Drainage system helps save cash
A SWISS healthcare company is hoping to help NHS trusts make efficiency savings with the launch of the world’s-smallest hand-held pleural drainage system. Medela’s Thopaz combines a digital display that tracks a patient’s air leak, with a portable, regulated suction device, reducing the risk of leaks in the lungs. In a study carried out at the department of thoracic surgery at St James University Hospital in Leeds, doctors estimated they saved £18,005 when using Thopaz on 250 patients compared to the traditional approach. A Medela spokesman said: “Thopaz compared to existing chest drainage is akin to the difference between squinting to read an old-fashioned mercury thermometer and taking an instant, precise digital reading. This new approach saves time and empowers nurses to monitor the patient’s air leak and track their therapy and recovery, without surgeons needing to be present.”
Telecare solutions deployed at Sussex care home
SAXON Weald has deployed a range of telecare solutions from Tunstall Healthcare to enhance security and safety for residents living in its extra care retirement housing at Downlands Court in east Sussex. Tunstall’s Communicall Connect was deployed to provide a 24-hour communications system that allows staff to communicate with residents through speech modules installed in both individual dwellings and communal areas. A range of sensors was also provided to enhance security throughout the property and fob-operated door entry sensors have been installed to allow easy and secure access to staff and residents with limited dexterity. In addition, Tunstall has provided doorframe cameras that stream live images to residents’ television screens, allowing those with visual impairments to see large-scale images of visitors. Carole Holland, extra care services manager for Saxon Weald, said: “Safety and security are a priority for us. We wanted to ensure maximum safety for all our residents without encroaching on their independence. The telecare solutions allow us to appropriately manage security throughout the property, ensuring residents’ safety while still promoting independent living.”
Wireless mobile digital X-ray system unveiled
SIEMENS Healthcare is launching its first mobile digital X-ray system with wireless detector. The Mobilett Mira is designed to fit between the confined cubicles of A&E or patient wards and is motor-powered to assist with imaging outside of the radiology department. “The Mobilett Mira is one of the smallest mobile X-ray systems currently available on the market and offers radiographers the versatility of a rotating swivel arm and wireless detector to gain rapid, detailed images for interpretation and diagnosis,” said Lynn Blackburn, special products manager at Siemens Healthcare.
“Wireless flexibility is safer in operation and gives seamless digital data transfer into PACS to digitise the entire clinical workflow journey.” The Mobilett Mira is the first system available in the mobile X-ray imaging market that can be maintained and updated using remote monitoring. Via data cable or W-LAN, Siemens Remote Services can provide the system with recommended software updates and pre-empt or analyse faults before downtime is experienced. The system is also available with a friendly giraffe design graphic on the rotating swivel arm to help put both paediatric and adult patients at ease during examinations.
Adjustable glasses make a big impact
THE world’s-first universal self-adjustable glasses were voted the idea most likely to make the biggest impact on healthcare by 2020 at the NHS Healthcare Innovation Expo in London last month. Designed by Professor Josh Silver, director of the Centre for Vision in the Developing World, Adspecs are low-cost glasses with adjustable lenses, the power of which is set by the wearer by looking through the lenses and turning a dial until they can see clearly. Professor Silver said: “Hundreds of millions of people around the world who require only a simple pair of eyeglasses do not receive even this modest provision of eyecare. If we are forced to use only the conventional model of spectacles dispensing and distribution, this unfortunate situation will not change in the foreseeable future.”
Urologists share best practice
UROLOGISTS are being invited to sign up to Cook Medical’s new Resonance Registry, which has been set up to share best practice and collect information about patient outcomes in cases where the company’s Resonance Metallic Ureteral Stent has been used. The registry is built on Cook Medical’s exclusive online system OpenDoor, the industry’s first transparent clinical data management offering for physicians. The solution provides users with the ability to review clinical data, benchmark results and share and collaborate to identify better methods of delivering patient care. Physicians and researchers will be able to track individual patient progress and view community trends within 30 days of entering data from a case. OpenDoor also provides a means to collaborate globally across multiple medical specialties, institutions, societies and agencies to evaluate quality patient data. “We are excited about the valuable information that the registry will provide,” said Jean-Marc Creissel, global business unit leader for Cook Medical’s urology division.
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