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Health 2.0 News: Palatometer, Telescopic Eye and Google Voice July 14, 2010

Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Google, Health, Health 2.0, Innovation, Medical Search, Medicine, Medicine 2.0, Technology, Video, Virtuality, Web 2.0, What's on the web?.
1 comment so far
  • MedLibs Round 2.6: Jacqueline at Laikas MedLibLog just published a new blog carnival entry featuring several Scienceroll posts as well.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act identified secure patient-physician e-mail messaging as an objective of the meaningful use of electronic health records. In our study of 35,423 people with diabetes, hypertension, or both, the use of secure patient-physician e-mail within a two-month period was associated with a statistically significant improvement in effectiveness of care as measured by the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS). In addition, the use of e-mail was associated with an improvement of 2.0–6.5 percentage points in performance on other HEDIS measures such as glycemic (HbA1c), cholesterol, and blood pressure screening and control.

Medical Education in the Virtual World: Please Donate! June 29, 2010

Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Ann Myers Medical Center, Health 2.0, Medical education, Medicine 2.0, Second Life, Virtuality, Web 2.0.
2 comments

We’ve been organizing medical case presentations and events, conferences at the Ann Myers Medical Center in Second Life for years. The problem is it costs us time, energy and money to organize these events and any kind of donations would be really welcome! If you are willing to help us, please let us know. Thank you in advance!

The Ann Myers Medical Center (teleport link) aims to educate medical students and nurses in the virtual environment of Second Life. In monthly meetings, students can learn from educators through interactive and clearly visualized case presentations. Regularly there are speeches on several topics. Click here for more details and pictures.

Augmented Reality: Simply Explained June 18, 2010

Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Health, Health 2.0, Medicine, Medicine 2.0, Video, Virtuality, Web 2.0.
1 comment so far

Whenever I write about how augmented reality could be used in medicine and healthcare (Augmented Reality for Twitter and Automated external defibrillator and augmented reality) it would be nice to have a video that describes what it is exactly in a simple way. Well here is the newest masterpiece from Commoncraft.

Health 2.0 News: Anonimity, Virtuality and Crisis Communication June 11, 2010

Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Cancer, Health, Health 2.0, Medicine, Medicine 2.0, Ted Talks, Video, Virtuality, Web 2.0.
2 comments

…He relates a problem of a chemo patient, a “difficult stick” for the needle people, who asked for the special IV team, who can handle difficult cases. She was told no, and got hurt. Paul asked the team to come up with a better approach. The team will now flag such patients in the system, and he asked them to convene some patients for a further discussion.

  • Christopher “moot” Poole: The case for anonymity online:

“There are a vast number of web sites where patients can obtain cancer information,” Dr. Lawrence said. “The purpose of this study was to answer one question: Is the cancer information on Wikipedia correct? Reassuringly, we found that errors were extremely rare on Wikipedia. But the way information was presented on PDQ is more patient-friendly.”

In one example, this form of surgery is aided with the use of AR imagery of a brain superimposed onto the patient’s head, giving the doctor a more tangible visualization. Another example involves being able to visualize a patient’s spine in order to more accurately place a spinal tap, or other spinal injection.

Health 2.0 News: iPad, I-Patients, Wii and computer viruses June 2, 2010

Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in e-patient, Health, Health 2.0, Medicine, Medicine 2.0, Surgery, Video, Virtuality, Visualization, Web 2.0, What's on the web?.
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  • Wii can do better (Spoonful of Medicine): The potential benefits of using Nintendo Wii in health management and medicine/rehabilitation.

“Our research shows that implantable technology has developed to the point where implants are capable of communicating, storing and manipulating data,” he said. “They are essentially mini computers. This means that, like mainstream computers, they can be infected by viruses and the technology will need to keep pace with this so that implants, including medical devices, can be safely used in the future.”

