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Radiology Art

Stuelke—a medical student and artist—started this project back in the summer of 2007, using the four-slice General Electric scanner at Cornell. He uses the scanner when nobody is using it for more serious tasks than capturing the most intimate guts of these mundane objects. Stuelke then processes the resulting DICOM images—the standard file format in radiology and tomography—in an iMac, using a software called Osirix.

The results, as you can see in the gallery and the videos, are at times surprising, at times spooky, but always beautiful.

Border Controls , Cybersniffers & Airport Security

This border entry and exit checkpoint with thermoscan controls is how your airport will look in a few years. If you are lucky. Swine Flu or not, this is our future.See, while the Swine Flu may have not been as bad as originally thought, the fact is that it's better to be overly protective than sorry. Or at least, that's what governments think.

It's just like anti-terrorist airport controls. These were increased to stupid levels after September 11 with measures like arbitrary limits on liquids, "Please Remove Laptop From Bag" rules, and the now-classic "Please Remove Your Shoes and Coat"—measures that only add hassle without actually increasing security. Not only they have been bypassed and rendered useless in countless occasions, but there are dozens of security breakpoints around airports everywhere that can be used by the bad guys to do bad things, even now.

We got those measures and everyone gladly accepted them, getting back to sleep into this false dream of total safety, all thanks to this daily airport security show and tell. The machines above can tell if your body temperature is going up, but many contagious diseases don't cause serious symptoms early enough to stop the spreading.

The same will happen with medical controls. Thermal scanners and cybersniffers capable of detecting viruses and germs designed to do the same thing: Give everyone a false sense of health safety.

It will be false because, until the technology is truly omniscient and really can detect the tiniest amount of any virus in any stage of development, the barrier will never be real. And even then, there will be other entry points for the virus. You just can put barriers in the air. You can try to contain, but at the end is a battle we are going to lose. At least for the time being.

Right now the fact is that, no matter how many controls we put in airports, if there's a real outbreak of something really really nasty, with no cure whatsoever, we are doomed.

In the meantime, we will all get to re-enact that airport checkpoint scene from Total Recall every time we go on a trip. I can't wait.

Medicine Dispensing Tooth

Swallowing pills on a regular basis is tiresome. Researchers are now developing a dental prosthesis capable of dosing drugs as required. Filled with the relevant agent, it independently releases the appropriate amounts into the mucous membranes in the patient’s mouth.

When were you supposed to take those pills again? And how many? Chronically ill patients are often tired of constantly having to swallow tablets, while those with dementia simply cannot cope. However, regular pill-taking is soon to become a thing of the past. Scientists in an EU consortium are developing a new prosthesis that releases the correct dosage of the required medicine on a continuous basis. This will help to avoid the peak concentrations that occur on taking pills, aggravating the side effects. What makes the Intellidrug prosthesis unique is that, unlike existing drug prostheses and implants, it is small enough to fit into two artificial molars. Inside the patient’s mouth, it is readily accessible and can easily be maintained and refilled.

"The dental prosthesis consists of a drug-filled reservoir, a valve, two sensors and several electronic components," explains Dr. Oliver Scholz of the Fraunhofer Institute for Biomedical Engineering IBMT in St. Ingbert, where the sensors and electronics were developed. "Saliva enters the reservoir via a membrane, dissolves part of the solid drug and flows through a small duct into the mouth cavity, where it is absorbed by the mucous membranes in the patient’s cheeks." The duct is fitted with two sensors that monitor the amount of medicine being released into the body. One is a flow sensor that measures the volume of liquid entering the mouth via the duct, while the other measures the concentration of the agent contained in the liquid. Based on the measurement results, the electronic circuit either opens or closes a valve at the end of the duct to control the dosage. If the agent has been used up, the electronic system alerts the patient via a remote control, which was also developed at the IBMT. This control permits wireless operation of Intellidrug, and can be used by the patient or doctor to set the dosage required.

The patient has to have the agent refilled every few weeks. "This could be done using a deposit system whereby the patient swaps the empty prosthesis for a newly refilled one. At the same time, the battery could be replaced and the device could be serviced," says Scholz. Intellidrug is to undergo clinical testing this year – filled with a drug called Naltrexon, which is taken by drug addicts undergoing withdrawal therapy.

