tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38688166096244449752024-03-14T05:54:42.300-05:00Little Devices That CouldWelcome! We like gadgets. We like international development. We really like medical technology.Josehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04270981158961851849noreply@blogger.comBlogger203125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3868816609624444975.post-61874174271674952632012-04-27T12:31:00.001-05:002012-04-27T12:31:18.111-05:00LDTC moving into LDTC+Labs<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsqxlo_tZ7Ha63-i0k6aTrzJ9ii53fK-rKk5ywuKZGCwr8HPr7hhzqTMD61tBszi6mOpfaeve0h51LGTeEOZLnBeF0aQ7bJbDOzsMmL3BaVsAEt_Jj-gJL2LFT7Ag7vopq6GEAUcKHLRAn/s1600/ldtc_logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="68" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsqxlo_tZ7Ha63-i0k6aTrzJ9ii53fK-rKk5ywuKZGCwr8HPr7hhzqTMD61tBszi6mOpfaeve0h51LGTeEOZLnBeF0aQ7bJbDOzsMmL3BaVsAEt_Jj-gJL2LFT7Ag7vopq6GEAUcKHLRAn/s320/ldtc_logo.png" width="320" /></a></div>
Dear Readers:<br />
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Thanks for being fantastic loyal reader of Little Devices That Could. We are moving our platform onto Wordpress at littledevices.org where we will host our lab website as well as our blog.<br />
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In other news, LDTC+Labs launched early this spring to bring the affordable medical device products and methods to the world through a fantastic team. Learn more about them at LDTC+Labs.<br />
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Have an awesome weekend,<br />
Jose<br />
littledevices.org </div>Josehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09194821061085769816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3868816609624444975.post-13612952464331599072012-01-22T13:41:00.001-05:002012-01-22T13:42:31.237-05:00How To: Mark your tools for easy identificationFrom Boing Boing:<div><br /><div><a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/7yTpbR2qATQ/how-to-mark-your-tools-for-ea.html">How To: Mark your tools for easy identification</a>: <p><img src="http://boingboing.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/201201201253.jpg" height="552" width="600" border="0" align="left" hspace="0" vspace="0" alt="201201201253" /></p><br /><br /><p><br /><a href="http://grathio.com/">Steve Hoefer</a> (a fantastic maker who I interviewed on the <a href="http://blog.makezine.com/2012/01/17/new-make-podcast-make-talk/">Make: Talk podcast</a> earlier this week) has come up with a great way to clearly mark his tools so they don't get lost when he brings them to a hackerspace.</p><br /><br /><blockquote><p>I also work at community workshops quite a bit, and while they often have a lot of tools around I sometimes like to bring my own. (Especially drill bits which seem to always be dull and in exactly the wrong size.) It’s best if my tools don’t mix with theirs.</p><br /><br /><p>And finally, tools add up to be a pretty bing investment, they sometimes like to get themselves stolen. It’s good to mark them in a way that might prevent that or aid in their recovery if they are.<br />So, some identifying marks are in order. There are really two different things going on here, immediate identification, to separate your tools from others, and post-theft ID, to identify the tools as your own.</p></blockquote><br /><br /><p><a href="http://grathio.com/2012/01/mark-your-tools/">Steve Hoefer shows how to mark your tools for easy identification</a></p><br style="clear:both"><br /><br style="clear:both"><br /><a href="http://ads.pheedo.com/click.phdo?s=7b48565ad12f5797d4df20d6956cba8f&p=1"><img alt="" style="border:0" border="0" src="http://ads.pheedo.com/img.phdo?s=7b48565ad12f5797d4df20d6956cba8f&p=1" /></a><br /><img alt="" height="0" width="0" border="0" src="http://segment-pixel.invitemedia.com/pixel?code=TechCons&partnerID=167&key=segment" /><img alt="" height="0" width="0" border="0" src="http://insight.adsrvr.org/track/evnt/?ct=0:dupdmqp&adv=wouzn4v&fmt=3" /><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/boingboing/iBag/~4/7yTpbR2qATQ" height="1" width="1" /></div></div>Josehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09194821061085769816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3868816609624444975.post-7885357070834932702012-01-04T18:52:00.002-05:002012-01-05T08:48:31.872-05:00Talkback | What Government can learn from the private sector<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Engineering for Change has a nice <a href="https://www.engineeringforchange.org/news/2012/01/04/paying_for_development_engineering_what_the_government_can_learn_from_the_private_sector.html">article</a> by Mr. Julian Leland on what the government can learn from the private sector.<br />
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Funding international engineering projects can be tricky, but the private sector has evolved some tactics that work. There are hundreds of private-sector funding opportunities available – competitions, grants, crowd-funding and others – many of which are <a href="https://www.engineeringforchange.org/news/2011/04/16/sustainable_design_contests_and_awards_roundup.html"><span class="s1">documented here</span></a> on E4C. Between businesses, foundations and charitable individuals, the private sector nimbly provides billions of dollars in funding. Unfortunately, despite the size of this funding pool, the competition is fierce.</blockquote>
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E4C asked me to comment:<br />
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This is a nice start to what could be a long conversation. Government could certainly learn from the private sector, but it should not cherry pick just the options usually get the most PR. Unfortunately, this is where we are when it comes to funding international engineering and I'm guessing that Mr. Leland is talking about international development + engineering as opposed to say, a new wing in the Oslo's airport.<br />
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In my short experience, I'm learning that international development technology funding should be backed at earlier stages to maintain the momentum of promising (albet risky) ideas. DARPA is an excellent example of an agency that does this and whose discipline at doing that is why you can probably read this post online---they funded Arpanet the precursor to the Internet.<br />
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SBIRs are an excellent example of small scale funding at work with R&D in mind, not just a bid for proven services. We don't really have that in international development in the U.S. Not for technology, and we should. The same companies that can come up with a better rocket guidance system for use in places like Afghanistan could develop a remote diagnostic sample distribution system for clinics in the area. The dollars are not there, even if the hearts and minds of those designers back home would jump at the chance. The illusion that adjacent research activities can pay for the save the world activities doesn't always ring true. That means investing in the mission, plain and simple.<br />
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Crowdsourcing is an exciting venue and I'm a huge fan of the Kickstarters of the world. What I like about it is that they are backing something that could conceivably go very wrong. They are distributing the risk though. So if you $20 doesn't go the right way for the that Arduino-powered balloon, that's the way it goes sometimes. As taxpayers, we've implicitly Kickstarted our way to backing early stage projects. We need to let our elected officials know that they should back early stage research and development engineering projects for poor countries. Regrettably, the current administration's approaches may be perceived at shying away from investing in innovation, and instead focusing in safety---and maybe exciting---targets.<br />
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I'm glad Mr. Leland didn't focus on prizes. We don't do prizes in the private sector as a leading investment vehicle, so we should not do that on the development side. Prizes are great as recognition of a job well done, or as a catalyst to steer a field that is already funded to go after many different directions. Hoping that a prize for curing or diagnosing a disease, or solving arsenic, or increasing poverty alleviation makes as much sense as a having a prize be the sole mechanism to solving unemployment. Try that approach on a State Legislature seeking support from the Federal government and you may get an earful.<br />
