What You Need to Know About Continuous Glucose Monitoring Systems If You Are a Diabetic

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person's hand holding phone with glucose graph near continuous glucose monitoring sensor placed in upper arm

If you are a diabetic, trying to manage your diabetes doesn’t have to be hard.

Finger prick monitoring shows accurate in-the-moment insulin levels but continuous glucose monitors (CGM) allow you to see trends and observe the impacts of your diet and activities on your levels. Choosing the right continuous glucose monitor (CGM) can be overwhelming, though. Have you found the right one for you? Let’s go over the options so you can reach an informed decision. 

Many of the basic features of CGMs are the same. Let’s review what those are before looking at what’s unique about the most popular options on the market. They all come with a subcutaneous sensor and transmitter which connects wirelessly to a receiver. Receivers have trend graphs, direction and rate-of-change arrows, as well as the ability to log extra data. Sensors are inserted with a device and may be re-usable. Data is sent to the receiver whenever it’s in range. 

Here are the top 4 continuous glucose monitoring systems that you might want to consider if you are a diabetic:

1. Senseonics Eversense CGM

The Senseonics Eversense CGM has the least medical waste, as the transmitter can be changed without removing the sensor, which is guaranteed for 90 days. The sensor needs to be changed at a physician’s office, though and has 24 hours before it is warmed up. It also needs calibration twice daily. There are great functions that keep you informed such as vibrate or audio real-time alerts for out of range, high, low, rate of change, or predictive low. It is also not impacted by acetaminophen. 

2. Freestyle Libre 14-hour CGM

The Freestyle Libre 14-hour CGM doesn’t need daily calibration, is the most inexpensive, and has the shortest warm-up of one hour. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have real-time high/low alerts and without that calibration, is the most inaccurate in low glucose range. The sensor can store up to 8 hours of data and the reader can store notes and events but they must be entered at the time. The low profile transmitter has an adhesive that may not last the 14 days of the sensor life. It can also be impacted by vitamin C and aspirin. 

3. Medtronic Guardian3 – 670G or Guardian Connect CGM

The Medtronic Guardian3 – 670G or Guardian Connect CGM has a reusable sensor with a life of 7 days. It has a single button insertion with a 2-hour warm-up time but can cause skin issues with complicated multiple tapes. There are customizable alerts for different times and days with vibrate and audio limited only by your phone’s options. There are real-time alerts for high, low, rate of change, or predictive low/high. It needs calibration every twelve hours to continue data generation. Guardian Connect only works with Apple apps but has real-time sharable data as well as an app that generates reports. It’s also impacted by acetaminophen. 

4. Dexcom G6 CGM

The Dexcom G6 CGM does not need calibration but it is available to improve accuracy. The sensor has a single push button insertion and is good for 10 days. It has customizable alerts including an “always on” feature for if your phone is on silent. It has a high level of waste from the costly sensors and transmitters, and reusing the sensor can be difficult. 

For more information on different healthcare topics, follow the Avidity Medical Design Blog. To take a healthcare course, visit Avidity Medical Design Academy.

Welcome to Star Trek: 10 New Medical Devices of the Future

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screenless displays

Ever watch the newest Sci-Fi episodes (or the older ones) and wonder why your own medical treatment couldn’t be that easy? Here are a few newer medical devices that will bring the futuristic medical treatments straight to your door.

1. The Bionic Eye

Recently in development, but not perfect, is the 3D printing of light receptors onto a glass eye. The silver, which they use as ink, stays where it is put on the rounded glass and produces electric feedback. It is moving on to the next stage of development and designed to increase eye comfort for patients.

2. 3D Print Sockets for Artificial Limbs

girl with curly blonde hair wearing red hoodie against red background holding prosthetic hands and arms together

In the United States, it is not difficult to have a socket fitted to an amputated limb by a person trained in prosthesis in any major city. With the help of cell phone scanning and a 3D printer, patients who live in other countries are receiving low-cost sockets for their amputated limbs. 

3. Contact Lenses For Blood Glucose

smart contact lenses

As the saying goes, “Eyes are the windows to the soul.” They can tell your doctor a thing or two if you are a diabetic. If you have been diagnosed with diabetes, these new “smart” contact lenses can detect and transmit your blood glucose level using your own tears.

