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The folks at Yanko Designs seem to really like wheelchair designs, and have posted another one, this one by designer Tim Leeding. His concept is of a wheelchair that can be manually transitioned to a standing position to allow more normal social interactions and has a gear box for more efficient wheeling. Read more at the Yanko post, including a discussion by the designer about how his design distinguishes itself from similar stand-up wheelchairs.

Yanko: The Leeding E.D.G.E Wheelchair

Camp RAE 5K run benefits summer program for special needs children
South Carolina Now
Occupational therapist Leslie Wase works with camper Nyru Williams on July 12. Camp RAE is a month-long summer camp that offers children with multiple ...

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Yanko Design blog is profiling the Braille Buddy project that aims to develop a simple to use tool to help people who've lost eyesight to learn Braille. Braille Buddy has little retractable nipples that code for different letters, a keyboard, and a voice synthesizer that guides patients through different lessons. The voice will read out letters that a patient has to type back in Braille, and the tactile screen will display letters to read and identify.

Yanko Design: My Best Buddy Braille...

Israel's business newspaper Globes is reporting that MAZOR Surgical Technologies has received approval from the FDA for the company's combined SpineAssist navigation and C-Insight imaging system. As we have reported before, Mazor's SpineAssist device is a miniature robotic guidance / perioperative planning system designed for treatments of spinal compression fractures and other vertebral surgical issues.

From the product pages:

SpineAssist

The system consists of a miniature device that mounts above the patient’s spine, and a workstation running advanced surgical planning software.

SpineAssist’s software allows surgeons to perform 3D, CT- based preoperative planning on a personal computer at their own convenience prior to surgery.

Using a virtual catalogue of surgical implants, surgeons can view and position implants within each vertebra or disc on three planes: AP, lateral and axial. A special feature in the software is used to review the planning slice by slice in sequence.

The software supports a range of measurements including Cobb angle, lordosis and kyphosis. The surgeon can view a simulation of the correction they are planning, which is especially useful in deformity and scoliosis cases. The software also calculates rod length and curvature.

The SpineAssist workstation connects to a fluoroscopic C-Arm and performs automatic CT-to-fluoroscopy image registration based upon 2 fluoroscopic images. The workstation is used to control the precise motion of the miniature device to the preplanned position.

C-InSight
C-InSight is an add-on to existing C-Arms, converting 2D scans to 3D images intraoperatively.

In line with FDA guidelines for radiation reduction, C-InSight provides 3D images at radiation exposure levels as low as 5%-10% of other intraoperative 3D scans, making is safer for both the OR team and patients. C-InSight can often eliminate the need for a post-operative CT scan.

C-InSight quickly connects to any C-Arm with a video output (via BNC cable) and converts 2D scans to 3D images in 2 minutes.

A short in-service will get the OR technicians / staff ready to operate the C-InSight. The easy step-by-step instructions assure consistent performance.

Here's Ori Hadomi, CEO of Mazor explaining the system on Fox Business News:

Demo video of C-InSight:

SpineAssist promo:

Globes: Mazor wins FDA nod for combined surgical systems...

Product pages: SpineAssist; C-InSight...

Flashback: SpineAssist Gets New FDA Approval

Pyng Medical out of Richmond, British Columbia has received US regulatory approval to market the FASTx Sternal Intraosseous Device that provides quick vascular access via bone marrow.

Features of the device from the product page:

Vascular access within 10 seconds; fluids and medications to the heart in 30 seconds

Automatic depth control prevents over-penetration

Delivers fluids and medications as quickly as a central line, with shorter access time

Can be inserted during other resuscitation procedures

Can deliver any fluids or medications that can be delivered via IV

For use in adolescents from 12 years of age and older

Designed for single, sterile use—no cross-contamination

Flexible tubing with subcutaneous portal; strain-relief target foot ensures line does not dislodge

Can be inserted in moving ambulances, aboard helicopters, and on stretchers

Skill mastery within minutes; skill retention not dependent upon frequent practice or use

Press release: Pyng Medical Corp Receives US FDA 510(k) clearance for FASTx...

Product page: FASTx Sternal Intraosseous Device...

Flashback: The Fastest Way To a Man's Heart is Through FAST1 Intraosseous Infusion System;

EPPING FOREST: Help hospice raise money for its life-changing work
Guardian Series
The five-mile Starlight Walk will help fund the services that St Clare hospice in Hastingwood provides, like the occupational therapy that helps patients ...

Tbo.com
Byler sextuplets begin school, mark third birthday
Tbo.com
... and Student Services program at Double Branch Elementary so they can receive speech and occupational therapy, and Ryan also receives physical therapy. ...

and more »

Culture Shlock: The kindergarten crop
San Jose Mercury News
And that's why, since infancy almost, my son has logged hundreds of hours of speech therapy, physical therapy, occupational therapy, aquatherapy, ...

and more »

CEM Systems secure access to the new Midlothian Community Hospital
Security Park
The hospital will also include a day hospital, a dedicated physiotherapy and occupational therapy service, an out-patient department including x-ray service ...

Hethersett nurse's amazing African mission
Norwich Evening News
An occupational therapist who gave up her job to help some of the poorest families in Africa said people should treasure the NHS as a gift. ...

This is London
Magic therapy helps boy with brain condition
This is London
It follows a pilot project funded by Guy's and St Thomas' Charity when Magic Circle magicians worked with occupational therapists from Evelina Children's ...

