Final Post - Sites visted and comments left

As a final post for Project #1, I'd like to say it has been a great experience learning how to create a blog and post messages weekly. It has truly been a learning experience and I have enjoyed reading other students posts and ideas.

I commented on the following 3 blogs during this project:

Professional Blog on Medical Device Contract Manufacturers on October 10, 2011:
 http://www.twitopic.com/medical-device-contract-manufacturers-medical-device-consultancy.html

Student Blogs on October 24, 2011:
 

Brittany

Moore

http://bmoore02.blogspot.com/

Fashion

and

Michael

Lawrence

Http://mikelaw-thegenderanswerandchoice.blogspot.com/

Technology

Week 9 - Database

We continued to discuss databases in class this week, so I will use this post to do some revisiting and updating of ideas.

The name of this blog is titled 'Images You Can Use' because the idea is every household would be able to purchase and use a hand held medical device, approximately the size of an iPhone, hereafter called the MD. The MD would greatly assist its' owners with determining a vast amount of information based on a scan of that persons injury or affected area. A brief description of information the MD would display on it's approximately 4x6 screen is: an image of the scanned area showing whether a muscle is bruise or a bone is fractured or broken, a persons temperature and whether or not they are congested with a cold or the flu, if an artery is clogged, and many other types of medical diagnosis. It would also show: recommendations for the infected area, whether the injury is minor or if further professional medical attention is needed. It would give the names of the injury's, brief medical definitions and recommend treatments. The GPS system would display the names, addresses and phone numbers of physicians, specialists and hospitals closest to the MD's current position, the new Apple Siri system would allow the owner to talk to the device if they needed to call for help or they could just dial the number on the telephone pad which would display in a smaller screen on the phone.

The display screen would show different information in different colors to make it easy for the owner to know if something was serious or not. For example, the color Red would always mean something was serious, the color Green would mean everything was ok, and the color Blue, well, we'll figure out what all the other multiple colors would mean. The MD will have a special instructions section explaining all of this for easy reference. Not only would images of scans display in this multi-color way, names and addresses would display in a similar way.

Once developed, this device would first be used in hospital or medical clinic settings to determine its effectiveness. Once 'tweaked' for improvements, it would be marketed to, and tested on adult professional athlete's such as bicyclist, climbers, boxers, football players and other professions where injury's are higher then the norm and where experienced, trained and qualified medical professionals would further test the MD on their athletes. Once 'tweaked' and improved again, the MD will be marketed to College and High School athletic departments, little league teams,d homes and other identified markets all across the country.

In conclusion, I believe the MD will show everyday people 'Images They Can Use' and would appreciate having. Making us all greater advocates for our own well being and for better health care.  Oh, and it has to be very affordable... which, of course, is a relative term.

Week 8 - Using A Database

A database will come in extremely handy with the MD because it will help the owner keep track of all data compiled when use. Every time the owner uses the device, it will store the information in a database based on the date of incident, type of scan, recommendation made, medical treatment referred and more. This would be very similar to the medical history doctors and hospitals keep on patients when they visit.

When the owner takes their MD to the doctor or hospital, that facility will be able to download the data from the MD into their system for storage in their database for future reference and vice versa. With this type of data system, owners of the MD will always have access to their medical history on a continual basis. No longer will owners have to complete paperwork about their medical history. They can simply bring in the MD and download it for the medical professional, regardless of location.

Medical professionals will be able to see what doctors owners have visited, the addresses and phone numbers of those physicians and what the purpose was for the visit. An extremely efficient and accurate system.

Week 7 - Digital Color

The MD display screen will be a multicolor screen, which would make it more attractive and user friendly.

When the user scans their image it will be displayed in full color with the color red indicating the most affected area of the scan. If there is actually a problem, such as a fracture, concussion, break, or other situation that needs medical attention, that area will be easily visible by the red image with a description of the image displayed on the next screen, also in red. Blue and green will also play an indicating role on the image, showing blockages or some other meaning.

When using the GPS system on the MD, it will operate very much like the current Garmin device in that the screen will display differently depending on whether it is morning or evening and the road map will display in green or blue depending on whether it is in morning or evening mode. Destinations will be indicated by a yellow or orange box, with the address printed inside that box. The GPS system will also show route alternatives in purple, green or blue, each color representing either a ‘fastest’, ‘shortest’, or ‘unrestricted’ route map for the viewer.

Overall, the MD will operate very much like existing devices that clearly show easily distinguishable images making it easy to read and follow. When addresses are displayed, the closest address will not only be at the top of the list, but will also show up in a highlighted color. High screen resolution will be a priority because of the nature and importance of the information being sent. Viewers may have to make extremely fast decisions, and easily identifiable color codes will assist in that process.