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In kind support can be tremendous. Every university and engineering group approaches by USAID should be given a permanent liaison that can tell them exactly where to go for such help. I actually had someone at the agency once tell me that they could answer which questions they could answer over the phone. We have a long way to go, but we can get there.<br />
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My favorite quote these days [see my previous post] on investing for innovation is Neal Stephenson's from his recent essay Innovation Starvation:<br />
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"Innovation can’t happen without accepting the risk that it might fail. The vast and radical innovations of the mid-20th century took place in a world that, in retrospect, looks insanely dangerous and unstable. Possible outcomes that the modern mind identifies as serious risks might not have been taken seriously — supposing they were noticed at all — by people habituated to the Depression, the World Wars, and the Cold War, in times when seat belts, antibiotics, and many vaccines did not exist. "</blockquote>
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I think this applies our challenges in the developing world as well. In our lab, we find risky challenges and go for them. It's sometimes a lonely journey surrounded by hype cycles, but we think it's a worthy one.</div>Josehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09194821061085769816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3868816609624444975.post-24671590201068659462011-12-07T09:19:00.001-05:002011-12-07T11:57:20.145-05:00Is Social Entrepreneurship a Ponzi Scheme? Too many buzzwords, not enough nuts and bolts<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd1c-MY0SfY641QPnKORd0oRLf79ThmZdHjDEHzoiI-3m3HxGm_KB8a2isI0FVckONNNEUdmFYPI9dRJwGi7NHAi6fSL8BLtyPxcQ7IGTrl5xPO0TXb5eXFijMnCI4VoaWgzLJxA0UQIAD/s1600/deleteponzi.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd1c-MY0SfY641QPnKORd0oRLf79ThmZdHjDEHzoiI-3m3HxGm_KB8a2isI0FVckONNNEUdmFYPI9dRJwGi7NHAi6fSL8BLtyPxcQ7IGTrl5xPO0TXb5eXFijMnCI4VoaWgzLJxA0UQIAD/s1600/deleteponzi.png" /></a></div>
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Can Ponzi schemes leak into the social entrepreneurship space? Perhaps.<br />
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I'm on a bus to NYC for the day and just as I was approaching Springfield, MA when Paul Hudnut at <a href="http://bopreneur.blogspot.com/">BOPreneur</a> posted an <a href="http://good-b.com/?p=7406#disqus_thread">article</a> by Laurie Lane-Zucker, CEO of <a href="http://hotfrog.org/">Hotfrog</a>. I've never heard of Hotfrog, I've never heard of Laurie Lane-Zucker. Nevertheless, his essay on what's wrong with a maturing social entrepreneurship space that's more awash in the buzzwords and consultant speak of impact and innovation that in the transparent reality of the difficulty of pulling off the hard stuff an inspiring wake up call to those courageous folks trying to make the world a better place.<br />
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If we were to add some more powerful stats, this article could be one of the most important pieces written on speaking truth to power in the scene. It's the type of writing that could catalyze <a href="http://thefunded.com/">TheFunded.com</a> type of open database on rating investments in social enterprise. <br />
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Lane-Zucker bravely points out items that most of us see but never collectively call people in the SE space on:<br />
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<i>From early on, I came across a frequent disconnect between the entrepreneurs in the space and some of the space’s institutional leadership. One of the first people I hired as a consultant to help in my business’s development had just closed up shop on her own social venture for lack of investment. When I told her the reason I was going down this path was in part because I had been assured there was much more funding available than in the charitable space, she scoffed and told me not to believe it. “There is hardly any money to be found,” she reflected bitterly.</i></blockquote>
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<i>More recently, when I mentioned to the co-founder of one of the most respected networks in the space that I was not seeing a lot of early stage money, he fervently contradicted me: “There’s tons of money available!”</i></blockquote>
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I particularly like the point</div>
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<i>"Most investment funds that have been set up in the social/impact spaces (i.e. Impact50) are focused on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mezzanine_capital">mezzanine</a> and growth stage investments (in other words: if you are already making money, we may invest our money; if you are not, then you are too early)"</i></blockquote>
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If you combine that fact with the undeniable requirements for investments in risky endeavors, especially when challenges require invention and innovation, you can see not just the Ponzi scheme but a nearsighted lens on executing the hard stuff. Hard stuff is not just collecting information on a mobile phone about health, it's about creating that diagnostic or treatment device for you to do something about it in the first place. Hard stuff is not just creating a super mashed up version of a business model that assumes social entrepreneurs actually enjoy a strange lifestyle that combines exotic conference locations with a struggle-pay-their-student-loan lifestyle. Hard stuff is investing in the SE startup facing the reality that the co-founders have 10 different options in the non-SE space that will be meaningless, yet investible. The hard stuff makes an impact and it's a road worth travelling. We're just going to have to find better vehicles than Cinderella pumpkins.<br />
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<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/Aldrin_with_experiment.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/Aldrin_with_experiment.jpg" width="316" /></a></div>
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Recently, Neal Stephenson <a href="http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2011/10/stephenson-innovation-starvation/all/1">wrote an inspiring article</a> in Wired that reminded geeks like myself why we keep trying the hard stuff, despite the environment that Lane-Zucker describes<br />
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<i style="background-color: yellow;">"Innovation can’t happen without accepting the risk that it might fail.</i><i style="background-color: white;"> The vast and radical innovations of the mid-20th century took place in a world that, in retrospect, looks insanely dangerous and unstable. Possible outcomes that the modern mind identifies as serious risks might not have been taken seriously — supposing they were noticed at all — by people habituated to the Depression, the World Wars, and the Cold War, in times when seat belts, antibiotics, and many vaccines did not exist. "</i></blockquote>