Virtual Reality Enhanced Mannequin for Resuscitation Training May 19, 2010

Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Invention, Medical education, Medicine, Medicine 2.0, Video, Virtuality.
1 comment so far

Federico Semeraro and his collegues just published a paper in Resuscitation focusing on the evaluation of a virtual reality enhanced mannequin designed for resuscitation training.

The objective of this study was to test acceptance of, and interest in, a newly developed prototype of virtual reality enhanced mannequin (VREM) on a sample of congress attendees who volunteered to participate in the evaluation session and to respond to a specifically designed questionnaire.

RESULTS: Overall, the evaluation of the system was very positive, as was the feeling of immersion and realism of the environment and simulation. Overall, 84.6% of the participants judged the virtual reality experience as interesting and believed that its development could be very useful for healthcare training.

CONCLUSIONS: The prototype of the virtual reality enhanced mannequin was well-liked, without interfence by interaction devices, and deserves full technological development and validation in emergency medical training.

Medicine in the Virtual World: Molecules and Training April 19, 2010

Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Education, Health, Health 2.0, Healthcare, Medicine, Medicine 2.0, Second Life, Virtuality, Web 2.0.
6 comments
  • If you are looking for healthcare support groups in Second Life, click here.
  • One of the best blogs about information dedicated to virtual worlds: john-norris.net

2010 Spring Semester Week 6: Virtual Reality in Medicine April 6, 2010

Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Health, Health 2.0, Medicine, Medicine 2.0, Medicine 2.0 Course, Second Life, Slideshow, Virtuality, Web 2.0, Webicina.
4 comments

I launched the world’s first elective course at a medical university focusing on web 2.0 and medicine for medical students in 2008. This is the 4th semester and the 6th week was dedicated to virtual worlds in medicine and healthcare. Here is the outline of my presentations.

First slideshow:

A shorter version of the original slideshow with my own narration:

  • More than 20 million users, 30,000,000 online hours
  • What does SL mean for people?
  • It used to mean gambling (but not now)
  • Game? work? (The number of Second Life residents generating more than $5,000 in monthly income has more than quadrupled to 116 in the past year, according to San Francisco’s Linden Lab, owner of Second Life.); place?; tool?; entertainment?; sport?; opportunity?; appearance?
  • Technological barriers: register, download, install, open, log in
  • You can fly, walk, teleport, buy, sell, build.
  • Communication (chat, IM, e-mail, voice)
  • advantages (3D, media content, fast communication – SL fitness)
  • disadvantages (reliability, serious hardware requirement)
  • why do we need a SL?

sl-fun

Source

Take-home message: great opportunities for patients and medical professionals as well.

Second slideshow:

Take-home message: Second Life provides useful tools to organize meetings, educate and learn without borders.

Free e-guide about medicine and virtual worlds on Webicina.

Cancer Outreach And Support In Second Life March 25, 2010

Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Medicine, Second Life, Slideshow, Virtuality, Web 2.0, Webicina.
1 comment so far

Here is a great slideshow about how cancer outreach and support work in the virtual world of Second Life.

More examples on Webicina.com.

Also e-guide about virtual worlds in medicine.

Life 2.0: Documentary about Second Life March 23, 2010

Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Art, Second Life, Video, Virtuality.
2 comments

I’ve been using the virtual environment of Second Life and Visuland for years now to organize conferences or just small meetings. I also published a whole e-guide focusing on this issue. But this documentary recently selected for Sundance Film Festival is something really unique. The director and creator is Jason Spingarn-Koff.

This feature-length documentary follows a group of people whose lives are dramatically transformed by the virtual world Second Life. They enter a new reality, whose inhabitants assume alternate personas in the form of avatars. The film is foremost an intimate, character-based drama about people who look to a virtual world in search of something they are missing in their real lives.

A young woman in Detroit becomes a star designer of virtual clothes and houses; an American and a Canadian fall in love online then struggle to build a real life together; a man creates the avatar of an 11-year-old girl who he believes is an expression of his subconscious.

The results are unexpected and often disturbing: reshaping relationships, identities, and ultimately the very notion of reality.

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