What is Consulting? Healthcare consulting is a rapidly growing subset of consulting. The current timetable for healthcare consulting is opportune thanks to the healthcare reforms enacted by the Obama administration. The healthcare mandates affect all segments of the industry, including providers (doctors and hospitals), payers (insurance companies), life-sciences (pharmaceutical companies), and support (healthcare product distribution). Unlike other industries, health care companies have to adjust to the changes resulting from the recent healthcare reform laws in order to avoid fines and reduction in subsidies by the government. In fact, Lan explains, “lots of companies, especially on the insurance side, are doing a lot of work to understand changes [mandated by the government] that are about to happen.” They seek consultants more than ever to project what healthcare will be a few years down the road and to meet the requirements set by the government. A common misconception about Biomedical Engineering is that one would only be limited to few career pathways. However, with a Biomedical Engineering major, there’s far more career paths one could think of. One of which, consulting, is a direct way of applying the problem solving strategies that this major trains us with. This is a great article looking into this commonly unknown career.
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What is Consulting?

Healthcare consulting is a rapidly growing subset of consulting. The current timetable for healthcare consulting is opportune thanks to the healthcare reforms enacted by the Obama administration. The healthcare mandates affect all segments of the industry, including providers (doctors and hospitals), payers (insurance companies), life-sciences (pharmaceutical companies), and support (healthcare product distribution). Unlike other industries, health care companies have to adjust to the changes resulting from the recent healthcare reform laws in order to avoid fines and reduction in subsidies by the government. In fact, Lan explains, “lots of companies, especially on the insurance side, are doing a lot of work to understand changes [mandated by the government] that are about to happen.” They seek consultants more than ever to project what healthcare will be a few years down the road and to meet the requirements set by the government.

A common misconception about Biomedical Engineering is that one would only be limited to few career pathways. However, with a Biomedical Engineering major, there’s far more career paths one could think of. One of which, consulting, is a direct way of applying the problem solving strategies that this major trains us with. This is a great article looking into this commonly unknown career.

Source: businessweek.com

Renal Denervation: All the Rage in Europe Boasting the potential to become a $5-billion market, renal denervation is an area actively being pursued by such medtech powerhouses as Medtronic, St. Jude, and Covidien because of the high volume of hypertension patients that do not respond to drug treatments. Patients with refractory, or resistant, hypertension, which is defined as not experiencing appropriate blood pressure reduction when on at least three antihypertensive drugs at the optimal doses, account for approximately 12% of all hypertensive patients, according to ESC presenter Johannes Mann. Renal denervation is a novel technique used to treat hypertension, a chronic medical condition where the patient’s blood pressure is high due to arterial wall constriction, when other treatments are ineffective. This procedure requires a multi-electrode ablation catheter to deactivate the nerves around the renal arteries, the arteries that deliver blood to the kidneys. By deactivating these nerves, which can regulate the constriction of the arterial walls, the patient’s blood pressure decreases. By ultimately decreasing blood pressure, this procedure can decrease the patient’s chances of stroke and heart attack, the top killers of America.
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Renal Denervation: All the Rage in Europe

Boasting the potential to become a $5-billion market, renal denervation is an area actively being pursued by such medtech powerhouses as Medtronic, St. Jude, and Covidien because of the high volume of hypertension patients that do not respond to drug treatments. Patients with refractory, or resistant, hypertension, which is defined as not experiencing appropriate blood pressure reduction when on at least three antihypertensive drugs at the optimal doses, account for approximately 12% of all hypertensive patients, according to ESC presenter Johannes Mann.

Renal denervation is a novel technique used to treat hypertension, a chronic medical condition where the patient’s blood pressure is high due to arterial wall constriction, when other treatments are ineffective. This procedure requires a multi-electrode ablation catheter to deactivate the nerves around the renal arteries, the arteries that deliver blood to the kidneys. By deactivating these nerves, which can regulate the constriction of the arterial walls, the patient’s blood pressure decreases. By ultimately decreasing blood pressure, this procedure can decrease the patient’s chances of stroke and heart attack, the top killers of America.