4. Virtual Dissection Tables

If you are a student who is trying to learn about the human anatomy, watching a cadaver being dissected might be hard to handle. A new device, called a virtual dissection table, might make it easier. The virtual dissection table allows instructors to virtually dissect a human body, identify diseases, and teach surgical procedures without using a cadaver. 

5. Robotic Assistants

From training long-term residents to helping with physical therapy sessions, new medical devices in the form of robotic assistance have been used to move and assist patients with standing or transferring to wheelchairs. A robot is even being developed to draw blood or insert IVs with ultrasound enhanced vein targeting. 

6. Tattoos

Much like the continuous blood glucose sensors, these tattoos are placed on the body to transmit vital signs to medical devices for continuous monitoring. Biometric tattoos can transmit medical information discreetly, allowing for easier communication with physicians. 

7. Sensors in Teeth

You’re on a strict diet. You lie to your physician about how much you ate. With teeth sensors, those days are gone. These teeth sensors can be embedded in your teeth to determine what, how much, and when you ate. These sensors can even track when and how often you smoke. Your actions and intake are recorded and sent to a smart device, allowing your doctor to see real-time data. 

8. Printed Skin

photo of woman with dark skin wearing gold eyeshadow and lipstick looking down while against black background

If you are a burn victim, skin grafts have been made from the cells of burn victims using 3D printing, to give burn victims a better chance to recover without scars and skin graft rejections. The printed skin procedure also reduces the patient’s recovery time and the risk of infections. Printed skin grafts can be as small or as large as needed, without the skin being taken from other areas of the body.  

9. In Silico Clinical Trials

The medical community no longer recruits patients with certain diseases to try different medical treatments. Clinical trials are now taking place on silicon chips. These silicon chips are made to react like an organ, a drug, or a treatment, thereby reducing the need for human trials. 

10. The Medical ‘Tricorder’

young medical professional using clear tablet to study x-ray and other medical data

Still more futuristic than the present, the tricorder from the popular show Star Trek is in development. A contest is in place to see who can pull together the best functioning device that could scan a being and receive medical-grade information- more than just vital signs. 

The future is closer than we imagine, with only developers’ imaginations holding back their ingenuity. Many new medical devices are in development that will aid in our visits with physicians, treatments, and overall learning.  To keep up to date with medical advancements, follow the Avidity Medical Design Blog.

3 Mobile Businesses in the Field of Healthcare For 2019 and Beyond!

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woman getting shot at mobile flu clinic

The mobile medical business has become more popular in the last few years due to increased ease of getting medical equipment and internet connectivity. Healthcare workers have become more reliant on internet technologies including the electronic administration medication record, or eMAR, for patient treatment and documentation. Mobile apps have added to the physician’s list of tools available to them to diagnose and treat many different diseases.

Medical Transcription

Another mobile business that you might want to consider is medical transcription. Becoming a mobile or remote transcriptionist allows the physician to record their notes verbally and have their nurse or transcriptionist type out the dialog, making full and complete sentences out of a few words. Beginning a career in medical transcription requires learning anatomy and physiology, medical terminology (including words that soundalike but are spelled differently), resources such as a medical dictionary and drug book to look up drug names, and hands-on practice transcribing a variety of medical reports. As you practice transcribing different medical reports, you also learn how to listen and understand physicians with different accents so that you can transcribe the dictation more accurately.

Medical Coding

Medical coding involves reviewing a patient’s medical record and assigning codes to diagnoses and procedures, and in some instances, durable medical equipment. Like medical transcriptionists, medical coders must have a good understanding of medical terminology and anatomy and physiology. Coders must be extremely detail oriented, and must stay up to speed on the different guidelines for coding in the inpatient and outpatient setting. Without proper coding, physicians and hospitals may not be reimbursed correctly for their services. As a mobile or remote medical coder, you can choose to work from home for one or more staffing services for hospitals in different locations throughout the country. You can also choose to travel to different hospitals or doctor’s offices in different locations, working onsite, while being employed for the same staffing firm in your home location.

Mobile Clinics

Mobile clinics are clinics that come to patients in poor communities, who are too busy to visit the clinic, or who are incapacitated and unable to leave their homes due a medical condition. More and more healthcare workers are required by their companies to get the yearly flu shots to help prevent sick time and spread of the flu within the clinic. Mobile units hire certified nurses to work part-time during flu season to administer these shots to employees. Some mobile units could be used for settings where a large number of individuals are at risk, community events, and nursing homes, to allow more at-risk patients to be vaccinated at once.

