Health IT to remain fastest-growing segment of healthcare through 2013
Health information technology is the fastest-growing segment of healthcare's $1 trillion global marketplace and is likely to continue growing at a double-digit annual rate through 2013, according to a report by Cambridge, MA-based consulting firm Scientia Advisors. The report notes that by 2013, health IT sales worldwide will increase by 11 percent per year and its share of the worldwide health care products market will grow by 25 percent, with most revenue generated in the United States. Growth elsewhere, primarily in China and India, will present substantial long-term opportunity, Scientia Advisors managing partner Harry Glorikian said. But to remain competitive, companies must also factor in government incentives, new clinical decision-making, and electronic health record requirements, as well as emerging competitors and markets in Asia and the developing world. http://www.scientiaadv.com/scientia_pressRelease_134.html

USDA awards nearly $35 million for rural telemedicine projects
More than 100 telemedicine and distance-learning projects will share $34.9 million in grants awarded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in an effort to increase educational opportunities and expand access to healthcare services in rural areas, the USDA announced. The funding, provided through USDA Rural Development's Distance Learning and Telemedicine Program, will go to 111 programs in 35 states and will expand telecommunications, educational resources, and computer networks throughout rural communities, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said. Major award recipients include two $500,000 grants each to the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts in Hot Springs, AR, and South Central Kansas Education Service Center in Clearwater, KS; and separate $500,000 awards to Citizens Memorial Hospital District in Bolivar, MO, Educational Service Unit 13 in Chadron, NE, and Region XIV Education Service Center in Abilene, TX. A complete list of recipients is available at www.usda.gov/rus/telecom/dlt/dlt.htm   http://www.usda.gov/wps/...

New Kerry bill would encourage adoption of EHRs by small practices
Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) has introduced legislation to speed up adoption of electronic health records (EHRs) by family doctors and small-scale practitioners. The Small Business Health Information Technology Financing Act (Senate Bill 2765) would make small-practice doctors eligible for loans from the Small Business Administration to enable the switch to electronic records. Physicians could use the funds to purchase hardware, software, and other technology that will "allow them to be more efficient and to focus on patient care," Kerry said. In 2007, Kerry introduced similar legislation to push doctors into using digital systems when issuing prescriptions. That legislation, incorporated into the 2008 Medicare bill, passed with provisions offering bonus payments to early adopters of the technology, and eventually phasing in penalties for doctors who continue issuing paper prescriptions after 2012. http://kerry.senate.gov/cfm/record.cfm?id=319838

Your cell phone could soon ID your illness via a cough
Scientists in the United States and Australia are developing a mobile phone application to diagnose certain respiratory conditions based on a user's cough. The Bedford, MA-based research group STAR Analytical Services plans to create a program where users merely cough into their phone for a symptom evaluation. According to lead researcher Dr. Suzanne Smith, the application would compare the cough with a pre-recorded database of coughs from people with various respiratory diseases. The program then could provide information about whether the cough likely was caused by a bacterial or viral infection. Smith said the program could be most useful in developing nations with a high prevalence of pneumonia. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has pledged $100,000 in financial support for the research as part of its "Grand Challenges Explorations" initiative, which provided 76 health improvement grants to 16 countries on five continents. http://www.staranalyticalservices.com/images/...

Medical identity theft and telemedicine security
Telemedicine is more vulnerable than traditional medicine when it comes to medical identity theft, but there are several ways to minimize that risk, according to a new report published online ahead of print in Telemedicine and e-Health. "Medical Identity Theft and Telemedicine Security" outlines the risks associated with telemedicine and the collection, sharing, and maintenance of electronic medical information, especially the limited ability to confirm patient and provider identities in electronic transactions; who should have access to that information; and how to protect medical data when it is not in use. Solutions to at least some of these issues include use of data encryption, centralized storage of medical information, and layers of security to protect sensitive information, the report notes. The full study is available for free at www.liebertpub.com/tmj.   http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/...

Telehealth could speed recovery of brain-injured soldiers
Researchers at the U.S. Army's Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center are using a mobile telehealth pilot program to determine if wounded warriors have a better recovery if they're in frequent contact with their case managers. The mCare program, launched this past summer and now used by more than 100 brain-injured soldiers, allows the veterans to maintain contact with physicians and case managers through their cell phones, according to Staff Sgt. Richard Fortuna. Through the mobile phone application, veterans can communicate with physicians via text and picture messages, receive health tips and appointment reminders, store health information and submit information on sleeping habits and mood swings to their case managers. The Army plans to expand the program to serve 10,000 returning soldiers over the next year. http://www.govtech.com/gt/...

