Da Vinci Robot: Bloopers and Kinect February 15, 2011
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Medicine, Robotics, Video, Web 2.0.1 comment so far
Medgadget shared a nice video about the da Vinci robot and the outtakes remained from filming a commercial by the Florida’s Health First hospitals.
And if we mentioned the da Vinci robot, engineers from Johns Hopkins University managed to connect it to the $150 Microsoft’s Kinect 3D controller.
Wikipedia: A Key Tool for Global Public Health Promotion February 14, 2011
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Wikipedia.8 comments
As there are more than 20,000 medical-related articles in Wikipedia, and a further 6,000 drug-related entries, there are always a lot of things to do. Last year, we decided to summarize what we have been doing in the health sections of Wikipedia with a group of medical editors and make our summary public in an open-access journal. Now it was published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research.
The Internet has become an important health information resource for patients and the general public. Wikipedia, a collaboratively written Web-based encyclopedia, has become the dominant online reference work. It is usually among the top results of search engine queries, including when medical information is sought. Since April 2004, editors have formed a group called WikiProject Medicine to coordinate and discuss the English-language Wikipedia’s medical content. This paper, written by members of the WikiProject Medicine, discusses the intricacies, strengths, and weaknesses of Wikipedia as a source of health information and compares it with other medical wikis. Medical professionals, their societies, patient groups, and institutions can help improve Wikipedia’s health-related entries. Several examples of partnerships already show that there is enthusiasm to strengthen Wikipedia’s biomedical content. Given its unique global reach, we believe its possibilities for use as a tool for worldwide health promotion are underestimated. We invite the medical community to join in editing Wikipedia, with the goal of providing people with free access to reliable, understandable, and up-to-date health information.
The official blog of the Wikimedia Foundation acknowledged our publication:
The paper urges physicians and medical professionals to find ways to incorporate contributions to Wikipedia into their work, suggesting ideas for scholarly incentives or possibly issuing continuing medical education credits. To get involved, visit WikiProject Medicine. You may also want to check out some introductory how-to-edit guides posted by the Wikimedia outreach team.
We’re deeply appreciative of the pioneering work that these editors are carrying out on Wikipedia, alongside their ongoing professional careers. Wikipedians from all walks of life, and from around the world, are collaborating to further expand the quality and breadth of Wikipedia’s freely available and reusable medical information – furthering the Wikimedia mission of spreading free knowledge around the world. Thank you!
2010 Medgadget Weblog Awards: Please Support Scienceroll! February 7, 2011
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Medgadget, Scienceroll.3 comments
It’s time again for the traditional Medgadget’s Weblog Awards, the most prestigious medical blogger competition in the world and I would like to kindly ask you, dear readers of Scienceroll.com, to support us with your vote here.
Polls close on the 13th of February.
Thank you!
Linked electronic medical records for genomic research February 4, 2011
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Data, Genome, science.2 comments
I’ve just come across an interesting study on BMC Medical Genomics. Authors aim at linking electronic medical records and genomic data which is I believe a very promising approach. The Personal Genome Project did something similar but only with 10 participants.
The eMERGE (electronic MEdical Records and GEnomics) Network is an NHGRI-supported consortium of five institutions to explore the utility of DNA repositories coupled to Electronic Medical Record (EMR) systems for advancing discovery in genome science. eMERGE also includes a special emphasis on the ethical, legal and social issues related to these endeavors.
Current progress: The primary site-specific phenotypes for which samples have undergone genome-wide association study (GWAS) genotyping are cataract and HDL, dementia, electrocardiographic QRS duration, peripheral arterial disease, and type 2 diabetes. A GWAS is also being undertaken for resistant hypertension in 2,000 additional samples identified across the network sites, to be added to data available for samples already genotyped.
Results are being posted in dbGaP. Other key eMERGE activities include evaluation of the issues associated with cross-site deployment of common algorithms to identify cases and controls in EMRs, data privacy of genomic and clinically-derived data, developing approaches for large-scale meta-analysis of GWAS data across five sites, and a community consultation and consent initiative at each site. Future activities: Plans are underway to expand the network in diversity of populations and incorporation of GWAS findings into clinical care.
Health 2.0 News: From Twitter trial to Androids February 3, 2011
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Health, Health 2.0, Medicine, Medicine 2.0, twitter, Web 2.0, What's on the web?.add a comment
Regulations are a challenge yes. Where there is challenge, there is often opportunity. Check out www.webicina.com for a great example of healthcare content curation created by Dr. Bertalan Mesko.
- Growing Role of Social Media Among Policymakers (Eye on FDA)
Physicians are encouraged to determine the goal of their social media presence, whether it is promoting their practice, promoting themselves and speakers, or advocating an issue they are passionate about, Dr. Vartabedian said. Once that is figured out, physicians need to define where they want their presence, such as a blog, Facebook and/or Twitter.
Given the vagaries of such measures, there is a growing interest in methods that would aggregate and quantify all of the online responses and evaluations of a paper — producing what Neylon and some others are referring to as ‘alt-metrics’ — and compare it with more conventional metrics.
Clients of Webicina February 2, 2011
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Webicina.add a comment
Webicina, the first free medical social media guidance service was launched in 2008 and we have come a long way since then. We thought we would share the list of clients we have worked with and we also hope we can extend this list soon.
Kairos Society features Webicina February 2, 2011
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Conference, Web 2.0, Webicina.3 comments
Webicina.com, my free service that curates online medical resources for medical professionals and e-patients, was selected by the Kairos Society which means I will exhibit it on Wall Street this February. I also got a chance to discuss the current global health problems in the HQ of the United Nations with the most innovative student entrepreneurs of the world. Of course, I will blog and tweet about the whole event.
The Kairos Society is an international student-run not-for-profit foundation based in the United States. We started with the belief that the key to improving our world lies in uniting the next generation of leaders to develop globally impactful innovations. To this end, Kairos has built a member base consisting of some of the brightest students from top universities around the world. Along with guidance from some of today’s foremost leaders, these students are working together to use entrepreneurship and innovation.
Thomas Goetz: It’s time to redesign medical data February 1, 2011
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Medicine, Ted Talks, Video.1 comment so far
Thomas Goetz, author of The Decision Tree, had a talk at TEDMED about redesigning medical data. He also emphasized that in the majority of cases, better health is a matter of the problem of information, instead of the problem of science.
Prognosis app for Android! February 1, 2011
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Medical education, Medicine, Medicine 2.0, Mobile.2 comments
Last November, I wrote about a great iPhone application, Prognosis, that is actually a clinical case simulation game for doctors, medical students and nurses. I also wrote that I couldn’t wait to see it on Androids, and now here it is! I had a chance to test it on my Galaxy Tab and it works perfectly.You choose a simulation, read the family history and symptoms, choose investigations and get to the final diagnosis.
