Jerry Fahrni

Category: Technology

  • One week with the Motorola Droid

    I have been carrying the Motorola Droid from Verizon around for a little over a week now, and while I haven’t learned all the ins and outs of the phone, I have certainly used it long enough to form an opinion.
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  • Get a diagnosis by coughing into your mobile phone?

    Telegraph.co.uk:  “Software being developed by American and Australian scientists will hopefully allow patients simply to cough into their phone, and it will tell them whether they have cold, flu, pneumonia or other respiratory diseases. Whether a cough is dry or wet, or “productive” or “non-productive” (referring to the presence of mucus on the lungs), can give a doctor information about what is causing that cough, for example whether it is caused by a bacterial or a viral infection.” – I don’t know about you, but I’m a little skeptical about this one.

    I find it interesting that the photo on the Telegraph site is of an iPhone, while the original article at DiscoveryNews shows a completely different device. Amazing how the media injects the iPhone into everything to increase interest.

    Read the press release from STAR Analytical Services here (PDF).

  • Why my Firefox browser is more advanced than our hospital’s HIS

    frustration.cartoonEach day I roll into work ready for another exciting day of pharmacy technology. I’m usually bright-eyed and ready for a new challenge because I’ve spent the previous night scouring the web and reading about all the incredible technology being put into place all over the world; tablet pcs, electronic paper and ink, advanced nanoparticles, automated dispensing devices, mobile phones, advances in social networking, and so on ad infinitum. Then there are days like today when I have something land in my lap that just makes me shake my head and wonder if healthcare will ever catch up to the rest of the world.
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  • Which internet browser do you prefer?

    I can’t help myself. I’m constantly tinkering with one thing or another when it comes to my laptop. Lately I’ve been playing around with different internet browsers. Like everyone else, I cut my teeth using Internet Explorer (IE); mainly because it was the only browser out there for a long time. Things have certainly changed as there are now several browsers to choose from and IE is no longer king.

    On occasion I will download the most recent version reincarnation of IE. I’m not sure why I do it, but I do. No matter what changes Microsoft makes the browsing experience just isn’t what it could be. IE improves with each release to be sure, but the improvements always seem to come up short.
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  • To touch or not touch….a computer screen

    GottaBeMobile: “I am firmly of the belief that touch and multitouch make no real, practical sense on the desktop monitor. As we’ve stated on GBM before, the main problem for touch interfaces on the desktop is “gorilla arm”, that heavy, painful feeling you get in your arm after having it outstretched for an extended period, trying to touch a monitor 20-24 inches away from your body. Sure there are times when touch on the desktop monitor would be handy to just scratch out a quickie OneNote drawing, but for 99% of the time, for 99% of the people, touch on the desktop monitor space just doesn’t make a whole lot of sense even if it came for free. Now on the smaller form factors, Apple has really done the space a lot of service. Users and fanboys alike have been shown how touch and multitouch work on an iPhone. Apple’s advertising for the touch features of iPhone are direct, to the point, and show the audience what is going on without a lot of flash or distraction. Much like the HP ads for their newer IQ-series TouchSmart kitchen PC, the advertising is creative and effective.” – While I agree in theory to what Mr. Locke is saying, there are times when a touch screen is simply the best way to go. Desktop computers may not be the right application for such devices, but a desk surface may be the perfect area for a touch screen. We have several monitors scattered throughout our pharmacy that I would love to see as touch screens. For some reason I feel compelled to touch a computer monitor when I’m standing instead of seated in front of it. Touch screens also make excellent tools for surfing the internet while kicking back on the couch watching football. Now there’s a practical use for touch screen technology.

  • University of Missouri Health Care outsourcing IT resources?

    Columbia Tribune: “Cerner talks confirmed by officials – University of Missouri Health Care is now negotiating with the Kansas City-based Cerner Corp., administrators have confirmed. MU Health information technology workers have been worried for months that their jobs could be outsourced to Cerner, considered one of the leading health information technology providers. Several employees have said supervisors told them different Cerner-related stories, but mostly workers have been kept in the dark. Williamson and Ross said employees would be notified “promptly” if a Cerner agreement is made. The university has a longstanding relationship with Cerner. The company provides hardware products for the hospital and has an educational partnership with the MU School of Medicine.” – The University of Missouri Health Care may not be handling the situation in the most gracious way possible, but I’ve mentioned before that I think outsourcing IT resources is a good idea. It’s simply unreasonable to expect locally developed IT resources to have the same knowledgebase as the IT resources at the company providing the product. And it’s probably cheaper, too.

