February 28, 2006
Introducting the Cantenna
A physics research institute in Trieste, Italy is using a low-cost but effective tool to bolster communications in developing countries: the tin-can antenna. Made from a can (the best are those used for seed oil), a screw-on connector and a short brass wire, the "cantenna" is promoted by researchers as a cheap and efficient tool to amplify access to information and communication technologies in some of the world's poorest and often most remote areas. Cantennas work like regular antennas but cost around $2.50 to build. Those purchased in a store can cost several hundred dollars.
They are directional antennas and can be used for short- to medium-distance point-to-point links. They can also be used as feeders for parabolic dishes. That means that by aligning a series of cantennas, it is possible to receive signals from a distant receiver using one or more repeaters, which send, amplify and redirect radio waves, and send signals to remote areas.
Since 1989, the radiocommunications unit of the Aeronomy and Radiopropagation Laboratory at the Abdus Salam International Center for Theoretical Physics in Trieste, has been working on technology to bring the third world into touch with the first, and in 1998 it shifted its focus to wireless networking, a rapidly growing market sector in the developing world.
The Institute of Telecommunications in Geneva in collaboration with the school in Trieste has attracted dozens of top engineers and scientists from emerging countries eager to learn low-cost techniques that will connect universities and hospitals, and eventually even remote villages, back home. The school is a natural offshoot of the International Center for Theoretical Physics, which was founded in Trieste in 1964 by Abdus Salam, a Pakistani who shared the Nobel Prize in 1979 for his work in particle physics, to advance scientific expertise in the developing world. In 40 years, more than 100,000 scientists have visited the center to conduct research or participate in training seminars.
The center believes that if you help research scientists stay connected, there's more of a chance they'll stay in their country, avoiding a so-called brain drain of educated talent elsewhere. The 2006 wireless networking course, which had participants from more than a dozen countries, including Venezuela, Rwanda and Iran, ended last Friday.
The cantenna has been around for years, but in Trieste it was fine-tuned by Rob Flickenger, the co-founder of NoCat, a California-based wireless company that promotes open-source software. Flickenger has taught at the school for three years and collaborated with other instructors to write "Wireless Networking in the Developing World," a how-to manual published in January and available at no cost on the Internet.
Book
A Pratical Guide to Planning and Building Low-cost Telecommunications Infrastructure
You can download the book in PDF form as a single file (2.0 MB), or in chapters.
List of publications from the Institute
February 27, 2006
Robotic Physician Makes Rounds
Sinai Hospital in Baltimore has implemented a "rounding robot" that enables physicians to perform rounds remotely. The telemedicine technology is manufactured by InTouch Health. It allows physicians to log onto the Internet and use a remote control to manipulate the robot. The robot uses a video screen, digital camera and microphone to facilitate interactions between patients and physicians.
The 5-foot-tall robot displays a real-time video of the physician on its flat-screen "head." On top of this head sits a camera that serves as eyes, to capture images of the patient that are transmitted to the physician. The robot, which costs $5,000 per month to lease plus $5,000 per viewing station, is just one of two in use in Baltimore. The other has been in use for two years at Johns Hopkins Hospital. A study conducted by Johns Hopkins in 2004 found that 57% of patients whose physicians used the robot would be comfortable if the physicians continued to use the robot to facilitate care. Although the study included only 85 patients, other studies are underway with a larger number of participants.
Clinicians report that patients seem engaged by the new technology and are happy about the continuity of contact with the same physician. Such continuity of care can be difficult, especially on the weekend, in large practices where you’ve got multiple people covering, or if the doctor is at another hospital.
Dr. Alex Gandsas, who has been using this technology at Sinai Hospital, believes that the robot helps to reduce the gap between doctor and patient that is caused by the clinician's inability to be there all the time. He feels that patients respond positively to the technology.
February 24, 2006
Animated Robot For Hospitalized Children
The Robotics & Multibody Research Group (Brussels University) is working on Anty, an intelligent soft robot that will entertain long-term hospitalized children. When developed the robot will walk, talk and show feelings. According to the creators, Anty will be able to develop different personalities, so kids won't get bored with him.
Anty uses sensors for vision, audio and touch to interact with the children. By means of artificial intelligence, Anty is capable of understanding and expressing emotions.