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</div>Josehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09194821061085769816noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3868816609624444975.post-86638605289486640722011-08-20T12:30:00.002-05:002011-08-20T12:32:31.210-05:00Have AK-47, will monitor IV.<div style="padding: 0; overflow: hidden; margin: 0; width: 500px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/37604991@N00/5390921060/in/set-72157625911836366/" title="IV Delivery Hacks in Jinotepe" style="display: block; padding: 0 10px 10px 0; width: 75px; height: 75px; float: left;"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5296/5390921060_cc612155ef_s.jpg" alt="IV Delivery Hacks in Jinotepe" style="border:none; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 75px; height: 75px;" /></a><div style="padding: 0 10px 10px 0; width: 75px; height: 75px; float: left;"><img src="http://l.yimg.com/g/images/gallery-empty-icon.gif" style="margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 75px; height: 75px;" /></div><div style="padding: 0 10px 10px 0; width: 75px; height: 75px; float: left;"><img src="http://l.yimg.com/g/images/gallery-empty-icon.gif" style="margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 75px; height: 75px;" /></div><div style="padding: 0 10px 10px 0; width: 75px; height: 75px; float: left;"><img src="http://l.yimg.com/g/images/gallery-empty-icon.gif" style="margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 75px; height: 75px;" /></div><div style="padding: 0 10px 10px 0; width: 75px; height: 75px; float: left;"><img src="http://l.yimg.com/g/images/gallery-empty-icon.gif" style="margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 75px; height: 75px;" /></div><div style="padding: 0 0 10px 0; width: 75px; height: 75px; float: left;"><img src="http://l.yimg.com/g/images/gallery-empty-icon.gif" style="margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 75px; height: 75px;" /></div> </div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 5px"><p>So the challenge in Ocotal, Nicaragua was to make an IV alarm using locally available materials. Toys were abundant, cheap, and easily hackable. The video it best. </p><p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/37604991@N00/sets/72157625911836366/">MEDIKit Nicaragua Jan-Feb 2011</a>, a set on Flickr.</p></div>Josehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09194821061085769816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3868816609624444975.post-39395194293416834742011-08-02T01:06:00.003-05:002011-08-02T06:36:30.184-05:00Encouraging Inventiveness<i>A few months ago, I wrote this <a href="http://www.bostonreview.net/BR36.2/ndf_behavioral_economics_global_development.php">response</a> piece in Boston Review. It distills a lot of things we strive for at D-Lab, IIH, and the larger MIT community: making invention a toolset that can be embedded in our community partners. For those of you who've asked for links, here's an excerpt and the full piece after the jump.<br /></i><br /><blockquote>Rachel Glennerster and Michael Kremer point out that interventions in health and education need to complement much more complex machinery: human behavior. They are right. And their argument can go a step further. Engaging local stakeholders in the design of policies and solutions can boost the innovative behavior of the people whose well-being we evaluate.</blockquote><blockquote><br />At MIT’s D-Lab we believe that users in the developing world have the potential to be the everyday inventors of their own solutions. In a Nicaraguan hospital, a nurse might quietly create neonatal UV protectors from layers of surgical gauze. Around the corner in the operating room, surgeons can be found trading sutures for fishing line and drainage valves for cut-up soda bottles that work just as well. These inventive behaviors are often hidden. The designs are remaches, geuzas, improvisations, hacks. Not exactly the stuff of professional associations. This is only because they lack the last bit of formal engineering that makes them appear the brilliant solutions they in fact are.<div><br />Traditionally, technology designers who focus on the developing world try to create affordable solutions adaptable to the local environment. They might develop efficient water pumps that run on pedal power, cell phones with longer ranges and smarter features, and syringes that are safer and more accessible, with retractable needles that automatically disable them. Our approach is to encourage co-creation in the design process: we want to empower locals to invent, so they can be collaborators, not just clients. In our fieldwork we teach students to look for inventive behaviors, and many of our interventions have originated with users. Cultivating inventiveness and the tools of invention among the poor is our priority.</div><div></div></blockquote><div><br /></div><div>More at <a href="http://www.bostonreview.net/BR36.2/jose_gomez_marquez_behavioral_economics_global_development.php">Boston Review</a></div>Josehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09194821061085769816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3868816609624444975.post-40203745905913505942011-07-03T14:37:00.004-05:002011-10-08T05:54:26.290-05:00Prototyping Devices for (and with) Visually Impaired Designers<a href="http://blindlead.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/a_Layout-NEW-31.jpg"></a><br />
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One of the newest researchers at <a href="http://iih.mit.edu/">Innovations in International Health @ MIT</a> is Ted Moallem. Ted directs a project called the <a href="http://blindlead.mit.edu/">Blind-Lead Initiative</a> which aims at developing solution for the blind by also enabling them to prototyping their own devices. One of the results looks like this:</div>
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What’s more impressing is the amount work the group has done in actually designing a solution that the users themselves can prototype and redesign.<br />
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<a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-5inLzinEQZ4/Tg_zYOxI-zI/AAAAAAAAAQg/bNCJpgYU-TU/IMAG0609.jpg?imgmax=640"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-5inLzinEQZ4/Tg_zYOxI-zI/AAAAAAAAAQg/bNCJpgYU-TU/IMAG0609.jpg?imgmax=640" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 220px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
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More at http://blindlead.mit.edu/</div>
Josehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09194821061085769816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3868816609624444975.post-67177052442247701172011-07-03T09:06:00.002-05:002011-07-03T09:18:52.517-05:00UL Pen is mightier then the solder gun<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHovsTE6nbOvJ7FbUn87A_y-4oZduhMNyc9Zh3DkQAqPFTf3cH5WezTkT-BWs4qsf_qpLor055enDUn0mT8jwRO2_6bKh9g8Ij5wosLIJEji7aaYaLf4h_0VgzwpJbWF6vHeg3W9JIrUm3/s1600/Screen+shot+2011-07-03+at+10.19.06+AM.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 196px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHovsTE6nbOvJ7FbUn87A_y-4oZduhMNyc9Zh3DkQAqPFTf3cH5WezTkT-BWs4qsf_qpLor055enDUn0mT8jwRO2_6bKh9g8Ij5wosLIJEji7aaYaLf4h_0VgzwpJbWF6vHeg3W9JIrUm3/s320/Screen+shot+2011-07-03+at+10.19.06+AM.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5625130180670180434" /></a><a href="http://zapp5.staticworld.net/images/article/2011/06/flexible_array_b-5191036.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"></a>Researchers at the University of Illinois have created a silver-inked rollerball pen to write out electrical circuits.<br /><br />from Eurekalert:<br /><br />"The key advantage of the pen is that the costly printers and printheads typically required for inkjet or other printing approaches are replaced with an inexpensive, hand-held writing tool," said Lewis, who is also affiliated with the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology.<div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="http://zapp5.staticworld.net/images/article/2011/06/flexible_array_b-5191036.jpg" border="0" alt="" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 606px; height: 455px; " /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><br />More at <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adma.201101328/full">Advanced Materials</a><br /><br />The Lewis group seems to be in great shape to make a dent in small scale and distributed manufacturing and prototyping technologies:<br /><br /><a href="http://colloids.matse.illinois.edu/research.html">Lewis Lab site:<br /></a><br /><blockquote>Our group is divided into three main sub-groups with a rich and overlapping set of interests:<br /><br />(1) Complex Fluids - We investigate the phase behavior, structure, and rheology of colloidal suspensions using a broad array of techniques, including light scattering, rheological measurements, in situ drying stress measurements, and direct visualization approaches, such as confocal microscopy and high speed imaging. Our current focus includes microsphere-nanoparticle mixtures, biphasic colloid mixtures, colloid-filled hydrogels, polyelectrolyte complexes, and photoresponsive colloid systems.<br /><br />(2) Colloidal Assembly - We employ directed assembly approaches including colloidal epitaxy, evaporative lithography, and microfluidic devices to create precisely patterned colloidal films, granules, and other 3D forms.