“Radical innovation and a true democratization of medical care are within reach, but only if we consumers demand it.”
Dr. Eric Topol brings power to the people in his new book The Creative Destruction of Medicine. This is the best guide I’ve seen to help consumers as well as professionals navigate the uncharted territory of personalized medicine. Read more »
“Now is the time. We’ve proven that it works in the clinic…multiple times and multiple ways. Now is the time that virtual reality (VR) needs to move out of the lab and into every clinic and hospital to deliver the clear benefits.” So began a pointed rallying call from Dr. Walter Greenleaf, who along with Jaron Lanier, pioneered the use of VR in clinical settings.
Known mainly for failing to live up to its potential, a recent conference “Medicine Meets Virtual Reality” (MMVR) highlighted how this label is fading…fast. Read more »
A recent discussion at Swissnex San Francisco provided insights into the challenge of making robots more human. This goal holds profound implications for healthcare and the treatment of injuries to the body and brain. Read more »
Dr. Ida Sim detailed a buzz-making project at the Silicon Valley Health Tech’s “mega-meetup”.
Sim is a Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, where she directs the Center for Clinical and Translational Informatics and is Co-Director of Biomedical Informatics for UCSF’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute. She’s also the co-founder of Open mHealth.
Open mHealth was founded on the principle that there are “certain things we shouldn’t have to build over and over ” for mobile health applications.
The official topic at the BIOMEDevice conference was “speed to market”.
However, four leaders from diverse parts of the medical device industry offered solid and practical advice for all aspects of device design and development.
When asked to name the greatest challenge for device manufacturers in getting products to market, the leaders offered answers similar to those heard elsewhere in life sciences and healthcare. Read more »
With more than ten billion neurons, each connected thousands of times, the brain has been described as the ultimate social networking tool.
Two of the world’s top neuroscientists took center stage at the Bay Area Science Festival to discuss this complex topic, co-sponsored by Swissnex SF.
David Eagleman is a neuroscientist and director of the Laboratory for Perception and Action at Baylor College of Medicine. He’s also a popular author whose most recent book is Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain.
Henry Markram is director of the Blue Brain Project at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) as well as a coordinator of the Human Brain Project. Read more »
Age Structure by Race and Ethnicity
Under the direction of Senior Research Scholar Adele Hayutin, the Stanford Center on Longevity has produced a study of California’s changing demographics. The report includes demographic profiles of more than 200 communities in California, illustrating shifts in age structure and changes in ethnic and racial composition. The project was developed for the California State Library to facilitate greater understanding of how demographic characteristics differ across the state and to help inform decisions regarding changing needs of local communities.
Playing Farmville won’t make you fit.
However, serious injuries can benefit from serious games.
Not convinced? Check out two exhibits at San Francisco’s Swissnex, Think Art – Act Science (through 11/12) and Swiss Game Design Exhibition (through 10/27).
Both exhibits showcase technologies and collaborations between Swiss companies and academic institutions. Companion events are free to the public and include stimulating topics such as Next Level Health: How Games Improve Health and Healthcare.
My favorite demo was for a game created at the Zurich University of the Arts called GABARELLO v1.0.
The game is designed for children who have experienced lower body motor loss, through birth defects, accidents, etc. Children (or adults) are strapped to a special rehabilitation robot on a treadmill and through the use of sophisticated sensors, make the adorable virtual robot “move” across the various surfaces of a planet. This turns rehab work into a treat!
Other partners in the collaboration include University Children’s Hospital Zurich, the Institute for Neuropsychology (University of Zurich) and the Sensory Motor Systems Lab (ETH Zurich).
Successful collaborations like these are a roadmap for what is possible. With the ubiquity of platforms such as X-Box and Wii, look for this exciting trend to continue.
BY ERIN DIGITALE, Stanford News
Pediatric neurologist Michelle Monje led the team that became the first to create an animal model of a rare, fatal brain tumor that strikes young children.
A pediatric brain tumor that causes gruesome suffering is finally yielding its secrets. For the first time, scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine have cultured human cells from this cancer, Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma, and used those cells to create an animal model of the disease. Their discoveries will facilitate research on new treatments for DIPG, a tumor of school-aged children that is now almost universally fatal.
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