Source: cdn.medgadget.com

Noninvasive Biosensor Could Eliminate Needles from Blood Glucose Monitoring Researchers have created a new type of biosensor that can detect minute concentrations of glucose in saliva, tears and urine and might be manufactured at low cost because it does not require many processing steps to produce. For as long as the history of glucose monitors goes, diabetics have to constantly prick their fingers to make sure their blood sugar levels remain optimal. Of course, this process oftentimes become tedious and inconvenient. However, finding non-invasive ways to measure glucose levels has always been an arduous process up until now. Purdue University has recently developed a new inexpensive biosensor that consists of layers of nanosheets resembling tiny rose petals made of a material called graphene, which is a single-atom-thick film of carbon; platinum nanoparticles; and the enzyme glucose oxidase. Ideally, one could simply swab the insides of their mouths for glucose readings. Unfortunately, it will be a little while before this technology reaches the consumer market; the main challenge is to develop scalable fabrication methods to make various sizes and shapes of biosensors. However, that is not to say that this is a big step towards stopping finger pricking.
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Noninvasive Biosensor Could Eliminate Needles from Blood Glucose Monitoring

Researchers have created a new type of biosensor that can detect minute concentrations of glucose in saliva, tears and urine and might be manufactured at low cost because it does not require many processing steps to produce.

For as long as the history of glucose monitors goes, diabetics have to constantly prick their fingers to make sure their blood sugar levels remain optimal. Of course, this process oftentimes become tedious and inconvenient. However, finding non-invasive ways to measure glucose levels has always been an arduous process up until now. Purdue University has recently developed a new inexpensive biosensor that consists of

layers of nanosheets resembling tiny rose petals made of a material called graphene, which is a single-atom-thick film of carbon; platinum nanoparticles; and the enzyme glucose oxidase.

Ideally, one could simply swab the insides of their mouths for glucose readings. Unfortunately, it will be a little while before this technology reaches the consumer market; the main challenge is to develop scalable fabrication methods to make various sizes and shapes of biosensors. However, that is not to say that this is a big step towards stopping finger pricking.

Source: purdue.edu

St. Jude Medical Restructures, Lays Off 300 St. Jude Medical develops medical technology and services that focus on putting more control into the hands of those who treat cardiac, neurological and chronic pain patients worldwide. The company is dedicated to advancing the practice of medicine by reducing risk wherever possible and contributing to successful outcomes for every patient. St. Jude Medical is headquartered in St. Paul, Minn. and has four major focus areas that include: cardiac rhythm management, atrial fibrillation, cardiovascular and neuromodulation. St. Jude has been having a rough year with FDA recalls, slow sales in the cardiovascular device sector, as well as the anticipated device tax increase. As part of an initiative to compensate for these changes, St. Jude is reorganizing their company, resulting in 300 lay offs.
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St. Jude Medical Restructures, Lays Off 300

St. Jude Medical develops medical technology and services that focus on putting more control into the hands of those who treat cardiac, neurological and chronic pain patients worldwide. The company is dedicated to advancing the practice of medicine by reducing risk wherever possible and contributing to successful outcomes for every patient. St. Jude Medical is headquartered in St. Paul, Minn. and has four major focus areas that include: cardiac rhythm management, atrial fibrillation, cardiovascular and neuromodulation.

St. Jude has been having a rough year with FDA recalls, slow sales in the cardiovascular device sector, as well as the anticipated device tax increase. As part of an initiative to compensate for these changes, St. Jude is reorganizing their company, resulting in 300 lay offs.

Source: crall.info

Invisible Bike Helmet Protects the Head and Fashion Sense

The video does a great job explaining the progress that the two cofounders went through to come up with this device. First off, they identified the problem: not only are bike helmets too bulky all the time; this bulkiness tends to detract bikers from wearing them, leading to a higher risk of head trauma injuries. On top of that, it is really interesting how they integrated elements of design/arts into the final design: they incorporated a basic collar design, making it look like a scarf, and simply allowing the bike helmet apparatus pop out while the biker is falling.

