Jerry Fahrni

Tag: Cool Stuff

  • Cool Technology for Pharmacy

    The ValiMed Medication Validation System by CDEX, Inc.

    According to the ValiMed website:

    CDEX’s technology stands alone, able to precisely identify medications in real time with its patented Enhanced Photoemission Spectroscopy technology.

    Energy at a preset wavelength interrogates the selected substance, capturing a unique emission spectrum which is then compared to the propriety signature, resulting in a simple “VALIDATED” reading when matched.

    Each medication reveals its own distinct and easily readable signature. By comparing the fingerprint of a tested medication against the signature for that medication in our data library, the ValiMed technology is able to verify a match, presuming there is one.

    The ValiMed Medication and Narcotic Validation System offers superior value to hospital medication safety programs and quality control processes by:

    – Providing immediate, real-time validation of the substance itself.

    – Providing an opportunity to standardize and optimize internal medication safety processes including Training, QA and Regulatory Compliance.

    – Providing a real-time means of validating narcotic returns and mitigating narcotic diversion.

    – Providing pharmacy staff and clinicians with a simple, fast, straightforward and cost-effective way to ensure that the RIGHT drug in the RIGHT dose is administered to the patient.

    (more…)

  • Cool Technology for Pharmacy

    Biometric scanning is an interesting notion. It’s nothing new and I’ve blogged about the possible uses of speech recognition and facial recognition in the past. Many facilities utilize basic forms of biometric identification, such as fingerprint scanning, as a deterrent on devices like automated dispensing cabinets, i.e. Pyxis. While fingerprint identification is certainly a nice security feature, it can also be a royal pain at times. Well, Fujitsu has taken fingerprint scanning to a whole new level.

    The Fujitsu PalmSecure is a palm vein authentication system that takes a snapshot of the veins in your hand as your hand hovers above the scanner. Apparently the vein pattern in an individual’s hand is unique, giving the device the ability to identify the person. It is quick, painless, accurate, and appears to be much easier than finger print scanning.
    (more…)

  • Cool Technology for Pharmacy

    This weeks cool technology comes by way of a comment left at RxInformatics.com in response to a recent post I wrote on smartphones and pharmacy practice.

    The author of the comment, @pillguy, is an iPhone fanboy and pharmacy technology guru.

    @pillguy:  “The iPhone certainly has some promising applications related to EHRs. Airstrip is one of the coolest I have seen.

    The smartphone takes PDAs to the next level with access to realtime information. I can see a TheraDoc, Pharmacy OneSource, or Zynx type clinical monitoring/alerting app fit in with the Airstrip suite nicely.”
    (more…)

  • Dual screen laptops are pretty cool

    When I first heard of the concept of a dual screen laptop my initial thought was that it was a ridiculous idea. Then I spent a little time researching the product and have changed opinion. Now I’d like to put my hands on one.

    The Kohjinsha DZ dual-screen laptop is much smaller then I expected, which is a good thing. The device offers two 10.1” screens, giving you some nice screen real estate when both are open. Additional features include biometric fingerprint identification, 1.3 megapixel webcam, up to 4 GB RAM, built in wireless, a 3-in-1 media slot and Windows 7 Home Premium.
    (more…)

  • Cool Technology for Pharmacy

    Pandora Data Systems (PDS) is a company that, in the past, has designed software solutions to take information from automated dispensing cabinets (ADCs) like Pyxis, store it, manipulated it, run queries against it and produce reports that allow pharmacy departments to view medication usage trends; including trends to identify diversion.PDS now appears to be expanding their role with the introduction of PandoraVIA.

    PandoraVIA is the next generation of data crunching software from the company. According to the PDS website “PandoraVIA is the new, full-featured reporting system from Pandora Data Systems. It’s designed to be a highly scalable and affordable platform built with Microsoft’s latest technologies. These technologies take the full functionality from our Pandora (Legacy Edition) and PandoraSQL products and move them to the next level.”

    The new software framework is designed to accommodate various modules depending on the needs of the customer. The system currently supports Pyxis, AcuDose, Omnicell, MedDispense and Cerner. However, after spending some time with the Pandora representatives at AHSP Midyear they informed me that their new system could add custom data from almost any source based on need.

    PandoraVIA utilizes XML, SOAP, and WSDL to meet the needs of the healthcare system, and is capable of a host of reports that can be exported in a variety of formats.

    A system that can aggregate data from many different sources offers real value to many healthcare disciplines, especially pharmacy which is often driven by data. Data mining is important, but not always easy because of the myriad of systems utilized and the general poor quality of integration. In addition, many IT departments aren’t equipped with the necessary resources to handle a project of this magnitude; believe me, I’ve tried.