<br /><br />(3) Direct Ink Writing - We are designing novel inks for direct-write assembly of planar and 3-D structures with locally tailored composition and architecture. A myriad of ink designs are under development, including colloidal, nanoparticle, fugitive organic, polyelectrolyte and sol-gel inks. Complex 3D structures h ave been produced with minimum feature sizes ranging from ~ 0.2 µm to 300 µm</blockquote></div>Josehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09194821061085769816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3868816609624444975.post-64605095885937872492011-06-21T11:52:00.000-05:002011-06-21T11:53:15.314-05:00Bob Malkin on Medical Technology Donations at TEDx Chapel Hill<iframe width="560" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/17zAR916SGk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Josehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09194821061085769816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3868816609624444975.post-41332502558976053472011-04-17T20:45:00.002-05:002011-04-17T20:50:50.523-05:00Little Bits of LTDC<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUqt44eXwi6aH3CgD7YDduqQzkq4NKbf4BOGmihB97U0mdZywp-883rJnhafiOwAMAr_uiihkZMfr29cpX9wIcaQDxJ4Q67nCQ-5CnbGd0rgtEegrD5SibDic44vIaWCLcCNtNRwKF7HxQ/s1600/Screen+shot+2011-04-17+at+9.52.50+PM.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 234px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUqt44eXwi6aH3CgD7YDduqQzkq4NKbf4BOGmihB97U0mdZywp-883rJnhafiOwAMAr_uiihkZMfr29cpX9wIcaQDxJ4Q67nCQ-5CnbGd0rgtEegrD5SibDic44vIaWCLcCNtNRwKF7HxQ/s320/Screen+shot+2011-04-17+at+9.52.50+PM.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596735117617045634" /></a><br /><div><br /></div><div>Sweetening resistance: manuka honey explored as a vehicle to combat antiobotic resistance. <a href="http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-04-honey-reverse-antibiotic-resistance.html">Professor Rose Cooper</a> from the University of Wales Institute Cardiff presented her groups findings with streptocicci and pseudomands this Spring. </div><div><br /></div><div>What’s the best way to get your vaccine on? <a href="http://news.bioscholar.com/2011/04/soon-nasal-spray-vaccines-to-curb-flu.html">Spray it</a> according to researchers at Albany Medical College in New York.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-04/su-tss041111.php">PNAS</a> reports on the amazing links between tuberculosis and the fur trade. As if PETA didn’t have enough amunition! </div><div><br /></div><div>Check up your Coartem stock wtih the U.S. Pharmacopeia’s <a href="http://www.usp.org/worldwide/medQualityDatabase/">Promoting Quality of Medicine Program.</a></div><div><br /></div><div>A new TB test can tell if you’ve got the latent or active form of the disease. <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0018315">PLoS One</a> has the full story. </div>Josehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09194821061085769816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3868816609624444975.post-85557563700853440192011-02-13T16:12:00.001-05:002011-02-13T16:14:16.406-05:00MEDIK: Dispatches from the Field<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCKOLtnhYC-pWMB0lsor3L8XTzgc1h-T1CuMRpdK8543Z5vHI7zFfUlc-WfHoxYe39e0UbSdb_v2srDjV-lq6ysWBMBlZocLa6LJLXmGJ9dpmkpdv2y66JqU3Y3i9Q6oxBzUM5qhUiuW6g/s1600/MEDIK_Dx_P1080140.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCKOLtnhYC-pWMB0lsor3L8XTzgc1h-T1CuMRpdK8543Z5vHI7zFfUlc-WfHoxYe39e0UbSdb_v2srDjV-lq6ysWBMBlZocLa6LJLXmGJ9dpmkpdv2y66JqU3Y3i9Q6oxBzUM5qhUiuW6g/s320/MEDIK_Dx_P1080140.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5573285463623857106" /></a><br />From the <a href="http://iihlab.wordpress.com/">IIH Blog</a>:<div><br /></div><div><div>It’s 91 degrees in Managua this Saturday afternoon and we are on the last leg of our train-the-trainer modules for MEDIK. We’ve spent more time abroad the last two months than an MIT. That’s about the change with the start of the semester. This weekend, we’ll be working Ocotal’s district hospital introducing healthcare workers to two new kits: Vital Signs and Prosthetics. [udpate: we just passed an Iguana crossing]</div><div><br /></div><div>To recap MEDIK—Medical Design and Invention Kits are a series of lab-in-box kits that serve as “Erector sets” for medical devices. Our approach is nurter inventive behavior amongst “McGuyver docs and nurses” working in global health. We already know that they are coming up with ingenious ways around everyday problems. </div><div><br /></div><div>For Vital Signs, we are going to introduce a series of components that make up an EKG, electronic stethoscope, some dopplers, and simpler point of care vital signs diagnostic such as pulse oximeters. Bear in mind, we’re not just giving them the final devices. We’re providing a toolkit that allows them to build these devices, add things such as telemetry and datalogging, and create interesting modifucations to make them mor rugged, modular, and useful for their settings. It’s giving them the solution space and the exciting part is going to be what they come up with in the next few days.</div><div><br /></div><div>In the next post, we’ll talk about the Prosthetic Kit. You’ve never seen a fruit picker work like this before…</div></div>Josehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09194821061085769816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3868816609624444975.post-44492361385663189752011-01-01T18:25:00.000-05:002011-01-01T18:26:08.219-05:00MEDIK starts in Nicaragua<object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/uZq5qUx5cis?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/uZq5qUx5cis?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>Josehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09194821061085769816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3868816609624444975.post-2617226959876385902010-12-16T21:36:00.002-05:002010-12-16T21:38:03.180-05:00Try It: nGram Viewer by Google<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4iigbBI0oDwi6-EHRl54i4Gv2Wbm22SSxU18VhzSVQ_SZyMtsZTaV_oiEKZ_SnVahmpci-I4BLtZeXiyGpkvshFD5mBLpj8CycPzPNHonOIkZaGhh8TihQ87oWVc7uQaKfrIDXqd9aE6V/s1600/Screen+shot+2010-12-17+at+2.35.57+AM.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 149px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4iigbBI0oDwi6-EHRl54i4Gv2Wbm22SSxU18VhzSVQ_SZyMtsZTaV_oiEKZ_SnVahmpci-I4BLtZeXiyGpkvshFD5mBLpj8CycPzPNHonOIkZaGhh8TihQ87oWVc7uQaKfrIDXqd9aE6V/s400/Screen+shot+2010-12-17+at+2.35.57+AM.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5551474740479027186" /></a><br /><div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://ngrams.googlelabs.com/graph?content=gadget,international+development,medical+technology,+appropriate+technology&year_start=1920&year_end=2008&corpus=0&smoothing=3">Google Books nGram Viewer</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div>Josehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04270981158961851849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3868816609624444975.post-51763736884906474012010-11-13T14:34:00.001-05:002010-11-13T14:34:42.200-05:00Robotic transport meets baby and it's awesome<a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/hackaday/LgoM/~3/zyh-QE95hAo/">Robotic mobility for the little ones</a>: "<p><img title="robotic-mobility-for-little-ones" src="http://hackadaycom.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/robotic-mobility-for-little-ones.jpg?w=470&h=400" alt="" width="470" height="400" /></p><br /><p>From Hackaday:</p><p></p><blockquote><p>Researchers at the University of Delaware are <a href="http://www.udel.edu/research/media/babiesrobots.html">helping disabled kids by designing robot transportation</a> for them. Exploring one’s environment is an important part of early development. Disabilities that limit mobility can prevent young children from experiencing this. Typically children are not offered a powered wheelchair until they are five or six years old, but adding intelligent technologies, like those found in the UD1, makes this possible at a much younger age. Proximity sensors all around the drive unit of the robot add obstacle avoidance and ensure safety when used around other children. When confronted with an obstacle the UD1 will stop, or navigate around it. The unit is controlled by a joystick in front of the rider but it can also be overridden remotely by a teacher, parent, or caregiver.