Shock-wave therapy matches surgery in treating tough bone injuries
Shock-wave therapy can be as effective as surgery when it comes to healing stubborn bone injuries, according to a study by the Division of Orthopaedic Surgery and the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at San Salvatore Hospital in L'Aquila, Italy. Occasionally, fractured bones fail to heal - a condition known as "nonunion" - due to sparse vascular tissue and limited blood supply. In a test involving 126 patients with nonunions of the femur, tibia, ulna or radius, non-invasive shock-wave therapy - the application of high-intensity acoustic radiation - resulted in complete healing of the bone within six months for 70 percent of the patients, according to study lead author Angelo Cacchio, M.D. It also provided a comparable outcome to surgery two years after the treatment. The study appears in the November issue of The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. http://www6.aaos.org/news/...

Drug-carrying nano-spheres can also aid spinal injury recovery
Researchers at Purdue University have discovered a new way to repair damaged nerve fibers in spinal cord injuries: inject nano-spheres into the blood shortly after the accident. According to Ji-Xin Cheng, professor in the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering and Department of Chemistry, the drug-delivery spheres - synthetic copolymer micelles about 60 nanometers in diameter, roughly 100 times smaller than the diameter of a red blood cell - appear to repair damaged axons that transmit electrical impulses in the spinal cord. Micelles have been used for 30 years as drug-delivery vehicles, but no one has ever tried using them as medicine, Cheng said. The findings were published online November 8 in the journal Nature Nanotechnology. http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/...

Scientists hatch plan to protect wireless implants from hackers
Researchers from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (SFI) in Zurich and the French National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Control (FNI) have developed an ultrasound-based method of protecting wireless, implantable medical devices from attacks by hackers. According to FNI Senior Research Scientist Claude Castelluccia, the system uses ultrasound waves to determine the distance between a medical device and the wireless reader attempting to communicate with it. The project stems from a report by researchers from the universities of Washington and Massachusetts, who noted the relative ease in which an experienced hacker can tap into an implanted wireless device, such as a pacemaker, and gain access to the wearer's personal data, as well as drain batteries and make it malfunction. Under the SFI/FNI project, a protected device is accessible from up to 10 meters away and will enforce a series of authentication steps before allowing access, Castelluccia said. http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/...

Ultra-tiny internal microscope lives up to name
A micro-tiny microscope is helping scientists at the University of Chicago take a cellular-level look at living tissue in the lungs and gastrointestinal tract, and enabling them to make a rapid diagnosis or carefully select tissue for biopsy. The laser-endomicroscopy system known as Cellvizio, developed by Paris-based Mauna Kea Technologies, has magnification of 500 to 1,000 times that of a standard scope and 10 to 50 times that of a magnifying scope, according to Irving Waxman, M.D., professor of medicine and surgery at the University of Chicago. Only 40 such units are in use in the U.S. The microscope itself, a mere 2.5 millimeters in diameter, is tiny enough for use with most standard GI or pulmonary scopes, Waxman said. The unit "does a good job of catching early cancers and diagnosing them immediately, without having to wait for a pathology report," Mauna Kea Chief Executive Officer Sacha Loiseau said. http://www.uchospitals.edu/news/...

Google launches Internet-based flu vaccine tracking tool
Online search engine giant Google has launched a Web-based mapping tool designed to help users find the nearest location of seasonal or H1N1 flu vaccines, the company announced. Available at www.google.com/flushot , users merely enter a ZIP code or town at the site to receive a color-coded display that shows location and availability of various vaccines, according to Google Product Manager Roni Zeiger, M.D. The map is also available on the Department of Health and Human Services' www.flu.gov site and will soon be on the American Lung Association Web site at www.lungusa.org, two organizations that also worked on the project. The flu shot finder includes data for 20 states; developers plan to eventually update the map with data for the entire U.S., Zeiger said. http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/...   http://maps.google.com/maps/...

E-health firms present diabetes monitoring product to Bangladesh
San Diego-based healthcare technology company Entra Health Systems and Dhaka, Bangladesh-based e-health firm Telemedicine Reference Center Ltd. (TRCL) have launched AmCare - Intensive Diabetes Management, the world's first integrated mobile phone-based telehealth network to use MyGlucoHealth Wireless diabetic monitoring technology, the companies announced. According to TRCL Managing Director Dr. Sikder M. Zakir, AmCare monitors testing results from the MyGlucoHealth meter as data is transmitted via a patient's mobile phone to a 24-hour diabetes call center; the call center will review results and communicate directly with the patient or family, depending on test results. If the patient is unable to control blood sugar through their own efforts, the center will contact the patient and family to offer additional clinical support, Zakir said. http://entrahealthsystems.com/news/...