Professional Blogger: Medical Device Contract Manufacturers

Fof this weeks blog, I will be commenting on the professional blog site that talks about the development of  medical device idea's and what that entails.

I visited the blog site of Medical Device Contract Manufacturers at the following link:
http://www.twitopic.com/medical-device-contract-manufacturers-medical-device-consultancy.html

This link had some limited, but pretty good information on the latest trends in the manufacturing industry and the different classes of medical device development. They specifically state that:

The responsibilities and paradigms of designers make them distinguishable professionals’ medical device industry. Here are three distinct classes that manufacturers should take into account:

CLASS I devices
These are comprised of minor devices that are easily useful for user by a regular health practitioner.

CLASSICAL II devices

It is great for companies to look for medical device manufacturers that are able to focus on devices that can manage a number of controls. These are medical devices that are built with firmer types of support and need controls over a long period of time.
Certain types of devices can work with Class II standards from FDA fluctuate. These include stuff such as electric wheelchairs.

CLASSICAL III devices are highly invasive
These devices necessitate are ones that are appropriately controlled to make sure that user will be safe and not deal with any possible hazards.
Medical device manufacturing used in preparing in medical instruments and medical device consultancy are very important as it allows greater expansion of products.

This site may be a great resource for medical device entrepreneurs because it also offers information on who is already in the industry and what they will do for you. Such as The Skyward Group, LP, a distinguished company that provides manufacturing, funding and medical device consulting. This company has been in the medical device industry for more than thirty years and the blog site suggest's Skyward Group's service and expertise are tried and proven to be effective.

A good site to stop by for anyone beginning their research on their medical device idea. I didn't see any additional posts, or resources, but this was an interesting and encouraging beginning.

IST195 - Week 5 Input Devices

IST 195 Week 5 – Input Devices

Having received two comments on my Blog, I would like to start off by saying ‘Thank You’ to both commenter’s, (is that a word?). Your feedback has giving me some great ideas for improving the MD and making it more viable as a publicly available and helpful devise.

First, I would like to add that purchasers of the MD would be required to input their cellular phone numbers so they could be contacted in the event of an emergency. The devise would serve many of the purposes that currently exist on an IPhone, but it would only be used in emergency situations as it would be marketed as a medical assistance devise, not an everyday use devise. The MD would also be heavily marketed to people and organizations actively involved in sports such as professional sporting organizations such as the National Football League, National Basketball Association, National Hockey League, Boxing professionals and Doctors, Colleges and Universities and High School Athletic Departments. Individuals involved in extreme sports such as rock climbers, runners, off road bike riders, skiers, and other extreme sports participants would also be a good market for this devise. (Thanks Carolyn)

The MD would also have a GPS system so users can get directions to the nearest medical facility or emergency room. The GPS would also provide addresses and telephone numbers to the hospital and just as OnStar in vehicles notifies emergency services of an accident and/or medical attention need, the MD GPS system would have those same capabilities in case the owner of the device is rendered unresponsive and someone assisting him/her scans their body and it is determined they need IMMEDIATE medical attentions. The owner’s exact location would be displayed and their cell phone would be called, notifying them, or whoever is with them, that help is on the way.

During week 5 in IST195, we talked about Input Devices, megapixels in digital cameras, voice recognition and RFID tags. Each of these devices could play a substantial role in the effective us of the MD. The RFID would be used as part of the scanning process, the voice recognition software could be used to allow the owner to ‘ask’ for 911 in case they don’t have the use of their hands and the digital camera megapixel’s technology would be great for the scanning process.

The only thing about the MD, is the liability the developer faces in the event of a misdiagnosis, or any other type of misinformation. The user would need to be a very intelligent person who follows their instincts and uses the device only as a backup to what they believe they should do. There would need to be a lot of legalize language exempting the developer from lawsuits in the event of ‘operator error’. But I still think it’s a great idea… and is going to make somebody a lot of money!

Week 4 - Hardware & Privacy

When designing the Medical Detector (hereafter referred to as the ‘MD’) it is vitally important to keep in mind both the size and capabilities of the device. Fortunately CPU’s, RAM, Video Card’s and other aspects of the devise have already been developed in the size necessary to keep the ‘MD’ small enough to fit in your pocket or pocket book. Processor speed fast enough to read and deliver results in seconds is crucial to the success of the ‘MD as there may be life or death situations when the ‘MD’ is depended on for recommended action.

Once a scan has been performed, owners will be able to take their ‘MD’ to the nearest Doctor, clinic, or hospital where medical service providers will be able to view results of the scan.  High quality video cards will show images of the scanned area, and high frequency sound cards will emit sounds of the recorded heart rhythm captured during the scan. If necessary, this information can be downloaded to external recording devises such as memory cards, cd’s or DVD’s, to be sent off, or otherwise transmitted, to specialists for further diagnosis and treatment recommendations.

