3.1 million grant from the NIH, Brigham and Women's Hospital is using 10 waist packs (that sounds so much better than “fanny packs” doesn't it?) that patients will wear containing sensors, transmitters, and
tracking gear. The packs will allow medical staff to constantly monitor
patients' heart rates and blood-oxygen levels while […]


The New Excuse for "No Comment": HIPAA

In a study of unintended consequences, the Milwaukee Sentinel has a story on how HIPAA has chilled the release of once common information.
A porch collapses in Chicago. Victims are rushed to the hospital by
ambulance. Friends, relatives, neighbors, citizens want to know: Who's
injured? How badly?
But the hospitals, “they weren't releasing diddly,” said Charles
Davis, executive director of […]


802.11n Stumbles on Way to Finalization

This story provides an interesting glimpse into both the standards process and chip maker's business models. It seems that the main faction that pushed Draft 1.0 through the IEEE Task Group N has a bit of a conflict of interest. The companies involved, Atheros, Broadcom and Marvell, were already “showing silicon” - i.e., have demonstration […]


Problems Viewing This Site

Earlier this week, I received an email from a reader who reported that the right hand column of this site was covering part of the text in the center column - he also thoughtfully included a screen capture showing the problem. I've been unable to reproduce this problem with either Firefox 1.5 or IE 6.0.
If […]


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