</p></blockquote><p>[via <a href="http://robotgossip.blogspot.com/2007/11/babies-with-robots.html">Robot Gossip</a>]</p>Josehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09194821061085769816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3868816609624444975.post-72546684093870267622010-10-10T21:33:00.001-05:002010-10-11T15:00:31.298-05:00Haute Couture Blood Bags<a href="http://www.medgadget.com/archives/2010/10/haute_couture_blood_bags.html">Haute Couture Blood Bags</a>: <div>From Medgadget:<br /><p><img alt="22m8s1v5.jpg" src="http://www.medgadget.com/archives/img/22m8s1v5.jpg" width="468" height="569" /><br /><br /></p><blockquote>Designer Jihye Lee proposes a different look for blood collection bags featuring a more solid construction, large labeling of blood type, and a look as though it's meant for sale on 5th Avenue.</blockquote><p></p><br /><br /><p><img alt="vod044sf.jpg" src="http://www.medgadget.com/archives/img/vod044sf.jpg" width="468" height="349" /></p><p><a href="http://www.yankodesign.com/2010/10/01/glam-pack-for-blood/">Link @ Yanko Design...</a></p></div>Josehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09194821061085769816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3868816609624444975.post-19992040797462453932010-09-14T09:43:00.005-05:002010-09-14T09:56:03.673-05:003D printing goes mainstream ...beyond rapid-prototyping3D printing has advanced from being a prototyping tool for designers to a manufacturing implement to make a variety of<img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 190px; height: 127px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR-8AdGU6vM8s1t7T4p_qXDGFcbT7Iv2Zeax8WGeXWodNCWVy4AncyhQ06Rn-1KO6U874v_sxDoYSR-SG5eis-kj54wzYq5z8sCE7jv64dSiqkvdIYZtOrNaDIBzS-jWW03eiYPysdOCk/s200/Print1-articleInline.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5516781887561948114" /> different objects like prosthetics, medical devices and even houses! Excellent article in <a href="http://video.nytimes.com/video/2010/09/13/technology/1248068999175/desktop-manufacturing.html">today's New York Times</a> about the varied applications and players involved in this exciting new arena.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3868816609624444975.post-19011070428467042022010-09-13T14:40:00.003-05:002010-09-13T14:51:07.052-05:00Geographic Epidemiology with mobile phones and GPS<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRBslfj6v0cDi_q-K9o4tePUl_ZbLDiBaz5MIoGSqdr0NhFVZsa9BPlAeYteDqMIRiISRFeoNClhFoRczFtQCIXbPLMw6GxD8czILVD1IayyMEOQG13SkyQvT8golxWtu3YjjkQH-MevE/s1600/ROADKILL2-popup.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 192px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRBslfj6v0cDi_q-K9o4tePUl_ZbLDiBaz5MIoGSqdr0NhFVZsa9BPlAeYteDqMIRiISRFeoNClhFoRczFtQCIXbPLMw6GxD8czILVD1IayyMEOQG13SkyQvT8golxWtu3YjjkQH-MevE/s320/ROADKILL2-popup.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5516486744685521826" /></a><br /><div>Terrific<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/13/technology/13roadkill.html?_r=1"> piece</a> in today's New York Times on a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/09/13/technology/20100913-roadkill/index.html">project to assess the impact of roads and traffic on wildlife</a>. Dr. Ron Ringen, a retired veterinarian has been mapping roadkill on a stretch of highway near his home - he photographs the roadkill and uses GPS coordinates to overlay markers on a Google Map thereby generating a visually rich, real-time display. The project is now growing by leaps and bounds and attracting the attention of government regulatory authorities, insurance companies and environmental groups.</div><div><br /></div><div>Can you imagine if John Snow had this technology in 1854 ...how long would it have taken him to trace cholera to that contaminated pump on Broad Street ...!</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3868816609624444975.post-48485473532470349372010-09-09T09:19:00.004-05:002010-09-09T09:31:16.555-05:00MIT introduces NETRA: eye exam on a phoneMIT News reports on a new Media Lab <a href="http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2010/itw-eyes.html">technology</a> that could revolutionize the way eye tests are done in the developing world.<br /><br />from the news site:<br /><blockquote>Now, a team at MIT's Media Lab has come up with a much quicker, simpler and cheaper way to get the same information — a method that is especially suitable for remote, developing-world locations that lack these expensive systems. Two billion people have refractive errors, and according to the World Health Organization, uncorrected refractive errors are the world's second-highest cause of blindness, affecting some 2 percent of the world's population; all these people are potential beneficiaries of the new system. The team is preparing to conduct clinical trials, but preliminary testing with about 20 people, and objective tests using camera lenses, have shown that it can achieve results comparable to the standard aberrometer test.</blockquote><br /><br />I think is representative of what is really going to make mobile health tick: mobile medical peripherals. We've seen this concept work before: mobile glucometers, stethoscopes, and telemedical setups like ClickDisgnostics.<br /><br />MIT News:<br /><blockquote>The team will be field-testing the device in the Boston area this summer and will later test it in developing countries. The team already has applied for a patent on the system, named NETRA (Near-Eye Tool for Refractive Assessment), and team members won a prize this year in MIT’s annual IDEAS competition — a contest for inventions and business ideas that have a potential to make a significant impact in the developing world — and were finalists in the 2010 student-run MIT $100K Business Plan Competition.</blockquote>Josehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09194821061085769816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3868816609624444975.post-83101667668468300182010-09-06T22:34:00.003-05:002010-09-06T22:38:34.577-05:00The Marmota Project Could Be the Next Big Thing for Augmented Reality<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://tev.fbk.eu/marmota/images/contentcreation01.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 150px;" src="http://tev.fbk.eu/marmota/images/contentcreation01.png" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Augment reality could provide field workers with instant information about a site, it's health, and nearby resources. <a href="http://tev.fbk.eu/marmota/index.html">Project Marmota</a>, while not health-centric (yet, we're going to send an email) could very well provide the tools to make it happen. <div><br /></div><div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div>Josehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09194821061085769816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3868816609624444975.post-42336561952022053222010-08-17T07:55:00.018-05:002010-08-18T22:42:20.149-05:00SciFoo 2010 and its Disney World of Big Ideas<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://pimm.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/sci_foo_web.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 280px; height: 325px;" src="http://pimm.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/sci_foo_web.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-style:italic;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">SciFoo</span> is annual gathering of scientists, technologists, and geeks in general held at Googleplex in Mountain View.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Thursday</span><br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">SciFoo</span> is 24 hours away. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Pretrip</span> planning becomes calm excitement as the participant updates grow on the wiki. The list reads like a runway show of scientists and technologists. <a href="http://web.mit.edu/langerlab/langer.html">Bob <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Langer</span></a>, <a href="http://www.frankwilczek.com/">Frank <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Wilczek</span></a>, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/esther-dyson">Esther Dyson</a>, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/09/opinion/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/09/opinion/09lanier.html"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Jaron</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Lanier</span></a>, <a href="http://www.billnye.com/">Bill Nye</a>.<br /><br />It’s not a name dropping contest. The list is interrupted by awesome descriptions of new people and ideas that are now on my Must-Meet/Must-See List. <div></div><blockquote><div><i>Big Data: <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Exascale</span> Astronomy</i></div><div></div><i><br />Open-source drug discovery: possible or not?