    Data I would like pulled into such a system include our Alaris Smart Pump data, our pharmacy information system (Siemens Pharmacy) data, our automated dispensing cabinet (Pyxis) data, our carousel, packaging and inventory control (Talyst) data, and our bar code medication administration data. Aggregate data from these systems could be mined for an infinite number of possible trends and uses.

    Posted via email from fahrni’s posterous

  • Cool Technology for Pharmacy

    My Cool Technology for Pharmacy this week strays a little from my normal hardware and software approach and focuses on the concept of RxNorm. The reason for this deviation is simple; my ignorance of RxNorm was never more evident than during my time at ASHP Midyear this week. I don’t like it when I lack understanding of what people are talking about, and this happened on a couple of occasions during discussions involving RxNorm. This was especially true during a presentation by Dr. Usha Desiraju of First DataBank. Dr. Desiraju’s presentation focused on the use of RxNorm and interoperability.

    So I was forced to do a little reading. The entire idea seems simple enough, but like many good ideas implementation and acceptance is a little like trying to push the wrong end of two magnets together. In the simplest terms I can muster, think of RxNorm as a standardized language used to identify each unique medication across multiple systems.
    (more…)

  • Cool Technology for Pharmacy

    Entering and making pediatric drips for pharmacists working in an adult hospital can be a real sphincter tightener. Pharmacists that aren’t accustomed to working with pediatric patients feel a little bit uneasy when an order shows up for a customized dopamine, dobutamine, etc. I remember working in a pediatric facility where we did this kind of thing all the time and no one gave it a second thought. We used a combination of two standardized concentrations, hi and low, for each commonly ordered drip. For code blue situations we often used the “Rule of 6’s”, which is now discouraged by the Joint Commission.
    (more…)

  • A little multi-touch technology in Las Vegas

    My family and I just returned from a few days in Las Vegas for a little rest and relaxation. During our visit, we had dinner at the new Hard Rock Café on the Strip. This particular Hard Rock features an interactive Microsoft Surface wall on the second floor as well as Surface screens at each booth in the dinning area and a couple of Surface tables near the wall. Of course my daughters and I spent quite a bit of time playing with the Surface wall and the Surface screen in the booth we were seated at for dinner. Well, I should say my daughters had an opportunity to play with the Surface screen at our table. I couldn’t get within a foot of it because they were having such a blast with it. 
    (more…)

  • Cool Technology for Pharmacy

    Researchers from the Technische Universität München (TUM) have developed a small microchip that can automate the process of testing the activity of cancer drugs against a patient’s tumor cells.

    microchemosensor
    The chip is just a few millimeters in size, but packed with sensors. Here, a ceramic version of the chip is shown.

    The microsensors on the chip record, among other things, changes in the acid content of the medium and the cells’ oxygen consumption; photographs of the process are also taken by a microscope fitted underneath the microtitre plate. All of the data merge in a computer that is connected to the system, and which provides an overview of the metabolic activity of the tumor cells and their vitality.

    The robots and microtitre plates are kept in a climatic chamber, which, through precisely regulated temperature and humidity, provides an environment similar to that of the human body, and also protects the tumor cells against external influences that can falsify the test results.

    After the tumor cells have been able to divide undisturbed for a few hours, the robot applies an anti-cancer substance. If their metabolic activity declines over the next day or two, the active substance was able to kill the tumor cells and the drug is effective. Using the microchips, twenty-four active substances or combinations of active substances can be tested simultaneously in this way.

    The reason that such technology is so important is obvious; treatment with chemotherapy is dangerous and unpleasant for patients. The ability to automate the identification of an ideal chemotherapy regimen not only decreases the patient’s exposure to unnecessary chemotherapy, but speeds up the entire process as well.

  • New bendable magnetic interface from Microsoft

    surfaceTechnology Review (MIT): “At the base of the new device a “sensor tile” produces magnetic multiple fields above its surface. By detecting disturbances to these fields, the system can track the movement of a metal object across its surface, or the manipulation of a bladder filled with iron filings or a magnetic fluid. A user can drag a ball bearing across the surface to move a cursor across a computer’s screen, or manipulate a ferrous fluid-filled bladder to sculpt 3D virtual objects.” – Pretty cool stuff.

    The caption for the image at right: “Bladder control: Manipulating a magnetic fluid on top of the researchers’ “sensor tile” (top) offers a novel way to control a computer. The interface can be used to sculpt virtual shapes (bottom). Credit: Microsoft”

    Bladder control: Manipulating a magnetic fluid on top of the researchers’ “sensor tile” (top) offers a novel way to control a computer. The interface can be used to sculpt virtual shapes (bottom).
    Credit: Microsoft