TAIWAN: DINO-LITE HANDHELD MICROSCOPES

DINO-LITE HANDHELD CAMERAS:
- AM2011, AM3011: These USB Dino-Lite models are affordable handheld microscope cameras for remote or isolated operation. Improve patient understanding and compliance with real-time imaging. Capture and email pictures for remote diagnosis, or use the camera as a webcam for a live remote-examination.
- AM413ZT/S: This polarizing Dino-Lite camera is widely used in medical applications. This is the best camera for Dermatology and other Non-Invasive applications because its polarizing filter allows a deeper inspection of the skin and tissue. The built-in measurement tools track changes in wounds, rashes, and lesions. Use this camera to look at tissue and fecal samples, slides, and parasites. Pair with an accessory like the MS09B or MSAA502 for increased working distance.
- AD412NTL: Use this analog Dino-Lite microscope for surgery or dissection. The longer focal length provides up to 92x of magnification, while providing room for surgical instruments under the camera. The fast refresh rate of the analog camera provides real-time movement on the monitor.
- AMH-RUT (Iris Scope): Use this specialized Dino-Lite Iris Scope for Opthamology and Iridology. The nozzle fits easily over the eye, and the lighting is less intense compared to the standard Dino-Lite models, so patients are comfortable during the examination.
- AM311H / AMH-EUT-V3 / AMH-EAN (Otoscope / Ear Scope): These Dino-Lite Otoscopes are designed to work with or without standard disposable Specula. Use for Ear, Nose, and Throat examinations. Built-in lights, variable magnification, and real-time imaging make these tools affordable and convenient. Choose low or high resolution USB cameras (AM311H / AMH-EUT-V3), or Analog (AMH-EAN) for a faster image refresh rate.
- AMH-N5UT (500x Capillary Scope): Use this high-powered microscope camera to examine the capillaries in a patient’s nail beds. Use with oil/gel for best results.
- AMB-DT-U1 / AMB-DT-U2 / AMB-DT-T1 (Dental Scope): These Dino-Lite dental scopes are designed to hold dental tools and provide the ideal magnification range for oral inspection. USB digital and high-speed Analog cameras are available.

DINO-EYE EYEPIECE CAMERAS:
- AM423X/XC: Use this camera for histology and pathology in the lab. When magnification needs are greater than 500x, the best solution is to use this versatile USB-powered Dino-Eye eyepiece camera with any traditional dissection, stereo, or compound microscope. AM422X/XN: Use this Dino-Eye analog eyepiece camera for dissection when paired with a traditional dissection microscope. The analog signal’s fast refresh rate ensures real-time movement on the screen when precision is essential.
- AM423C/CT: Attach this Dino-Eye eyepiece camera to a rigid or flexible endoscope to capture images and videos of internal examinations. Several accessory couplers and adaptors are available to ensure the perfect fit between camera and endoscope. The optional MicroTouch feature allows the user to capture images while keeping both hands on the camera and patient.

VSCAN: GE portable ultrasound. $8,000 Now available in Canada.

Will GE's Handheld Ultrasound Become the Next Stethoscope?

By Pam Baker
TechNewsWorld
10/22/09 2:25 PM PT

As early as 2010, doctors will likely be able to perform ultrasound scans during a routine office exam or at the scene of an accident or in many other on-the-spot circumstances using a device no larger than a smartphone. The gadget could revolutionize patient care, but its use raises many thorny questions about costs, benefits and unforeseen consequences.

Although not quite the equivalent of Star Trek's tricorder, GE's Vscan represents a long step forward in mobile medical technology. The handheld device does on-the-go ultrasound readings only, but those readings can give doctors faster, more in-depth info than the best of preliminary doctor exam routines.

Indeed, the BlackBerry-sized unit will likely "become as prevalent as the stethoscope," said GE CEO Jeff Immelt, as he unveiled the Vscan at the Web 2.0 Summit this week.
Because of its mobile, real-time nature, Vscan can conceivably be useful in hundreds of scenarios.