Of course, creating a completely new and simple design is no easy or quick task. In the video, they stated that it took them 7 years just to gather the research for the design. On top of that, they had to go out to venture capitalists to give the initial investments for them to develop the product further.

As much as it is amazing to run and find your own health-related device company, what a lot of people do not consider are the overarching aspects of it: you would need to look into regulatory aspects (making sure the device fits under FDA/EU standards), marketing (who’s going to market the device out to your specified users), manufacturing (even if you have the CAD drawings for the design, you need to make sure it can be manufactured with the given equipment), packaging (does the device to need to be sterile?, etc.), even overall logistics of running the company (who you are hiring, how to make sure you get high quality work, etc.). It is definitely not for everybody, but can have high returns and awards when done well.

Artificial Limb Transitions Between Prosthetics and Bionics Although prosthetic limbs have been around for thousands of years and have undergone myriad transformations and refinements, modern-day prosthetics still have a variety of notable drawbacks. Prosthetic legs, for example, are often so heavy that their use exhausts amputees, making walking a burdensome and unpleasant exercise. Dedicated to restoring natural movement for lower-limb amputees and improving their quality of life, iWalk (Bedford, MA) has created a system that the company claims is the world’s first proven bionic intervention that utilizes robotics to replicate the function of the missing calf muscle and Achilles tendon. The field of prosthetics is an evolving one. What would once be a device that mainly relied on mechanical and material properties is now taking on electronic properties. And it’s not surprising, with a trend of innovative technological advances and biomechanical and robotic research, we will see more advances towards incorporating and streamlining robotic features into prosthetics. Also, a very nice aspect of this article is how it looks into the design process of developing this kind of device; from concept, rapid prototyping, to manufacturing. For those of you guys interested in working in the industry, this will be a great article to see the overview of the design process as well.
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Artificial Limb Transitions Between Prosthetics and Bionics

Although prosthetic limbs have been around for thousands of years and have undergone myriad transformations and refinements, modern-day prosthetics still have a variety of notable drawbacks. Prosthetic legs, for example, are often so heavy that their use exhausts amputees, making walking a burdensome and unpleasant exercise. Dedicated to restoring natural movement for lower-limb amputees and improving their quality of life, iWalk (Bedford, MA) has created a system that the company claims is the world’s first proven bionic intervention that utilizes robotics to replicate the function of the missing calf muscle and Achilles tendon.

The field of prosthetics is an evolving one. What would once be a device that mainly relied on mechanical and material properties is now taking on electronic properties. And it’s not surprising, with a trend of innovative technological advances and biomechanical and robotic research, we will see more advances towards incorporating and streamlining robotic features into prosthetics. Also, a very nice aspect of this article is how it looks into the design process of developing this kind of device; from concept, rapid prototyping, to manufacturing. For those of you guys interested in working in the industry, this will be a great article to see the overview of the design process as well.

Source: iwalk.com

Q:Hi there, love the blog! When I came across this I was extremely excited because I've been out of luck finding anyone/anything on the subject. I was wondering if there is any advice you could give a high school student interested in prosthetics? Like, where to even start.

Anonymous

Why hello there, thank you so much; I really appreciate it!

I am already impressed that as a high school student you are already interested in prosthetics, and I don’t blame you, it is a very dynamic field. I would say some applicable areas within Biomedical Engineering would be Biomechanics (how forces are distributed and applied along ligaments, etc.), Biomaterials (which types of materials to use that are biocompatible, etc.), and Anatomy and Physiology (learning location and functionality of nerves, etc.). A good place to start is Biomaterials (I would recommend getting pdf versions of the top rated books on Amazon), they usually go into the applications of the different types of materials that will help you learn about the workings of prosthetics on a material level. And while you are in high school, I would highly suggest brushing up on your Physics (kinematics) and start looking into Material Science (Young’s modulus, etc.) and Statics (analyzes where forces are distributed along structures, force body diagrams), this will all help you with Biomechanics. For Anatomy and Physiology, I would also suggest getting a pdf copy of the top rated book on Amazon.