Autism programs need funding
Hamilton Spectator
She is taking four psychiatric medications and last February, her psychiatrist recommended an intensive program of behavioural and occupational therapy. ...

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A team of researchers at the University of Chicago Hospitals' Pediatric Epilepsy Center are working on a system which can monitor epileptic sufferers around the clock. Patients will be able to use their smartphones to record and send data to their doctor for review. The system, being developed in collaboration with Chicago based Wave Technology Group, can provide text message alerts to the patient or caregivers about potential upcoming seizures. Additionally, the system will be cheaper and more portable than current EEG monitoring solutions. Wave hopes to attain FDA approval for the system by the end of next year.

From BusinessWeek's coverage:

The prototype now in development includes a small 16-channel amplifier - smaller than a credit card -- that would be attached by wires to sensors on a patient's head. In the current design, a hat with a pocket sewn inside would be used to carry the amplifier.

The software would control the gathering of brain wave data by the amplifier and the ability to send it via Bluetooth to a smartphone carried by the patient, and from there to a typical cellular network for transfer to a monitoring center.

BusinessWeek: Smartphone app would constantly monitor epilepsy patients....

Product page: Wave EEG Monitor...

(hat tip: iMedicalApps)

InfraReDx of Burlington, Mass just announced FDA clearance of their LipiScan IVUS Coronary Imaging System. Coronary angioplasty used to be based on the premise that areas of arterial narrowing seen on angiography were the most critical zones to stent, believing them to be the cause of heart attacks. Thinking has changed, however, and there is some research showing that plaques that may not cause much narrowing of the arteries may be the ones prone to rupture and thrombosis. This has led to a plethora of innovation in coronary imaging systems and technologies.

We reported in 2008 about InfraReDx's near-infrared sprectroscopy coronary imaging system. The Lipiscan IVUS adds intravascular ultrasound to their device and is reportedly the first to combine intravascular ultrasound as well as near-infrared sprectroscopy to characterize intravascular plaques. The catheter-based system can be used during angioplasty to identify plaques that are likely to rupture and lead to a heart attack. It can also be used to predict stenting complications such as restenosis. Once stenting has been performed, IVUS can be used to analyze how effective a lesion has been stented.

Here is more from the press release:

The NIR spectroscopy identifies the chemical content of the plaques; the IVUS provides an image of plaque structure and stent features. The Company expects to conduct a broad commercial launch of the system within the U.S. by year-end 2010, and anticipates regulatory approval and launch in Europe during 2011.

David Rizik, M.D., medical director of Invasive Cardiology at Scottsdale Healthcare Shea Medical Center, commented, "Patients are increasingly presenting to the cath lab with complex lesions, such as left main disease, multi-vessel disease and bifurcation lesions. In these patients, angioplasty guided by angiography alone is inadequate to prevent potential complications such as restenosis, stent thrombosis, and peri-procedural myocardial infarction." He continued, "To address these challenging cases, we have already incorporated the use of the original LipiScan system to help us identify lipid core plaques that complicate stenting. We are excited to acquire the next-generation LipiScan IVUS, as the addition of IVUS technology to the LipiScan platform will transform this novel diagnostic tool into a truly indispensible component of our lab."

Press release: InfraReDx Receives FDA Clearance for LipiScan IVUS Coronary Imaging System...

InfraReDx homepage...

Obituaries: Helen 'Chris' Christrup, Margaret Moreau, Robert L. Harney, Gordon ...
Washington Post
Helen Jeanne Christrup was a St. Louis native and a 1951 occupational therapy graduate of Washington University in St. Louis. She received a master's degree ...

Spiritual science therapy for special kids
Times of India
... a lot of time taking her five-year-old son Ankit for various therapies -- montessori, special education classes, occupational therapy and swimming. ...

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Kids' motor speech disorder spurs mom to awareness effort
Mooresville Tribune
He also does occupational therapy once a week with CDSA and privately. “We want to hit all the angles and put the right team together,” Lisa said. ...

Unleashing the creative spirit
Brookfield Elm Grove Now
At that time, she explained, occupational therapy included doing a lot of crafts with clients as part of their treatment. She still has her occupational ...

AngioDynamics of Latham, NY has announced a new access kit for its VenaCure EVLT system, which provides a minimally invasive method for treating varicose veins using laser ablation via fiber. The company states that the new .018" access kit reduces the number of parts in the system, speeds up treatment times, and will result in greater patient comfort.

From AngioDynamics' press release:

The new .018-inch system for the VenaCure EVLT access kit reduces the number of components involved in gaining access for the procedure. The new kit provides a longer .018 inch nitinol long-access wire. The distal tip on the Trè-Sheath™ dilator is resized to accept a .018 inch nitinol access wire, eliminating the need for a micro-access sheath, as well as the need to exchange wires during the procedure. This ultimately reduces an eight-step process to four.

Press release: AngioDynamics Expands Its VenaCure EVLT ™ System to Offer Physicians Fewer Procedure Steps and a Faster Procedure Time...

Product page: VenaCure EVLT™ System...

Golf tournament on Sept. 24 will benefit local Easter Seals
Waynesboro Record Herald
Services offered there include speech therapy, physical therapy, occupational therapy and deaf services. The idea for the invitational was formed when Glenn ...