If a patient should complain of a stomach problem, the doctor could look for an abdominal mass or obstruction right there in the exam room instead of waiting for the patient to get expensive testing, with results perhaps delayed for weeks.

On-the-Spot Diagnostics

Doctors on the scene at mass trauma events -- from hurricanes to plane crashes -- could quickly ascertain which patients were most in need of immediate care.
Physicians in the emergency room could quickly identify problems lurking beneath the patient's noticeable injuries or symptoms.
The life-, time- and cost-savings potential from the use of this device seems virtually endless. If nothing else, Vscan underscores the vital role of mobile technology in medical care, an argument made loudly at the Web 2.0 summit.
GE's vision is to use mobile devices to save lives and drive down healthcare costs. That vision is currently undergoing a reality check in 12 different facilities around the world.
"We have already completed the clinical testing," says Arvind Gopalratnam, spokesperson for GE. "Now, we're in the discovery phase with clinicians to get their input."
The technology may be tweaked at the end of the discovery phase to better match doctor preferences, he said.
That's one reason GE is not saying much about the technology. Some of the specs may not be final. Even so, the device is scheduled for commercial release "sometime in 2010," according to Gopalratnam.

Taking the Spotlight

GE Chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt unveils GE Healthcare's new Vscan, a pocket-sized ultrasound device.

The Vscan is close enough to showtime-ready that Immelt was happy to discuss it at Web 2.0, and Mike Barber, vice president of healthyimagination at GE, was comfortable enough to demonstrate it in a video.
The ultra-thin, clamshell device closely resembles a mobile phone. It has an easy toggle wheel, presents real-time imagery in color, as well as black and white, and has an intuitive interface.
A small wand is attached to it by cable. When the wand is passed over a body part, an image immediately appears on the screen. The doctor can choose whether to view the image in color or black and white.

Nevertheless, the digital capability is significant. One of the areas most often hailed by the healthcare industry and politicians alike as the most sensible place to cut healthcare costs is diagnostics. As a result, digital diagnostics is headed for an extreme growth spurt. GE's Vscan debut could not be timed more perfectly.
Pricing for the unit is yet undetermined. So is the pricing for the scan at the doctor's office. Will it be included in the office visit fee? Or, will there be an additional charge?
On the doctor's side of the equation: Will Vscan use become commonplace in the growing pay-per-performance schedules? Can it be a safeguard against malpractice suits?

BIRMINGHAM HIP RESURFACING

Aspergillus flavus carcinogenic AFLATOXIN in "FIDDLEHEADS" of the Bracken Fern

Aflatoxins are naturally occurring mycotoxins that are produced by many species of Aspergillus, a fungus, most notably Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus. Aflatoxins are toxic and among the most carcinogenic substances known.[1] After entering the body, aflatoxins may be metabolized by the liver to a reactive epoxide intermediate or be hydroxylated and become the less harmful aflatoxin M1.

