Telemedicine, Telehealth, Tele - "Whaaat"

Medicine is starting to move towards the next step in medicine in the USA thanks to the new phone technology. In the old days the doctor was able to make house calls. Imagine this could happen again thanks to the video phone and laptop technologies. Imagine a doctor visit by "Skype" or "Face Time." A doctor may see as many as 150 patients daily now, with doctor visits to the hospital and office time. Could this number be increased? Think of all the fuel that could be saved just in transportation  of patients to see doctors. A patient could have a doctor appointment at the workplace with little to no lost work time. I understand this is not a new idea, however the technology is moving fast and so are medical providers to remain competitive. More about Telemedicine click here: AmericanTeleMedicine.org    

Imagine the APP that can get you the doctor? The doctors are starting to use APPs to help them speed up there medicine calculations. NY times article

India and many other countries can see the advantage to this technology moving ahead. Read about India's Medial Kiosk - The first with tele medical access!

There are many different ways countries deal with healthcare. So as a result many countries will use the technologies differently. Germany will use the technology to access their personal records easier. China started working on telemedicine in the 1980's. Because of their huge population they have been entertaining technologies to deal with getting more out of the doctors they have. China now has three major telemedicine networks: the Golden Health Network (GHN), the International MedioNet of China (IMNC) network and the People's Liberation Army (PLA) telemedicine network. Nonetheless, research and application of telemedicine is at a relatively early stage in China.More can be learned about how other countries are advancing in telemedicine: PublicMed.gov

Making Apps for the new phones are one the next challenges for the next generation of tellemedical innovators. Will the next phone have a plugin heart monitor and thermometer? If the next phones resemble a watch, the phone could have the sensors built into the band. A doctor makes diagnostics by using his/her senses to match up the list of possible reasons a patient may be complaining. Could a doctor be eliminated by sophisticated software?

medical kiosk

Read more at: http://www.biospectrumasia.com/biospectrum/news/122495/first-virtual-medical-kiosk-india#.UOCJWXcuhQ8

Safer Schools Require Innovation and Money

For years many schools across the nation are struggling to get safer school buses to get children to and from school. Not very long ago I chaperoned a class trip. The buses may have been new school buses however they still had the old style bench seat with no seat belts. This upset me enough that I searched through the channels to find how this could be even remotely possible in this generation. It was told to me that school districts could not afford to handle the expenses that would be added to the budgets. So regulations on manufacturers were relaxed.

Portland, Oregon was recently looking at earthquake proofing their schools and the same case scenario came into light. It's a good idea, but it will be too expensive. So they keep sending their kids to the schools sitting over active faults. Read the article here: New innovation draws attention for schools.

Recent school shootings have raised several questions. Some want to ban the guns and some want armed guards. Armed guards though not bullet proof either would fall into the expensive area I would think. I find it interesting that a person cannot enter a apartment building or a business without a special entry card or password. Yet most schools can be entered by simply passing a card table with a volunteer parent. The technology exists but are the tax payers willing to pay for it?

When schools are built, they are usually voted on and tax payers can be heard speaking out at town meetings, "Why does this school have to be so fancy? It makes it too expensive." Innovations when it comes to schools has to be free it seems to happen. Can we challenge ourselves to meet the safety needs of our own children in light of climactic changes and increased suicidal threats of desperate people?

Safety pods are available for tsunami threats. Can we build rooms in new schools that can be shut off to intruders  or strong enough to survive tornadoes or earthquakes? Safer schools needs these innovations now!

Air Bladder Technology Used In Wet Suits

I am involved with water safety in Green Bay, WI, so it is important for me to focus a post on the new wet suit technology. Most drownings can be avoided if a person uses a personal floatation devise,(PFD). Newer PFDs already use the inflatable technology to shrink the size and uncomfortableness of larger foam style PFDs. Recently several manufacturers are installing the inflatable bladder technology into wet suits. This seems to be a "no brainer" for surfers. The only problem that I can see is that a person has to be conscious to pull the cord to activate the bladder inflation. But if this is what it takes to get surfers to wear a PFD it is a great start. The next challenge is to get the technology into normal swimming suits. Will the old fashion full body swim suits so that we can incorporate the bladder technology for adults? Or could we find a way to use it in tank tops in a fashionable look!

How the Bladder arrived: The Bladder Wet Suit Technology Invented!

Bladder style PFDs make safety comfortable.

Using You Tube To Send Powerful Messages

I recently had a twitter message that drew me to this powerful message of the history of nuclear explosions from the creation to later 1990's. I would like to see the rest of the story. From then until now we have experienced wars and natural disasters that many explosions have happened. I think this gives you an uncomfortable feeling about the enormous amount of radiation that must be around us. While this could be perceived as a negative, could we see any positives from an innovative mind set. Could this reshape our future inventions? Should we be studying the effects on the human body? Can we design materials that help us deal with radiation exposure?

Using The Internet To Do Big Things

I had posted in a earlier blog how some are using the internet to use its most powerful resource millions of participants. In that post they organize participants who shared gardening and the over abundance of product to meet the need of food pantries. The internet power lies in commerce, philanthropy, education, communication, democratization efforts to mention a few. Another power recently has come to light, manufacturing. The Star War enthusiasts recently are combining their passion to design and build a life size model of the Millennial Falcon. This is a monumental task of design and organization to maintaining quality. They do have lower expectations that this model won't actually fly at light speed. But imagine the other possibilities that could lie ahead. Could we start building buildings, by assigning participants to sent certain parts of a building and have people receive the stuff by mail and assemble it?