These are only a few of the mobile opportunities in the area of healthcare. In addition to exploring opportunities in mobile clinic, you might also decide to start your own mobile clinic. Review this article to learn more about how to start a mobile clinic.

You can also do a search online to locate jobs that involve reviewing or deciphering medical documentation. Online nurses can use video calls to assess different medical situations. To learn more about the different healthcare careers that you can pursue, especially if you’re interested in working from home, consider enrolling in the course entitled, “How to Make Money in Healthcare Working from Home (Full Time!)” offered by Avidity Medical Design Academy.

To learn about medical terminology, consider enrolling in our medical terminology course also.

Visit the Avidity Medical Design Academy homepage to learn more about many different subjects related to healthcare that you can use in everyday living.

man couple love people

Why e-Learning Is So Important In The Healthcare Field

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student learning onlineEveryone is really busy these days, especially people who work in the healthcare field. However, as a professional, you may need to take classes for many reasons. You might want to advance in your career or simply keep up with continuing education so your knowledge stays up to date. Finding time to fit it all in can be extremely difficult. Because of this healthcare e-learning is becoming more popular and necessary for the following reasons.

one man and three women wearing blue scrubs standing in a line with arms crossed and smiling

Healthcare e-learning allows extremely busy individuals to fit classes into their busy schedule, whether they work late every night or not. You won’t have to miss any work or lose some of your family weekend time. One of the best parts of online learning is that you can fit the classes in wherever you have a computer and the internet. You can even do it while you are on call. For more information on learning online, visit Avidity Medical Design Academy.

What’s On The Horizon: 3 Important Trends In E-Learning

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The Internet has ushered in an era of prosperity that is unmatched in modern human history. There has never been a time when the common man has been endowed with so much power to change the world through hard work and imagination.

The Internet has fundamentally changed the way we do things. This is especially true in the field of education. The traditional brick and mortar classrooms are slowing becoming extinct as digital structures take its place.

This transformation is still in its embryonic stage but is rapidly becoming the norm. More and more people are ready for changes in the way they learn and acquire knowledge.

There are lasting trends that are emerging as fundamental truths in the e-learning arena for the foreseeable future.

e-learning developments on the horizon

Online Learning Is Becoming More Social

We all learned as grade school students that humans are social creatures that thrive on social interaction.

We want to learn from each other’s experiences and gain perspective through other people’s points of view. This is the essence of learning in its most basic form. The fact that this natural function of human behavior has migrated to the digital world isn’t surprising.

What is surprising is that educators are finally catching on to this fact. E-learning courses that allow students to discover knowledge and insights and share it with their contemporaries have more successful students.

Fostering enhanced collaboration between educator and student is a trend that will continue to evolve.

Learning Isn’t Linear and Never Has Been

Conventional wisdom tells us the A+B=C and is so just because this is the way that it has always been taught. Rote learning techniques for thousands of years has been used as an efficient tool to educate millions of people around the world with great success.

While this is a testament to the enduring spirit of man to streamline the transmission of knowledge, the truth is learning has never been linear. Throughout human history knowledge has been gained and re-discovered in a non-linear fashion. This pattern holds true today in our hyper-connected world.

E-learners today spend time jumping from website to website looking for keywords, scanning articles and not even finishing a paragraph. In fact the average attention span of the average Internet user in 2014 was around 8 seconds!

E-learning courses that are data rich and easy digestible are becoming the norm in today e-learning environments. Incorporating content that is short and interesting is imperative to keeping students actively engaged in the course material.

Visuals Are On The Rise

Infographics, charts, photos and videos are quickly replacing text-based instructions. Visual presentation of information is easy to understand and is more appealing to students. Science lends credence to our predisposition towards visual information. Here are a few interesting facts about visual learning:

  • 90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual
  • Visuals are processed 60,000X faster in the brain than text
  • Our eyes can register 36,000 visual messages per hour

Click here for more information on visual learning.

The Internet, learning and how we mesh the two together will continue to shift as student learning styles and preferences change. The one constant is that the people will never stop wanting to learn.

If you have any questions about these trends or need help with incorporating some of these trends into your courses, contact Avidity Medical Design Consultants, LLC today. We look forward to hearing from you.

