• The space program brings us a fast and relatively inexpensive way to detect subtle changes in cardiac patients before there are any symptoms.
• A haptic system under development will enable physicians to palpate a patient telemedically, over the Internet.
• A wand waved over a patient detects tumors. It’s not magic, but it is almost straight out of science fiction.

Medical Technology Comes Down to Earth

The $40,000 BioZ system measures 12 different blood flow factors and can detect subtle changes in cardiac patients before there are any standard symptoms. Instead of lung catheterization, the device relies on four electrodes attached to the patient’s neck and chest to measure pressure and calculates the pressure differential between chest and neck.

Originally developed for monitoring astronauts in space, the technology is finding uses not only for patients with heart failure but also for measuring fluid balance related to kidney and lung disease and other forms of coronary artery disease. It is not only inexpensive to buy (relative to the million dollar machines common in cardiology) but also:

• A lifesaver — treatment can be administered before there are any visible symptoms;
• Simple enough for EKG technicians to operate — doctor/nurse not required;
• Mobile — can be wheeled to the patient’s bedside (lung catheterization requires a trip to the CCU);
• Fast — 10 minutes; and
• Inexpensive to operate — $60 for the procedure and the interpretation, plus $140 for the electrodes and other disposables.Reference: Shepard, Scott (2003). “Device for monitoring astronauts finds new life in cardiac care.” Memphis Business Journal, July 11.

Haptics for Telemedicine

A person can experience the sense of touch felt by another, over the Internet. In about five years, consumers may feel fabrics before they buy, and medical students may feel what a surgeon feels when performing a procedure. Since the feeling is captured in the form of digital bits, it can be saved to be felt again anytime, anywhere, by anyone. The researchers working on this haptic technology have already succeeded in transmitting from one person to another the feeling of touching soft and hard objects, and their contours, over the Internet.

A practical application already under development will enable physicians to palpate a patient over the Internet.

Reference: � hAnluain, Daith� (2003). “Reaching Through the Net to Touch.” Wired News, July 3.

Cancer Tricorder

With a wave of a wand over a fully-clothed patient’s body, hey presto, the physician sees a tumor displayed on a computer screen. The battery-powered wand, called TRIMprob (Tissue Resonance InterferoMeter Probe), contains a microwave transmission antenna that causes any tumor present to resonate at a certain frequency, which causes in turn an interference pattern detectable by the wand and mapped by a computer into a readable image, though the system cannot tell the size of tumors. The system will cost about $30,000 — a fraction of the $1-3 million cost of a whole-body MRI — and making mass cancer screening a real possibility.

In independent tests, TRIMprob predicted prostate tumors in 93 percent of cases that were later confirmed by biopsy, and correctly diagnosed 82 percent of healthy patients as being cancer-free; it also correctly diagnosed breast cancer in 66 percent of the cases presented — a figure that could improve with greater understanding of the numerous breast cancer pathologies.

There is some skepticism about the device, pending confirmation of its accuracy and reliability by further tests. Nevertheless, it will be used in Italian clinics for prostate cancer scanning this month, and further trials of the device for lung, stomach, liver, and colorectal cancer detection have already begun.

Reference: Knapp, Louise (2003). “Taking a Quick Swipe at Cancer.” Wired News, July 5.