Overall, the ‘MD’ could be relatively easy to develop because the necessary hardware and technology already exists, simply not for this specific purpose and target audience. The software also exists, it just has to be modified to serve the purpose of the ‘MD’ and have certain privacy protections installed to protect the confidentiality of this sensitive information.

While I still think there are a lot of very sensitive issues associated with developing and selling a ‘MD’ device to the public, the more I blog about this idea, the more I believe in the necessity for such a devise. I also believe that in a day and age when more and more hardware and technology are being developed to make our lives easier, ability to perform tasks faster and ability to communicate both easier and faster, I strongly believe a devise that would help us be healthier and live longer should be at the top of SOMEBODY’S list for development.

Week 3 - Spreadsheet Essentials - Excel

So here we go. On to chapter 2 of 'Images You Can Use', based on the idea that we would all benefit from the use of an IPad or Iphone sized medical detector, a device that would scan an area of our body and show an x-ray type image, give a diagnosis and make treatment recommendations and website references for further research, and recommend specialists in the area for treatment.

The Excel spreadsheet essentials lesson during week 3 lecture 2, gave me some ideas on how medical professionals all over the world could track and document the use of the medical detector, its efficiency and effectiveness, and where changes need to be made to make it more beneficial to the general public.

Excel is a perfect program to track the use of the medical detector. The device could be programmed so every time a person uses it, they would have to input information such as their gender, age, geographical location, type of medical emergency, recommendations made by the medical device and whether or not that information was accurate, relevant and helpful. All kinds of additional information could be required each time the medical detector is used and that information would be stored in a central system available to medical professionals all over the world so they could see how the device was being used.

The simple use of formula’s and functions would show results on the accuracy of diagnosis, what sources were recommended and what actions were taken. This information could then be color coded and graphed for easy review using the charts and illustrations. Using the sort and filter function, the date could be sorted by city, county or state, or even regionally by states or countries. The filter could also show what type of emergencies were being reported, in what parts of the country or world, and which of those had a higher success rate of treatment and why.

Information gathered could be ranked according to seriousness of injury, color coded to highlight correct and incorrect predictions, number of similar conditions, number of incidents per city/state and overall outcomes as a result of having the device.

By using the ‘get external data’ function, information for other medical reporting sources could be calculated against information received from the medical detector to compare results and highlight valuable resources.

Using Excel as a data reporting resource could significantly increase the medical professions knowledge of medical history around the world if every home owner had a medical detector and used it to input information about their use of the device.

Initial idea for Images I believe You Can Use...

How many times have you fallen ill, suffered a fall or experienced some other form of injury that sent you running to the emergency room only to discover it was a minor issue but now you have a $25,000 hospital bill to pay? And if you have children, have you ever rushed them to the doctor’s office, taking time away from work or other activities, only to be told it’s just an ear ache, or bruised ego, or a splinter in your child’s finger?

I think it is about time every household had access to a ‘medical detector’ that would allow you to scan the area of concern on your body, and get a read out, in the form of an image or text, of how extensive the injury is. Just as the defibrillator became available to the general public because of its life saving abilities, I believe an electronic medical detector would save thousands of dollars and thousands of hours of wasted resources.

When moms, dads, coach’s, nurses and anyone else who has access to the ‘medical detector’, a device the size of an IPad, or an IPhone, they can then visit online medical resources to make informed decisions about rushing to the emergency room or administering two aspirin to remedy the situation. *Searching the web provides specific information, including text, pictures and video on practically any topic. Users of the ‘medical detector’ can **Google, Bing, Ask or use any other website search engine to research the medical detectors diagnosis and administer minor treatments, or rush off to the doctor’s office based on their finding’s.

Since the average website user ***typically only uses two to three words in their text search, the ‘medical detector’ could also offer few words in its diagnosis, making it possible to offer more than one possible diagnosis and recommendation. More and more, people are ****publishing information on the web to share their experiences, success stories, adventures and just about anything you can think of. It would be nice to read online publications about lives being saved because time was of the essence and the ‘medical detector’ was available as an invaluable resource.

Of course certain precautions, disclaimers and other protective measures would have to be put into place however, we are becoming a society that wants information now and more and more, industry is finding ways to provide it. It is probably a short matter of time before you will be able to purchase your ‘medical detector’ at a retailer near you.

Discovering Computers by Shelly Cashman Series

*Pg 85 – Searching the Web  

**Pg 85 – Widely Used Search Tools

***Pg 88 – FAQ 2-4 Search Text Length

*** Pg 98 – Web publishing