</i><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 27px; font-family:sans-serif;font-size:18px;"><i><b></b></i></span></div><i><br />The Joys and Sorrows of Blogging on a Network</i><div><i><br />Do We Live in a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Multiverse</span>?</i></div><div><i><br />What is the minimum publishable unit? And should we start doing it?</i></div><div><i><br />Automating Science</i></div><div><i><br />Motivating People to Help the World's Poor</i></div><div><i><br />Lab Books 2.0</i></div></blockquote><div><div><div>So I plan—the type of planning you'd do at Disney World to make sure you meet your favorite characters. Remember how dad would <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">optimize</span> the schedule to be first in line for Space Mountain and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Tomorrowland</span> Transit Authority? That's me scribbling people's <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">bio's</span> and the session suggestions.<br /><br />We’re not in Florida and it’s not Disney. This is <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">SciFoo</span> at the Googleplex—Space Mountain has the possibility of going to a one of many <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">multiverses</span> according to <a href="http://web.mit.edu/physics/people/faculty/guth_alan.html">Alan <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">Guth</span></a>, and the car designs in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">Tomorrowland</span> could be explained by evolutionary design instructions presented by Cornell’s <a href="http://www.mae.cornell.edu/lipson/">Hod <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">Lipson</span></a>. Instead of Cinderella, we get a Nobel Prize winning physicist, <a href="http://homes.bio.psu.edu/people/faculty/bshapiro/">a fossil expert</a>, a <a href="http://www.alisongopnik.com/">baby psychologist</a>, a <a href="http://www.timetric.com/">chemical-informatics-expert-turned-world-economic-data-indexer </a>and a science toy <a href="http://scitoys.com/">expert</a>. That and a guy who reconstructed Babbage’s Difference Engine.<br /><br />Out of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">Legos</span>.</div><div><br /><object width="500" height="306"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/i_u3hpYMySk?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/i_u3hpYMySk?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="500" height="306"></embed></object><br /><br /></div><div><b>Friday</b></div><div>Nature, Wired, Discover, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">PNAS</span>, and the Science and Technology Sections of the New York Times have come alive.<br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(85, 26, 139); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4091/4847182844_565b93bd71_m.jpg" border="0" alt="" style="float: right; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 240px; " /></span>Disney World turns into a Black Friday frenzy as folks dash to two-day scheduling board to secure session spot. Here's where I am awed the controlled chaos that the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">SciFoo</span> team creates: Small details like blocking of certain hours for people arriving late. Printing every single</div><a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4091/4847182844_565b93bd71_m.jpg"></a><div>participate picture on the wall so you can recognize cool people to run into. Generous sources of caffeine. Handing out tiny little red notebooks to write anything, because you are swimming in ideas. Tim <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">O'Reilly's</span> strong suggestion to stay off the computer and focus on the content and face-to-face interaction.<br /><br /></div><div>Photo taken by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/easternblot/"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">Easternblot</span></a></div><div><br />Friday night begins to paint a multicolored picture of the weekend.<br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBW8NyiKGG8ih5Pb1nDWhq2m4G3hSgtq_oWz8Ym6Ezk953jwwrt4G0g1ewgKTBs4jd_NYrAZMzDysJjzGB3T4oPx6SKnrwqQkcECMVAZigFQESz0kvZYVtMI83-8LJ22YiWoLotFbwqMFr/s320/scifoo1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506888924924055458" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; " /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><br /></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "></span>References to <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">fire hoses</span> are woefully inadequate. I meet up with <a href="http://www.iop.kcl.ac.uk/staff/profile/default.aspx?go=10947">Vaughan Bell</a>, a British <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">neuropsychologist</span> working in Colombia, to plan a session “The State of Third World Science”. Logistics in place, we check out the outdoor bar, where I find some doughnuts with <a href="http://www.technologyreview.com/TR35/Profile.aspx?trid=764">Michelle <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24">Khine</span></a> and trade notes on lab-on-a-chip systems made from <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_25">Shrinky</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_26">Dinks</span>. Carnegie-Mellon’s <a href="http://www.technologyreview.com/tr35/Profile.aspx?TRID=818">Adrien <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_27">Treuille</span></a> and I seem to be on <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_28">someone's</span> favorite invite list–we ran into each other at <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/06/15/polishing-technology-s-golden-triangle"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_29">PCAST</span></a> three weeks ago. The co-developer of <a href="http://fold.it/portal/">Fold It</a> and I trade ideas on <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_30">nebulizer</span> flow simulation.<br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/lGYJyur4FUA?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/lGYJyur4FUA?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />Then I run into <a href="http://twitter.com/sqfield">Simon Field</a> from <a href="http://scitoys.com/"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_31">SciToys</span>.com</a>. We’<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_32">ve</span> never met–but we are on each other's list and spend the next couple days brainstorming ideas for my next medical device. Simon gave me a crash course on <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_33">DIY</span> optics which led to a laser microscope construction with two <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_34">webcam</span> lenses he gave me. This will come in handy as a class exercise if I write about instant prototyping anytime soon. </div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ4iGM18qkVhn8ikajgcdrwoY9EDdmaxhudXSyX1v_GEg2jV1fwBdRHdWkHNqhC4RgUXozaWxmDqGSofb9KGp-lPAVrMYQnVZyxMFXtx1FpgEUlogDlGFYgzuFtIS9XToaMTqRJpZOpNbt/s320/scope.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506905072555952546" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><br /></span></div><div><b>Saturday</b></div><div>Speaking of writing, it’s textbooks that have the group at 9 AM on Saturday all excited–the future of textbook that is. After that, I’m about to go to <a href="http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100204/full/news.2010.50.html">Matt Todd</a>’s talk on Open Science but it's 10 AM and realized that Vaughn and I are up in Beirut (the name of the room) to kick off our discussion on Third World Science and Scientists. What else would you do on a Saturday morning in sunny California.<br /><br />To find out about the conclusions of our talk click <a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=3868816609624444975&postID=4233656195202205322#">here</a>. After this, it’s decisions decisions decisions so I crashed the lightning talks and pay attention to Three Rules for Mad Scientists (<a href="http://twitter.com/garrettlisi">Garrett <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_35">Lisi</span></a>), <a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/2010/08/03/letter-from-scifoo-the-joys-and-sorrows-of-the-unconference/">Carl <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_36">Zimme</span></a><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_37">r's</span> Three Rules to be Understood; </div><div><br /></div><div>From his <a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/2010/08/03/letter-from-scifoo-the-joys-and-sorrows-of-the-unconference/">Blog</a>:</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgLQoKOOhMrlR9vgpDIJb6ImTigRWfCR7gaXoNPZzkKtWXbFIB9EiezLA1ztS5b0LT_WYdRYjXrhOKIggfTRoMMvO6oHdcT-XgZFix5_fy4uzKqNvySqBWBgXotvoQ5Ntiv1tx86WUxrI-/s320/Screen+shot+2010-08-18+at+7.36.40+PM.