In the next revision, a screen will be added on the belly of the toy to transmit explanations about a forthcoming operation or to display games for the child to play.
Anty will be able to look in the direction of a sound. Its artificial intelligence will determinate when Anty has been caressed, hit or hugged and the robot will react accordingly.
A first prototype of the fully autonomous intelligent robot is to be expected in 2007. As it is meant for kids, the robot will weight around 8 pounds and under 30 inches high.
February 21, 2006
Research With Hand-held Device Brings Speech To Impaired And Disabled Individuals
After suffering from strokes, many individuals are unable to do many of the things that they used to do, like talking on the phone. A new device being researched by neurolinguist Filip Loncke, assistant professor in the Communications Disorders program of the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia, will enable people to communicate using a hand-held device that speaks for them. Dr. Loncke has the only research site in the United States using the apparatus - a barcode reader called the B.A. Bar that was developed in Switzerland by the Federation Suisse des Teletheses and made available in that country in 2001.
One of the advantages of the B.A. Bar (pronounced BA-bar) is its versatility - it has been used with people from the ages of 2 to 89 and has helped them learn or relearn how to speak and become more independent. Loncke and his research team are using it for several research and clinical applications.
The barcode reader provides auditory feedback when passed over the same kind of black-and-white strip used on grocery store products. In this case, the device is first used to program the barcodes with words or phrases; the barcodes can then be fixed to objects, pictures or places. The user scans the barcode with the device, and it says the word or phrase. Loncke's research shows that it is more helpful than simple pictures.
The barcode reader is easy to use - an adult can learn it in one session, and a child with Down's syndrome can become confident with it in six or seven. Loncke has been working with the B.A. Bar for two years. He has partnered with the Woodrow Wilson Rehabilitation Center in Fishersville, Va. to work with some of its clients.
Loncke has found that after several sessions of training and practice, adults with aphasia, or speech loss, were able to recover and pronounce significantly more words from listening to a bar-coded list than from a written list. "It may be an indication that the added modality by the speaking barcode reader helped the participant in word retrieval."
Speech and literacy skills are important objectives in the education and rehabilitation of individuals who use augmentative communication, According to the researcher, "it is important to find out how the use of a speech-generating communication device affects the development (and the use) of internal speech."
The device functions as "a great research tool" in furthering the understanding of how humans process language. Comparing use of the barcode reader by people with normal speech to those with impairments, he has found that it does not replace the brain's normal formation of language before it is spoken.
This research was presented at the 2006 American Association for the Advancement of Science Meeting
February 06, 2006
Epocrates Essentials
Epocrates Essentials provides a comprehensive resource for medical professionals on their mobile devices (Palm, PocketPC and newer devices including Treos). It goes well beyond loading medical textbooks on a mobile device. Essentials includes a full suite of offerings featuring all of the key decision support applications - drugs, diseases, and diagnostics - required for today's healthcare professional. Epocrates Essentials includes the Epocrates Rx Pro® premium drug and formulary reference; the Epocrates SxDx™ disease diagnosis and treatment reference and symptom assessment tool; and the Epocrates Lab™ diagnostic reference designed to help users interpret test results.
Beyond clinical reference information, Epocrates also offers health plan formularies with copay, coverage and prior authorization information (including the only place to currently get Medicare D formulary information on the PDA), DocAlert® clinical messaging (relevant, timely clinical and specialty news from the FDA, CDC and other groups), and the MobileCME learning system for doctors on the go.
Recently, the company has also partnered with Massachusetts General Hospital's Laboratory of Computer Science to bring its symptom assessment tool to a PDA with the introduction of Epocrates SxDx. What does this mean? Users now have access to intelligent decision support throughout the diagnosis process. Clinicians can enter an unlimited number of symptoms, examination findings, such as lab results, and key patient demographics, to generate a list of the plausible diagnoses in the Epocrates disease reference with 5-Minute Clinical Consult. They can weigh their search based on the prevalence and likelihood of patient symptoms and findings. A key differentiator of this product is the refine feature that allows users to select additional symptoms which narrow down the list of potential diseases and gives the option to view rare vs. commonly prevalent diseases based on the symptoms entered.