hospitals

 

Phones

iCEphone: One Touch Calling to Doctor, Hospital and 911

Posted by Mark Wilson at 6:20 AM on November 19, 2008

The iCEphone is a semi-in-production insurance policy that may or may not be small enough to actually fit in your pocket. A tri-folding WinMo phone (or "Micro PC" as the company calls it), the iCEphone has software that can not only walk you through common medical emergencies like administering CPR, but it can one-touch dial your doctor, the nearest hospital and 911 at the same time. That's why, at heart, The iCEphone is a good idea. But in this estimated $US1,000 configuration, it's more than a bit obnoxious:

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Design

Waterbirth Vessel Concept Recreates the 'Tide at Omaha Beach' in Your Hot Tub

Posted by Jack Loftus at 7:30 AM on November 3, 2008

A word of warning if you end up installing the Waterbirth Vessel in your home: Be sure to clean it out before the guests arrive for that big hot tub party you've been planning (the placenta floats, fyi). More seriously, this design from Darling Dushinka sports an adjustable seat, massaging jets, overhead bars and supports, and a shotgun seat for the daddy-to-be. No word on the filtration system, though, which they should probably include if this thing ever hits the market. And lastly, in a head nod to NBC's The Office, the headline quote was uttered with hilarious results by that crusty ol' character Creed last Thursday.


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Science

3D Virtual Heart So Real Doctors' Own Hearts Go Pitter Patter

Posted by Wilson Rothman at 10:40 AM on October 24, 2008


London's Heart Hospital didn't like the fact that they couldn't see inside the hearts of patients—not while the patients were still alive and well, that is. So they hired Glassworks, an animation firm that specialised in music videos and TV shows, and asked them to build HeartWorks, the most realistic working 3D rendering of a human heart ever conceived. As you can see in the Reuters (ad-supported) clip above—and in the crazy raw footage after the jump—the doctors who are generally up to their ears in blood are thrilled to have a clearer (and cleaner) way to look deep into someone's heart.

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Gadgets

Intel Health Guide Lets Doctors Check Up On You Electronically

Posted by Gizmodo US Edition at 6:00 AM on July 13, 2008

Intel's taking some serious steps into the medical world with its just-FDA-approved Intel Health Guide, an 3.6kg gadget that functions as a personal health care system. The Health Guide includes a small touch-screen PC running Windows XP and a web portal that helps connect patients and doctors. The computer can be used to remind patients to take their medications, facilitate live video conferencing with doctors, and even check and collect their vital signs.


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Science

Philips Wants You To Be Able To Hug Your Unborn Baby

Australian Post Posted by Nick Broughall at 10:37 AM on June 19, 2008

Future - Celebrating Pregnancy  Concept by Philips (1).jpg

Even the roughest of characters among us would have to admit that babies can be cute. Not necessarily at first, but once they start smiling and giggling and stop crying and pooping all the time, they can be a symbol of pure beauty in this world.

But what about before they're born? We've already seen 3D ultrasounds that can be copied to your iPods to watch your unborn child writhing around inside the uterus, and the general consensus in the comments was that there wasn't anything too cute about that. Of course, it's not just about appearances - the technology also offers medical benefits, like the ability to spot defects and illnesses earlier in the pregnancy.

Now Philips is showing off its concept for what ultrasounds will look like in the future. Aside from having the child look like it's in a pod that you can reach out and touch, the biggest change to the process for Philips is creating a more welcoming atmosphere than the stench of death that tends to waft around hospitals (or is that just disinfectant?).

I'm not a parent yet, so I'm not really one to comment, but I don't like going to a hospital for any reason. What do you guys think? Would you prefer to be able to walk up to a weird-looking pod with a 3D ultrasound of your unborn child in a relatively welcoming environment?

Weapons

Canadian Cops Tase Knife-Wielding 82-Year-Old Patient in his Hospital Bed

Posted by Addy Dugdale at 6:00 AM on May 11, 2008

The cops in Canada seem to be getting the hang of the Taser business. Mounties summoned to a British Columbia hospital tased an octogenarian patient after he pulled a knife from his pocket. Eighty-two-year-old Frank Lasser, who was suffering from pneumonia and had been admitted to Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops, claimed that sometimes he got delusional when he got short of breath. Did that, however, make it right for the police to tase him, bro?


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