-
Medical plastic process developments take center stage
Don Rosato ManufacturingPlastics are integral to the entire medical industry's supply chain and their use is projected to surge as the population ages. As demand for smaller medical devices grows, innovative manufacturing technologies are being adopted to allow for production of ultra-precise designs. The medical device universe encompasses a particularly imposing spectrum of constant technological innovation, including hundreds of different technologies and thousands of types of products.
-
New advances in the hydrophilicity of carotenoids
Dr. Afsaneh Motamed-Khorasani PharmaceuticalCarotenoids have antioxidant properties and are mostly hydrophobic in nature. In recent years, attempts have been made to increase the hydrophilicity of carotenoids due to their potential applications in the medicine and food industries.
-
Medical school education challenges
Rosemary Sparacio Medical & Allied HealthcareIt is no secret that the cost of medical school education has skyrocketed, and enrolling in a medical school in the U.S. is difficult. Along with that, or perhaps as a reaction to that, students turn to schools out of the country and look for other ways to pay for this education. In August, the U.S. government proposed tying students' financial aid to its ratings of colleges using graduation rates, postgraduation employment and income, and affordability as parameters for the ratings. This has proven disastrous for medical schools in the past.
-
Food for thought: Exercise your optimism muscle
Karen Childress Healthcare AdministrationIf you routinely hear phrases like "Why are you so negative?" coming from people who know you well — your spouse, practice partner, office manager or even your children — it may be time to work on building up your optimism muscle. The dictionary definition of optimism is, "a feeling or belief that good things will happen in the future," but deep-seated optimism goes beyond simply the ability to maintain a sunny, hopeful outlook on life.
-
Kinesio taping for skeptics
Heidi Dawson Sports & FitnessKinesio tape, or myofascial tape, has really exploded in popularity in the last five years. It has actually been around for more than 25 years, but has only more recently been used extensively, worldwide. I write this article as a skeptic. I have been a skeptic since I first saw it back in 2007 on David Beckham's bare torso.
-
Health app certification program halted
Pamela Lewis Dolan Medical & Allied HealthcareJust days after the first class of certified mobile apps was announced by an organization that promised to take the guesswork out of app recommendations for physicians, the certification program was halted after it was found to be significantly flawed.
-
The importance of blood vessel reorganization after face transplants
Dorothy L. Tengler Medical & Allied HealthcareFor the handful of full facial transplants that have been performed, there is a complex rehabilitation process during which the patient learns how to eat, speak and make facial expressions again. The biologic changes that happen after full face transplantation were not fully understood until recent discoveries. Researchers have found that in the months following the procedure, the blood vessels in the faces of transplant recipients are actually able to reorganize themselves.
-
Handcuffing the crew: When rules and regulations get in the way
Mark Huber Medical & Allied HealthcareWe all need rules. Especially those of us who fly. The days of reckless barnstorming — especially in the wake of 9/11 and the new national nervousness — are long behind us. Now we go to simulator training, we have best practices, and we get audited by independent watchdogs and insurers. Most of this is good and necessary, but some of it has the effect of retarding flight crew decision-making skills, turning them into mindless automatons who slavishly follow data trails and flight directors, sometimes with tragic results.
-
Meaningful use shows promise in cutting adverse drug events
Pamela Lewis Dolan Healthcare AdministrationThe launch of the meaningful use incentive program was accompanied by many promises of improved patient safety and reduced costs. A new study finds one way in which those promises are holding true. Hospitals that adopted electronic health record systems featuring all five of the meaningful use program's stage 1 medication management functions had fewer adverse drug events compared with hospitals that have not yet implemented those features, according to a study published online Nov. 22 by the American Journal of Managed Care.
-
Medical device plastic material innovations to watch
Don Rosato ManufacturingThe medical device universe encompasses a particularly imposing spectrum of constant technological innovation, including hundreds of different technologies and thousands of types of products. This affords high performance specialty plastics material suppliers unique opportunities in medical device market development.
All Medical & Allied Healthcare Articles