If you really, really hate taking your medication, here's a solution to get rid of the unpleasantness that goes along with swallowing pills. Why, it's as simple as ripping a couple of your teeth out and replacing them with small devices that steadily inject your cheeks with medicine. Never worry about forgetting to take your prescription again!

Can it really be that easy? Well, I guess you'll need to go get your teeth refilled with medication every so often, which sounds pretty awful. In fact, this entire thing looks pretty awful. I'll stick with my real teeth and just, you know, swallowing pills with a glass of water. But that's just me.

Reflexology Universal Remotes

This spiny little contraption has the unique ability to simultaneously control your TV and your chronic kidney, uterus or testicle-related ailments. This is truly a magical medical breakthrough product.

The Cool.con universal remote employs reflexology to stimulate pressure points on the hand that are said to correspond to various areas of the body to promote better overall health. So the next time your partner bitches at you for watching too much TV, just tell them that you are engaged in a very serious medical procedure. Those witchdoctors said you needed dialysis—but you know better.

IVF blunder couple left devastated

A couple who underwent fertility treatment have spoken of their devastation at their last embryo being accidentally implanted in another woman. The couple said they had been excited about trying for a second child with their only remaining embryo when the IVF Wales clinic, in Cardiff, admitted the mistake.

The Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust has apologised to the pair, from south Wales, and said changes have been made in a bid to prevent such a mistake happening again.

A heavy staff workload is understood to have been a factor in the human error being made.

The woman, a 38-year-old hospital worker, said nine embryos were created using IVF in 2000 and she gave birth to a son three years later.

The remaining embryos were stored until 2007 when she and her husband, a 40-year-old printing plant manager, decided to try for a second child. One of the embryos had survived and they travelled to the clinic for treatment only to be told the devastating news.

"In less than ten seconds our wonderful world was shattered when the senior embryologist stood in front of us and said, 'I'm very sorry to tell you, but there's been an accident in the lab. Your embryo has been destroyed'," the woman told the Mail on Sunday.

"We were both rooted to our seats. We were stunned and trembling. We held each other tightly, and sobbed and sobbed. It was like water from a tap. I kept thinking, "They've killed our baby! Killed our baby!"

She said it was not until later they discovered the embryo had been implanted in another woman who elected to have a termination when she found out what had happened.

The Trust has admitted liability and the couple have been paid an undisclosed sum of money. Ian Lane, the Trust's Medical Director, said: "We apologise unreservedly for this mistake."

SimMan 3G Patient Simulator Is One Creepy Way to Learn Medicine

The SimMan 3G is a robot that can cry, bleed, convulse, go into cardiac arrest and do any number of other things that humans do when their bodies are malfunctioning. Also, it's super creepy looking.

This is one crazy robot. Here's just a partial list of features:

Quality CPR Feedback Laerdal's Q-CPR technology measures the quality of CPR providing real time feedback on compression rate, depth, release, and hands-off time as well as generating palpable pulses , blood pressure wave forms and ECG artefacts.

Convulsions
Degrees of seizures and convulsions can be created from minor effect through to a full convulsion through the Instructor Mode.

Bleeding and Wounds
Wound models can be connected to an internal blood reservoir which will bleed both from arterial and venous vessels. Connected to the simulator's physiological modeling, SimMan 3G will react appropriately according to treatment.

Wireless Monitor
Part of the complete wireless simulation solution, the wireless monitor enables you to observe the patient simulator's vital signs while moving around freely during training.

Secretions
The new eye secretions feature has multiple scenario applications such as responsive reactions to chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear agents.

Drug & Event Recognition
The new and advanced Drug Recognition System allows students to administer drugs simultaneously. It registers the amount, speed and type of drug automatically and applies the appropriate physiological responses, saving the instructor time and improving the overall intelligent debrief.

Eye Signs
Include pupillary responses to light, blinks at slow, normal and fast rates, winks and open, partially open and closed reactions.

Vascular Access
In addition to the standard vascular access in the right arm, the new intraosseous access via the tibia and sternum allows for procedure accuracy

Chest Decompression & Chest Drain
Students can now perform a needle Thoracentesis and insert a chest drain bi-laterally.

It's not quite as good as practicing medicine on a hobo that you hunted and caught yourself, but I guess that's not always an option.