Health Innovations to Make You Hopeful

Sometimes conversations about health can take a turn toward the dispiriting, bringing into stark relief the reality of illness and the inherent vulnerability of the human condition. These three healthcare innovations sound a bright note of hope, possibility, and the indomitability of the human spirit.

Bringing diagnostic technology home

With the advent of the internet, patients had access for the first time to information that would have been practically unthinkable for them to obtain without incalculable hours of research previously. More than ever before, for better and for worse, patients are self-diagnosing based on online health criteria, leading them to be better informed about their health than at any other time in history.

Though certain diagnostic technologies like CT scans, MRI’s, and the like are currently only accessible through a doctor’s office or surgical center, increasingly, diagnostic technology is entering the home. With medical apps downloaded to smartphones, people can now analyze their heart physiology, and even conduct an iPhone enabled ECG to help determine if they might be having a heart attack. Though home diagnostic tools are still in their infancy, they are already proving to prevent significant health issues by allowing everyday people to literally take their health into their own hands.

Making “sticks” less scary

Nearly 10% of the adult population exhibits needle phobia to the point that they avoid routine screenings or health care that might involve being “stuck.” For a needle-phobe, there is perhaps nothing worse than the prospect of a phlebotomist or other needle-wielding technician who cannot successfully access a vein with the first stick, a feat that is very difficult for even the most accomplished of technicians when the patient suffers from extreme needle-related anxiety.

A new technology by the name of VeinViewer can help to ease patients’ anxiety and discomfort while undergoing a venipuncture. VeinViewer is just what it sounds like: a technology that allows the technician (and the patient, if they care to look) to view a real-time image of the patient’s veins that is digitally projected directly over the stick site. The technology essentially gives the technician “x-ray vision” to “see” the patient’s veins through their skin.

The VeinViewer uses advanced HD imaging and highly-specialized Df2 (Digital Full Field) technology to provide visually detailed information about vascular to enable technicians to easily access the optimal stick location, resulting in a practically fool-proof way to ensure that the stick is successful (and virtually painless) on the very first attempt.  According to VeinViewer developers’ report on research conducted with the device, first-stick success was achieved at a rate of nearly 100% and decreased the need for patient-dreaded PICC lines by over 30%.

Imparting hope for paralysis

On a sunny day in 1992 while skiing in Aspen, Colorado, Amanda Boxtel sustained an injury that would change her life in ways unimaginable. It was on that day that she became paralyzed from the waist down and learned she would never walk again.

Amanda refused to stop dreaming about somehow walking again. On the long road to realizing her dream, she became an inspirational force for others like her, creating adaptive ski programs, organizing disabled rafting expeditions, conducting research in Antarctica, and even carrying the Olympic torch.

Today, Amanda is an ambassador for the groundbreaking company, Ekso Bionics. Ekso bionics produces bionic exoskeletons, man-made, digitally-driven frameworks worn on the outside of the body that allow people with different degrees of paralysis (whether this paralysis be a result of a congenital condition, injury, or disease) to walk again.

Not only does the ability to be upright (rather than confined to wheelchair for mobility) bring an incredible sense of personal empowerment and newfound freedom to the wearer, it also dramatically reduces the circulatory and other health complications that are a direct result of prolonged sitting.

To date, Ekso Bionics has helped people with paralysis take more than a million steps. According to Amanda, one of ten “test pilots” to be fitted with a custom bionic exoskeleton, the project “represents the triumph of human creativity and technology that converged to restore my authentic functionality in a stunningly beautiful, fashionable and organic design.”

At Lifecycle Biotechnologies, in our role of providing leading-edge tools and services to the life science industry, we’re committed to keeping abreast of the latest scientific discoveries and breakthroughs. In doing so, we aim to better understand and respond to the needs of the rapidly evolving industry and support our diverse customer population across multiple disciplinary specialties and market divisions.

If you’d like to see how our innovative tools and services can help your company scale for the research methodologies of the future, contact us today and see what we can do for you.