Prosthetics is definitely a complicated field, so getting familiar with these subjects will help you build a foundation for a future in this specialty.

Medical Device Design: Defining Innovation and the Power of the First Impression Stuart Karten, founder and principal at Karten Design (Marina del Rey, CA) as well as a juror for this year’s Medical Design Excellence Awards, recently spoke with MPMN about the changing landscape of medical device design, emerging trends, the meaning of innovation, and the power of the first impression. Karten Design focuses on design strategy and research, industrial design, and mechanical engineering disciplines throughout every phase of the product development process in order to maintain a continuous focus on the end user’s needs and desires. An ongoing trend with the device industry is a strive towards innovation. With recent advances in technology over the past few decades, the biotechnology industry still has a ways to go in terms of incorporating the recent advances in its own devices to make them more efficient and user friendly. A very interesting point from this article is that with the new electronic devices out in the market, more consumers are becoming more aware of the user interface, making them more critical of the design of the device more than ever.
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Medical Device Design: Defining Innovation and the Power of the First Impression

Stuart Karten, founder and principal at Karten Design (Marina del Rey, CA) as well as a juror for this year’s Medical Design Excellence Awards, recently spoke with MPMN about the changing landscape of medical device design, emerging trends, the meaning of innovation, and the power of the first impression. Karten Design focuses on design strategy and research, industrial design, and mechanical engineering disciplines throughout every phase of the product development process in order to maintain a continuous focus on the end user’s needs and desires.

An ongoing trend with the device industry is a strive towards innovation. With recent advances in technology over the past few decades, the biotechnology industry still has a ways to go in terms of incorporating the recent advances in its own devices to make them more efficient and user friendly. A very interesting point from this article is that with the new electronic devices out in the market, more consumers are becoming more aware of the user interface, making them more critical of the design of the device more than ever.

OnTheBus Brings the Usefulness of GPS to the Visually Impaired There’s an app for everything, it seems—but the penetration of mobile technology into more and more realms of life isn’t all that useful if you can’t see the screen. A new Android app called OnTheBus is a guide for people who need to get around big cities with public transportation, but unlike other GPS programs, the app uses gesture and voice recognition to be especially helpful for people with “visual, hearing, or cognitive impairments.” With advances in the user interface of smart phones that allow you to enter inputs without looking at the screen, i.e., here, it’s nice to see apps like these becoming available for different demographics of consumers.
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OnTheBus Brings the Usefulness of GPS to the Visually Impaired

There’s an app for everything, it seems—but the penetration of mobile technology into more and more realms of life isn’t all that useful if you can’t see the screen. A new Android app called OnTheBus is a guide for people who need to get around big cities with public transportation, but unlike other GPS programs, the app uses gesture and voice recognition to be especially helpful for people with “visual, hearing, or cognitive impairments.”

With advances in the user interface of smart phones that allow you to enter inputs without looking at the screen, i.e., here, it’s nice to see apps like these becoming available for different demographics of consumers.

Tandem Diabetes Care (San Diego, CA) is finally releasing its long awaited t:slim Insulin Delivery System, a 300 unit insulin pump that looks like it was designed by Apple.  The face of the t:slim is the size of a credit card and all functions are controlled through its beautiful touch screen. It is refreshing to see more medical devices incorporating smart phone technology being released into the market, especially for consumer products that require heavy usage (i.e. diabetic products).
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Tandem Diabetes Care (San Diego, CA) is finally releasing its long awaited t:slim Insulin Delivery System, a 300 unit insulin pump that looks like it was designed by Apple.  The face of the t:slim is the size of a credit card and all functions are controlled through its beautiful touch screen.

It is refreshing to see more medical devices incorporating smart phone technology being released into the market, especially for consumer products that require heavy usage (i.e. diabetic products).