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506898151327981378" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 229px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></div><div><br /></div><div>After that, <a href="http://www.jonahlehrer.com/">Jonah <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_38">Lerer</span></a> describes how to engineer aha moments, I have one of my very own. I run into rapid prototyping guru Hod <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_39">Lipson</span> from Cornell (<a href="http://fabathome.org/">Fab@Home</a>). I get a crash course–I get a lot of the these over the weekend— on our RP tech and its future. He went on to host two sessions where he challenged us to describe the killer app for personal fabrication. My money’s diagnostic manufacturing and on-demand drugs for remote regions .</div><div><br />Fabrication, objects, convenience and immediacy took a back seat during a fiery discussion on the Templeton Foundation where I got to meet <a href="http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2010/06/relive-your-hiking-biking-and-other.html">Dan <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_40">Barcay</span></a> of Google and <a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Blown-to-Bits/Hal-Abelson/e/9780137135592">Hal Abelson</a> of MIT–Cambridge geeks tend to gravitate, especially when we can commiserate about the awful weather waiting for us back home. After mentally bracing the upcoming weather we brainstormed on using the new Android Inventor App for interfacing medical technologies in the developing world. Stay tuned for an update from Cambridge on that one.</div><div><br /></div><div><object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/8ADwPLSFeY8?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/8ADwPLSFeY8?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object><br /><br />Back in Cambridge is where you find <a href="http://www.corante.com/pipeline/">Derek Lowe</a>, of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_41">Vetter</span> Pharmaceuticals who co-presented with Matt Todd on their quest to pursue the first-ever open source drug discovery platform. They are <a href="http://www.thesynapticleap.org/node/286"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_42">crowdsourcing</span> drug discovery.</a> Everyone can help! </div><div><br /></div><div>That's in fact the point that Peter Singer is trying to convey when he talks about this book The <a href="http://www.thelifeyoucansave.com/">Life You Can Save</a> and its message about helping the poor through the individual commitments of everyday people.<br /><br />It's 5 PM and my brain is running faster than I can talk—sentences seem to fade off as constantly get distracted…that’s Tim O’Reilly, wait did that other guy say prototyping structures out of DNA…I want to try Simon’s Air Canon.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrzdZwV0sUZkAJ77MQ949Ya6sqs2RkGrE1sxSc1OwHD6UzTRRcksa8FC0j5d0u4sssY7A-0lSdkOtjSPbDf0NNCk0nhfCnKHWiQb9J8WJ2q2rD5B661BAJnOaF6TKs5ML75XF-iarUb1Kv/s1600/joseIMG_6450.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrzdZwV0sUZkAJ77MQ949Ya6sqs2RkGrE1sxSc1OwHD6UzTRRcksa8FC0j5d0u4sssY7A-0lSdkOtjSPbDf0NNCk0nhfCnKHWiQb9J8WJ2q2rD5B661BAJnOaF6TKs5ML75XF-iarUb1Kv/s320/joseIMG_6450.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506899379107405058" style="float: right; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; " /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center; "><a href="http://pimm.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/sci_foo_web.jpg"></a></div>I'm next and I’m not going to lie— kind of freaking out because no one voted for my session: <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_43">DIY</span> Medical Technologies. I'll be happy if 5 people show up–including a friend from MIT. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_44">MEDIKit</span> in hand, I find that the room is full, the projector is ready (after some trial and error) and I try my <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_45">darnedest</span> to focus on being open and candid. We’re not selling research, we’re sharing what’s working and what’s not. This is by far the smartest group of folks I've encountered, let alone present to. They wowed me with their questions, challenge my positions, and played with our gadgets. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_46">DIY</span> Medical Tech might make it after all.</div><div><br /></div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDov97fqAW9omkyBRSEEQmeE5Dj_n8RJ5mFDqRvCG5VPP3345vXP-KmHI893vSTowpnT_wf4QoU0pSFVSeXqHmyHqoZxFBW9gA3ZfAi1beccXFcSV1xPvShLwPtqy6q-MneQMiRmED1EVe/s320/scifoo2photo.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506900174318782770" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; " /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "></span><br />As the evening opens up for dinner, I strike to strike a conversation with a <a href="http://www.practicalbioethics.org/cpb.aspx?pgID=875&newsID=147&exCompID=98"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_47">bioethicist</span></a> on the merits of regulatory reform for global health medical devices; schedule prototypes of diagnostics with Hal Abelson, learn about <a href="http://openmicroscopy.org/site">open source microscopy</a> environments from <a href="http://gre.lifesci.dundee.ac.uk/staff/jason_swedlow.html">Jason <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_48">Swedlow</span></a>. </div><div><br /></div><div>It's easy, it's friendly and these folks have nothing to prove but everything to share. Disney should learn from <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_49">Scifoo</span> because for geeks, this is the Magic Kingdom, where we can wish upon a star, or rapid prototype your own.</div></div></div>Josehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09194821061085769816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3868816609624444975.post-58663662468693493002010-08-05T19:11:00.004-05:002010-08-05T19:30:35.124-05:00New Fund Open for Medical Technology Innovation in India thanks to Wellcome Trust<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwidKrkMURNrb4gebOGV16dOI4s1Hum-mCuyJy4-UEO5pzmE3R8xiCVWttzvlkzCXRFQBfHoyhp02gGiovByTDHnYhqP5zR4N2_WnbxeKXP1_emLnYQ4jrOLnhf1ATstVNFtxj-RQ3SaDw/s1600/Screen+shot+2010-08-05+at+8.28.21+PM.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 308px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwidKrkMURNrb4gebOGV16dOI4s1Hum-mCuyJy4-UEO5pzmE3R8xiCVWttzvlkzCXRFQBfHoyhp02gGiovByTDHnYhqP5zR4N2_WnbxeKXP1_emLnYQ4jrOLnhf1ATstVNFtxj-RQ3SaDw/s320/Screen+shot+2010-08-05+at+8.28.21+PM.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5502087311267147922" /></a><div><br /></div>Wellcome Trust, the group behind artemisinin and human genome sequencing at the Sanger Institute has just bolstered an existing £80 million initiative to support Indian scientists working on medtech. The project's aim is truly enviable: India and the Wellcome Trust are each contributing £22.5 into a fund for product development of healthcare products. <div><br />The <a href="http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/News/Media-office/Press-releases/2010/WTX060350.htm">press release</a> is sparse on operational details, and that’s what we’re watching out for. The memo says that <blockquote>“to bring together researchers from both the public and private sectors, largely working in India, to develop innovative new devices, diagnostics, medicines and vaccines that will reach the greatest numbers of beneficiaries, without compromising on quality.”</blockquote>I hope that includes researchers in other countries, and institutions currently working in the area so that our Indian colleagues won’t have to reinvent the wheel and instead open up their initiatives to co-discovery. I also hope that it can lead impact on the ground and in remote areas and not just a gateway for Indian exports to wealthier markets. That model has been done before, and we sincerely need one that addresses patients living in the lowest economic levels of the pyramid.