  • Yes, another article on Twitter and healthcare

    TELEMEDICINE and e-Health (July/August 2009):  “Although as a “social entertainment” Twitter is remarkably successful—it’s a wonderful time-waster—the more significant question, especially as it pertains to telemedicine and e-health, is: What good is it? Joseph C. Kvedar, M.D., Director of the Center for connected Health (Partners Healthcare System, Boston, MA), says that one way to look at Twitter is as a method of mass communication. “It’s a bit like having a group of people you can instantly send a blast fax or blast e-mail or a blast communication to because it’s real-time and because it was designed for mobility. Instead of being like texting my daughter, I might now text 30 people or 50 or 100 people, whatever the number is who are following you.” Several healthcare practitioners and organizations are putting Twitter to use.” – I have to admit, I’ve made contact with more interesting and intelligent people in five months of “Tweeting” then in my previous 12 year career as a pharmacist. That’s certainly important to me.

  • An infusion pump that can be used around MRI scanners…Cool!

    pumpsyringThe MRidium 3860+ from IRadimed is the first non-magnetic iv pump with integrated SpO2 monitoring designed specifically for use around MRI scanners. According to the manufacturer: “The new 3860+ offers significantly upgraded performance and features to the already proven MRidium MR IV pump product line. With the addition of a 10 key numeric input keypad and its wider pumping range of O.l mL/Hr to 1400 ml/Hr, the 3860+ series allows quick programming and broad fluid flow control. The drug library has been enhanced to allow user profiles to be stored and easily transferred via the SD memory card to other pumps. With the addition of the Masimo SET Sp02 monitoring and specialized fiber optic sensor, the 3860+ facilitates both safe sedation AND monitoring in one portable MR safe unit. Approved for use in 0.2 to 3 T Magnets. Features: Dose Rate Calculator, Bolus Dose Programming, Secondary Drug Delivery, Syringe Delivery, Adjustable Occlusion Pressure, KVO, SpO2 monitoring, and Alarm Settings, [and] CQI Data Ability w/Tracking Software which records up to 3000 Entries.” A couple of things that stand out, besides being able to use it around an MRI scanner, are the wide range of infusion rates and the ability to use standard 10 to 60 mL syringes with the MRidium Syringe Adapter IV Set (image shown). I’ve seen several pumps that limit users to 999 mL/hr, which can create an issue in certain circumstances. The ability to utilize syringes comes in handy for pediatrics; most pediatric infusions require an entirely different pump.

    Pharmacists aren’t typically interested in infusion pumps, but they catch my eye from time to time since my involvement with the Alaris Smart Pump project at our facility.

  • Needle-free injection system

    The Engineer:

    The Pyrofast system uses a fine, high-pressure jet stream to penetrate the skin and deliver liquid or solid drugs to the tissue beneath. According to the German company, the entire process takes 40m/s and creates a puncture that is four times smaller than that caused by conventional needle injections.

    pyrofastDr Thorsten Rudolph, managing director of Anwendungszentrum Oberpfaffenhofen (AZO), is working with IP management company, Patev to commercialise the technology. He claims that the system will prevent the transmission of blood-borne diseases via needlestick and sharp injuries and provide a more attractive option to patients generally.

    ‘The pyrotechnical gas propulsion technology that is used doesn’t cause bleeding, so the transfer of diseases such as HIV will be eliminated,’ he said. ‘This is the same chemical gas technology being used in airbags to provide a fast and reliable pressure profile. Including it in an injection system means that it can easily be used by patients to self administer drugs through the skin.’

    Most needle-free injection systems produce the initial penetration pressure using a spring or compressed gas. This can cause discomfort to the patient as the pressure applied is not uniform. Patev claims that the system overcomes this by using chemical substances that, after activation, generate a gas to create a constant and reliable pressure profile.

    The system also has the advantage of distributing the drugs to a wider area under the skin and therefore speeding up absorption, whereas needle injections cause a bolus that slows drug delivery.

    The team has developed a prototype and Rudolph is confident of working with industrial partners to begin trials in the near future.

    You can read more about it here.

  • A great argument for being allowed to browse however you want

    Slate.com: “The restrictions infantilize workers—they foster resentment, reduce morale, lock people into inefficient routines, and, worst of all, they kill our incentives to work productively. In the information age, most companies’ success depends entirely on the creativity and drive of their workers. IT restrictions are corrosive to that creativity—they keep everyone under the thumb of people who have no idea which tools we need to do our jobs but who are charged with deciding anyway.” – I couldn’t have said it better myself. I know my brother would endorse the sentiment as well.