UK PRIVATE EYE on NHS

NHS IT, WASTE AND MR WATMORE   POACHER TURNED GAME KEEPER: Ian Watmore, former MD of Accenture, who now heads the team determining the future of the wasteful NHS IT programme HAVING revealed the dismal performance of the NHS National Programme for IT five years ago (issue 1157), a year later a special Eye report System Failure (1179) exposed the shocking background to a £12bn project “that wasn’t wanted and doesn’t work”. Now at last the auditors have woken up. With £6.35bn paid so far for a fraction of what should have been delivered, the National Audit Office finally agrees with the Eye and with the programme’s only effective watchdog, Tory public accounts committee member Richard Bacon MP. “The original vision for the National Programme for IT in the NHS will not be realized,” the auditors concede. Or as the member for South Norfolk put it in language his constituents will understand: “This turkey will never fly.” The main justification for the monolithic national programme – a central medical database for everyone available everywhere – has long since been ditched; and everything else, in particular the local IT systems, is way off target and over-cost. Pisspoor software and equally useless suppliers with regional monopolies have screwed these up at a cost so far of £2.7bn. As the NAO says: “The NHS is now getting far fewer systems than planned despite the [health] department paying contractors almost the same amount of money. This is yet another example of a department fundamentally underestimating the scale and complexity of a major IT-enabled change programme.” This view is in sharp contrast to the NAO’s original report - after the Eye had first exposed the scheme’s failings - which one MP called “easily the most gushing” praise he had seen from the NAO. “An utter waste of money” – so let’s give that man a job! So now what? Health minister Simon Burns admitted on Radio 4’s Today programme that the national NHS IT initiative was “a farce and utter waste of money”. The health department under him, however, seems keen to plough on, telling the NAO that “the money spent to date has not been wasted and will potentially deliver value for money”. Its future, complicated by huge contracts given to under-performers like BT (chaired by David Cameron’s business adviser, Sir Mike Rake) will be determined by a “major projects team”. It will be run by the head of Cameron’s efficiency and reform group, Ian Watmore. Watmore is a former managing director of one of the suppliers, Accenture, that walked away from the programme. And although last week he told parliament’s public accounts committee that the NHS programme was a victim of “over-ambition by the department and overselling by the companies”, he was in fact the managing director of Accenture when in early 2004 it sold its useless services to the government in the first place! From 2006 until 2009, the adaptable Watmore was head of Tony Blair’s delivery unit, from which vantage point he staunchly defended the programme. So there is every chance that this particular turkey might live to see a few more Christmases yet.

UK: Definitions by London College of Clinical Hypnosis

The Major Schools of Psychotherapy 
Freudian - Sh*t happens but it's your mother and fathers fault.
Jungian - Sh*t happens because of your religious views.
Adlerian - Sh*t happens because you think you're sh*t.
Pavlovian - Sh*t will stop happening when the bell rings.
Skinnerian - Let's poke you with a cattle prod until the sh*t stops.
Client Centred - Sh*t happens but I don't think any less of you for it.
Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy - Sh*t by any other name smells sweeter.
Cognitive Therapy - Yes, sh*t happens but it's not as big as you're making it.
Ericksonian hypnotherapy - I wonder how long it will be before you notice the sh*t has disappeared?
Classical Hypnotherapy - 3,2,1 Sh*t's gone...now wake up
Thank you Joseph Owens for these 'stimulating' definitions....
If you have any hypnosis or therapy related humour that is decent enough (!) to be published in the LCCH News, then please email it to info@lcch.co.uk marking the subject line 'hypnosis humour'.

UK The INDEPENDENT: MEASLES

 More than 330 cases of measles have been reported in the first three months of 2011 - similar to the whole of last year.

Small outbreaks have been noted in universities, schools and within individual families while some people caught the disease abroad as Europe faced a surge in measles cases.

In mid-April, the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned of more than 6,500 cases of measles in 33 countries, with France being worst hit with almost 5,000 cases.

In England and Wales, the under-25s were most affected in the first three months of the year. The vast majority had not had the vaccine against the disease.

Most cases occurred in London and the South East, followed by Yorkshire and the Humber.

Dr Mary Ramsay, head of the HPA's immunisation department, said: "We again are reminding parents and young adults of the importance of immunisation.

"Although MMR coverage has improved over the last few years, we cannot stress enough that measles is serious and, in some cases, it can be fatal.

"Measles is a highly-infectious and potentially-dangerous illness which spreads very easily.

"Whether you stay here in the UK or travel abroad, it is crucial that individuals who may be at risk are fully immunised."

The most recent UK figures for uptake of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) jab, covering September to December 2010, showed 89.4% of children had received their first dose by the age of two.

By age five, 84.8% of children had received their second dose.

Both are slightly up on previous figures.

In the US, health officials have reported 118 cases of measles so far this year - the highest number so early in the year since 1996.

Cases were seen in 23 states. None of the patients died, but about 40% were admitted to hospital.

The US normally sees about 50 cases of measles in a year.