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><b>R&D for Affordable Heatlhcare Initiative<br /></b><ul><li>What: Affordable healthcare products for India</li><li>Who: Welcomme Trust and DBT Alliance India</li><li>Who can play: Anyone operating in India with or with a project in India</li><li>More at <a href="http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/News/Media-office/Press-releases/2010/WTX060350.htm">Wellcome Trust</a></li></ul></div></div>Josehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04270981158961851849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3868816609624444975.post-72220753906602654392010-08-05T07:38:00.001-05:002010-08-05T19:35:39.187-05:00Quants versus Newtonian Managers<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 13px/normal Silom; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:verdana, serif;"></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:verdana, serif;"><blockquote></blockquote><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Verdana"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I’ve yet to read the </span><a href="http://designthinking.ideo.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">book</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">. As a designer a lot of the descriptions on Design Thinking seem to be obvious in what I do. I’m sure there is more it. In the meantime, The New York Times has a short analysis on how Designs Thinking and Six Sigma (I’m not necessarily a fan) can co-exist successfully.</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Silom; min-height: 19.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Verdana"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Chuck Jones at Whirlpool tells the </span><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/06/business/06proto.html"><span style="text-decoration: underline ; color:#55208b;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">NYTimes</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">:</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Verdana"></p><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">“Design thinkers, he says, are like quantum physicists, able to consider a world in which anything — like traveling at the speed of light — is theoretically possible. But the majority of people, include Six Sigma advocates in most corporations, think more like Newtonian physicists — focused on measurements along three well-defined dimensions.</span></blockquote><p></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Verdana"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Analysis of case studies are great, but as SELCO Solar’s Harish Hande says, go out and create your case study. So whether it’s reengineering, agile management, Six Sigma, or Design Thinking, let’s be on the lookout for groups that leave the best model out there—the one that delivers an impact to the customer (or the patient).</span></p></span>Josehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04270981158961851849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3868816609624444975.post-33245553180437291012010-06-14T08:56:00.002-05:002010-06-14T09:00:41.470-05:00LinkdropMy tweeter feed has resulted in some new blogs that cover global health and global health issues. Check them out!<div><br /></div><div><a href="http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1995199_1995197_1995176-1,00.html">Time Magazine on the challenges</a></div><div><a href="http://www.theglobalhealthblog.org/">Global Health Blog</a></div><div><a href="http://www.globalhealth.org/conference_2010/">The Global Health Council conference</a> </div><div><br /></div>Josehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04270981158961851849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3868816609624444975.post-17284924853220667322010-06-14T08:31:00.001-05:002010-06-14T08:31:16.230-05:00Florida TB Hospital Reminds the Disease is Closer We Remember<p><img title="Screen shot 2010-06-13 at 11.09.49 AM.png" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_n1pC-XrY5_k/TBYvF10tVQI/AAAAAAAACOk/EzyGC-Qb7jg/Screen%20shot%202010-06-13%20at%2011.09.49%20AM.png?imgmax=800" border="0" alt="Screen shot 2010-06-13 at 11.09.49 AM.png" width="400" height="264" /></p><p>The NYTimes is featuring the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/13/health/13tuberculosis.html?scp=1&sq=tuberculosis&st=cse">oldest TB sanatoriums</a> on their cover page. A.G. Holley is a state run facility in Florida that cares for patients who have failed to complete TB therapy. Many of them are being treatment for multiple drug resistant tuberculosis.</p><blockquote><p> </p><p>Sixty years after it opened, it is both a paragon of globalized public health and a health care anachronism, where strangers live together for months with boredom, pills, pain, contemplation and the same ancient disease that killed George Orwell, Franz Kafka and Eleanor Roosevelt. There used to be 500 patients here, surrounded by brush, with nursing quarters segregated by race. Now, no more than 50 live in the main building, above echoing, empty floors sometimes rented out as a location for filming horror movies.</p><p>They have all moved in, like generations past, because they are unable to control their illnesses. Some have traditional TB, the airborne contagion carried by one-third of the world’s population, which becomes a lung-wasting menace in only about 10 percent of the infected. A growing number of others arrive with drug-resistant mutations that can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to treat.</p><p> </p></blockquote><p><img title="Screen shot 2010-06-13 at 11.10.03 AM.png" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_n1pC-XrY5_k/TBYvHwcJymI/AAAAAAAACOs/5Vt0avIsAWw/Screen%20shot%202010-06-13%20at%2011.10.03%20AM.png?imgmax=800" border="0" alt="Screen shot 2010-06-13 at 11.10.03 AM.png" width="400" height="265" /></p><p>One of the things that is interesting about the story is the notion of how the word 'sanatorium' remains part of the hospital's culture. Patients can get dentures, healthcare beyond TB treatment, and even on-site cultural events.</p><blockquote><p><p>Patients also leave with more than just stronger lungs. Maintaining old sanitarium ideals, Holley offers care beyond TB, whether dentures and eyeglasses or cultural activities, including outdoor classical music concerts for the noncontagious. Many Holley residents who hated arriving end up leaving profoundly changed.</p><p>“It’s not uncommon, as patients get better, for them to see this as a second chance at life,” says Dr. David Ashkin, Holley’s medical director, a Brooklynite with a hard-rock ’80s mullet. “It’s very spiritual and life changing to go from nearly dead to alive.”</p></p></blockquote><p> </p><p><img title="Screen shot 2010-06-13 at 11.09.36 AM.png" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_n1pC-XrY5_k/TBYvIgJyaNI/AAAAAAAACOw/SXmYQ4IURG0/Screen%20shot%202010-06-13%20at%2011.09.36%20AM.png?imgmax=800" border="0" alt="Screen shot 2010-06-13 at 11.09.36 AM.png" width="400" height="263" /></p><p>More at <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/13/health/13tuberculosis.html?pagewanted=1&sq=tuberculosis&st=cse&scp=1">NYTimes</a></p>Josehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04270981158961851849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3868816609624444975.post-17001321086258971832010-05-06T13:45:00.002-05:002010-05-06T13:47:25.858-05:00Colorado University Dry-Powder Measles Vaccine device on videoFor the last few years, Dr. Robert Sievers and his team have been using <a href="http://www.aktiv-dry.com/">Activ-Dry</a> technology to create an inhalable measles vaccine.<br /><embed src="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f8/1786720821" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" flashvars="videoId=82926866001&playerId=1786720821&viewerSecureGatewayURL=https://console.brightcove.com/services/amfgateway&servicesURL=http://services.brightcove.com/services&cdnURL=http://admin.brightcove.com&domain=embed&autoStart=false&" base="http://admin.brightcove.com" name="flashObj" width="486" height="412" seamlesstabbing="false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" swliveconnect="true" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash"></embed>Josehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04270981158961851849noreply@blogger.com0