Lobby For Sleep

Every Emergency Medicine physician, and Trauma Surgeon should definitely lobby for this feature on more cell phones. Those built in cameras are overdone, but this feature can really save lives!

Here’s a toast to the folks at LG! Their LG-SD410, LG-KP4100, and LG-LP4100 models have sold over 200,000 within 4 months. The reason behind the numbers would be a built-in Breathalyzer. Just blow on the sensor and the LCD will inform you of your alcohol level. The phone even comes with an advanced remote control for TVs, DVD and karaoke players. Remember to drink responsibly, and no harm in getting a little help from a LG phone!

Robodoc to operate in space

I once had heard that astronauts had to have their appendix removed before venturing into the far yonder of space. With technology like this, maybe thay can keep it until it's ready to come out. I would imagine that it would take several of these robots working in coordinated fashion to complete an OR case. After all, a one handed surgeon really is not that useful.

Researchers at the University of Nebraska are developing a lipstick-sized robot that can be controlled from thousands of miles away, with the goal of using the bot as a remote-operated “doctor,” able to be inserted into an incision to perform surgery. According to the developer, Dr. Dmitry Oleynikov, the bots have already been successfully tested on animals, and may be used by NASA as early as next spring. For NASA to use the bots in space, however, they would have to be controlled by astronauts, rather than Earth-based doctors. We can imagine that at least some astronauts might balk at the process of inserting one of these and telling it what to do — though we assume that Dr. Chandra, er, Oleynikov has a way to shut it down in an emergency.

Electronic ICU's

Is this the wave of the future, or just cutting corners to the max? Who's putting in the central line at 2:30 AM, a robot? What do you think?

A new intensive care unit technology, however, has worked wonders in one critical corner of the hospital, helping Swedish Medical and others in the often information technology-averse hospital field improve patient safety, reduce complications, and, as a result, shorten patient stays and save money. Many of the more than 100 hospitals around the U.S. that have bolstered their intensive care units with the virtual or eICU facilities designed by venture-backed Visicu say they are confident the technology has saved lives by reducing the incidence of often-deadly hospital-related infections.

Visicu's virtual eICU enables staff doctors to monitor all of the ICU patients from five computer screens in a command center that is sometimes built inside the hospital, or sometimes set up miles away. One U.S. military hospital in Hawaii has even used the technology to oversee ICU operations at an affiliated Navy hospital in Guam.

Cervical Cancer Vaccine

This vaccine is a great breakthrough, as it is the 1st vaccine to prevent cancer. On the other hand, we're all waiting to see if we have enough influenza vaccines this year so we don't have a repeat of last year.

The first major study of an experimental vaccine to prevent cervical cancer found it was 100 percent effective, in the short term, at blocking the disease and lesions likely to turn cancerous, drug maker Merck & Co. said.

Gardasil, a genetically engineered vaccine, blocks infection with two of the 100-plus types of human papilloma virus, HPV 16 and 18. The two sexually transmitted viruses together cause about 70 percent of cervical cancers.

The final-stage study of Gardasil included 10,559 sexually active women ages 16 to 26 in the United States and 12 other countries who were not infected with HPV 16 or 18. Half got three vaccine doses over six months; half got dummy shots.

Among those still virus-free after the six months, none who received the vaccine developed cervical cancer or precancerous lesions over an average two years of follow-up, compared with 21 who got dummy shots.

"To have 100 percent efficacy is something that you have very rarely," Dr. Eliav Barr, Merck's head of clinical development for Gardasil, told The Associated Press. "We're breaking out the champagne."

How the rest of the world works...

The next time you here folks complaining about how much doctors make, remind them on how hard doctors work in relation to the rest of the workforce.

It's October and people are going to start getting sick. If you aren't already familiar with The Four Hour Rule from the manifesto, here's a primer. The basic idea behind the Rule is that you can have your cake and eat it too. Here's the deal: early in the morning you make a call or email to your boss letting them know you won't be in today. If you aren't feeling well, say so. Otherwise either say you're taking a personal day or simply say "I won't be in today." By building the expectation that you won't be in at all that day, you've created a small undercurrent of anxiety within the office.

Now, enjoy four hours of personal time and then go into the office at noon. People will be slightly relieved and impressed to see you. Since they weren't expecting to see you at all, when you show up you will have relieved the underlying anxiety. Also, since they weren't expecting you at all, they'll be super-impressed by your work ethic! The key here is to create the expectation of complete absence. If you say that maybe you'll be in later, then you'll diminish the overall effect.

New Orleans Hospitals Ruined By Katrina

Unfortunately, two hospitals in New Orleans are damaged beyond repair from Hurricane Katrina. This type of infrastructure takes several years to rebuild.

New Orleans' two public hospitals should be torn down because the damage inflicted by Hurricane Katrina has left them "dangerous, dangerous places," the head of Louisiana's charity hospital system said Wednesday.

Charity and University hospitals "were issued their death warrant by Katrina and the cataclysmic floods it spawned," Donald R. Smithburg told the Louisiana State University Board of Supervisors.

"Even before the storms, these old facilities were on the ropes," he said, noting that Charity was built in the 1930s and University in the 1960s.

Believe It Or Not?

This illustrates why you should always be careful what you say on rounds...

An Italian man who spent two years supposedly unconscious in a deep coma, written off by doctors as nearly-dead, awoke saying he heard and understood everything happening around him during the long ordeal, his family said.

Salvatore Crisafulli, a father of four, is describing his case as a “miracle” which proves that lost causes are anything but hopeless and his recovery appeared to strengthen the hand of Italians opposed to end-of-life solutions.

PDA's Increasing In Medicine

Those handheld computers are slowly infiltrating their way into medicine.

PDAs with bar code scanners already exist which allow doctors to scan a patient’s barcode bracelet to access their record, current medications and medication history, according to Baumgart.

However, the future promises a lot more, as the article goes on to say.

The devices could also allow doctors to access medical information from virtually anywhere due to the extended bandwidth of cellular telephone networks or high speed wireless institutional networks in hospitals.

This would eliminate the need to find a find a patient’s chart, X-ray or a computer to get to electronic information.

They could also allow doctors to collect data or to take photographs of patient injuries or ailments for documentation, teaching purposes and to improve care.