Achievement Unlocked: Skills Night Success!

On March 19, tMED put on our first ever skills night with the help of the Aboriginal, Rural, and Remote Health Group (ARRHG). We had students from several different colleges, including Medicine, Nursing, Engineering, and Arts & Sciences. Our night started off with a tour of the Canadian Light Source synchrotron, followed by a supper of stew and bannock back in Health Sciences, catered by the Bannock Bistro. We then divided into three groups, and alternated between stations featuring some medical examination technology courtesy of Schaan Healthcare Products, an ultrasound simulator and laparoscopic and arthroscopic simulators courtesy of the College of Medicine, and an introduction to remote presence devices in the healthcare setting thanks to InTouch Health. I wanted to sincerely thank everyone that helped out to make this night a great success, to everyone that came out that made this event possible, and I look forward to another skills night next year!!

tMED Skills Night & LAN Party

Hello tMED members!

tMED is planning to host our first-ever skills night. The activities we are planning to do include a tour of the Canadian Light Source synchrotron here at the U of Sask, followed by supper, and then three more activities to teach students about available medical technology, medical procedure simulators, and allowing students to experience telehealth for rural and remote healthcare. We are still finalizing the details, so stay tuned for more information!

We are also planning a LAN Party for late March to give students a chance to relax, have fun, and create some comradery, all while playing Team Fortress 2 and possibly some other games. We will let you know more in the coming weeks!

MEDEC: Canada's Medical Technology Companies

The Canadian medical technology industry has teamed up to create MEDEC, a national association that is the primary source for advocacy, information, and education on the medical technology industry for members, the greater healthcare community, industry partners, and the general public in Canada, as well as through the Global MEDTECH Alliance. MEDEC has four pillars: Enhancing patient care; Improving patient access; Enabling healthcare system sustainability; and Recognizing healthcare as an economic driver.

http://www.medec.org/

TACS in Parkinson's Disease

Current electrical stimulation treatments for Parkison's disease involve placing electrodes deep into the brain to stimulate certain regions of the brain. The treatment works well and can greatly improve quality of life, but is not without risks, including bleeding, and is expensive. However, researchers at Oxford University have developed a new technique, called transcranial alternating current stimulation (TACS), that uses electrodes that can be place on the skin, or even just beneath the skin that has the potential to achieve the same effect. Placing one electrode near the base of the neck and a second electrode on the skin over the motor cortex region of the brain, the two electrodes send matched signals through the brain that cancel out the tremour signal, analagous to how noise-cancelling headphones work. The technology still has to be developed into a viable therapy, including a system to detect the native signals in the brain and deliver the signal to cancel out the tremour.

http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-therapy-electricity-cancel-parkinson-tremors.html#jCp

The New Improved Pill Camera

Prof. Khan Wahid of the U of Sask is working to improve the standard pill camera used by gastroenterologists to get a better view of your digestive tract. A an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, Dr. Wahid and his team have developed new algorithms that greatly improve the capture and professing of images that increases the frame rate and quality of the imagess, reduce the workload of the onboard computer chip, and helps extend the battery life. They are also working to improve the quality of life of the patient during the procedure by replacing the data recorder with a mobile device app and SIM card-sized receiver that would store the information on the patient's smartphone.

http://news.usask.ca/2013/01/25/inside-view-improving-endoscopy-imaging/

A Bionic Hand that can Feel

Dr. Silvestro Micera of the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne in Switzerland has developed a new bionic hand for amputees that has the ability to both be controlled by the nervous system as well as receiving sensory signals from the hand's sensors. The hand will be attached directly to the median and ulnar nerves, hopefully allowing for two-way communication between the patient and the prosthetic. The new bionic hand will be attached to a patient later this year (2013) in hopes that it will help create new generations of prosthetics with sensory perception. If all goes well in this study, Dr. Micera hopes to have a fully-working model available for testing within two years.

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/a-sensational-breakthrough-the-first-bionic-hand-that-can-feel-8498622.html
http://www.livescience.com/27282-improved-bionic-hand-under-development.html

High Tech Temporary Tattoo

Princeton professor Michael McAlpine has invented a temporary tattoo that can detect things like bacterial infections, allowing for real-time detection and monitoring. Made of graphene, gold wires, and strings of silk, with a miniature antenna, the tattoo would be applied like a temporary novelty tattoo, and send signals to a computer when the substance in question is detected. The tattoo fades quickly, but with the recent grant he received, Prof. McAlpine hopes to increase the staying power of the tattoo and begin testing in hospitals.

http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S33/79/62E42/index.xml?section=topstories
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2275997/Tattoo-calls-help-fall-ill-researchers-believe-coming-arm-near-soon.html#axzz2JgeybSN1