Brain-Computer Interfaces: What They Mean for the Future Students of Healthcare Education

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Do you remember the old sci-fi movies and TV shows that we grew up with? Do you remember how you felt when you saw Luke Skywalker, William Shatner and Arnold Schwarzenegger using out of this world technology that you thought was the creation of movie magic. What if I told you that the future is already here?

Technology has grown and matured over the last 25 years to a point where man and machine are slowly becoming one. A new and exciting area of tech that is receiving a lot of buzz right now is brain-computer interface technology.

brain computer interfaces

What is Brain-Computer Technology?

A brain-computer interface is a direct communication pathway between the brain and an electrical device. The neurons of the brain are measured with electrodes, which then sends an electronic signal to a device such as a prosthetic leg or arm to simulate human movements.

There are currently two approaches that are yielding results in field studies. The non-invasive brain-computer interface measure activity from large groups of neurons with electrodes placed on the surface of the scalp (EEG). Invasive brain-computer interface measure activity from single neurons with miniature wires placed inside the brain.

Who Is Using Brain-Computer Interface Today?

The United States military has always been on the cutting edge of developing and using new emerging technology in all branches of the services.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency awarded Massachusetts General Hospital and the University of California, San Francisco, contracts worth $56 million to create electrical brain implants capable of treating seven psychiatric conditions, including addiction, depression, and borderline personality disorder.

The military is trying to overcome an epidemic of mental illness among veterans, including suicide rates three or four times that of the general public due to long combat deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. This is why the military is turning to neurological devices.

The Brain Chip

Doctors in Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and researchers from Battelle Memorial Institute in Columbus, Ohio have helped a quadriplegic man move his hand for the first time with a brain chip.

Ian Burkhart, the man who was injured in a driving accident was the first patient to use Neurobridge. The Neuobridge system is made of a computer chip implanted in the brain, a brain-computer interface and a sleeve able to send electric signals to the forearm and hand of the patient.

This groundbreaking technology proves the brain-computer interface is more than just a fantasy it is a reality.

person holding string lights photo

What Does This Mean For The Future Of Healthcare Education?

What this means for the future of healthcare education is that learning is going to have to be more cross categorical than ever before.

It won’t be enough for a student to know about basic brain functions and muscle interaction. They will need to understand mechanics, engineering, and software development just to name a few categories.

The healthcare system and healthcare technology are rapidly evolving. Healthcare education must evolve with it to meet the demands of today. For curriculum development and other instructional design services, visit Avidity Medical Design Consultants, LLC for more information.

Star Trek Comes to Your Classroom: How to Use the Screenless Display to Train Your Students

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screenless displaysScreenless display technology has been used in science fiction for decades, but this advanced display system has also been worked into a usable format over the last few years.The development of Google Glass in 2012 brought this technology to the forefront. It also created a wide range of possibilities in terms of how this technology could be used.

So how can you use the screenless display to train your students? From the standpoint of healthcare, how can you use screenless displays to train medical personnel and safeguard patient information? A few benefits to the healthcare field have already been realized, but many more may still be on the horizon.

How Screenless Displays Work

There are three main categories of screenless displays that come in the form of a wearable device. The first is the light guide optical element (LOE) device. This looks like a pair of glasses that enables users to view a see-through display imported from their phones or other digital device. The image is projected onto the thin glass of the device.

The retinal scanning device (RSD) and the virtual retinal display (VRD) work in almost the same way as each other, but using different equipment. In these cases, an image is projected directly onto the retina. VRD has been developing for over two decades, but more compact and easily accessible forms with better quality display are now being developed.

There is another type of screenless display that does not require a wearable device to view the object—hologram technology. The way this works is through a precise setup of lasers, mirrors and film. The laser light is guided by mirrors, going through a beam splitter, and each branch of the split beam goes through a diverging lens, which widens the beams. One beam goes straight to a photographic emulsion, while the other hits the object then is guided to the emulsion. The disruption caused by the difference in the two beams creates a viewable hologram.

How to Use Screenless Displays for Healthcare Training

All forms of screenless displays can be used for healthcare training. Each one can provide a large display of germs, cells, anatomy, or anything else that’s not easily seen with the naked eye. The case of holograms is especially helpful over screen displays because students and instructors can view a 3D image together and address any questions by interacting with the display.

How Screenless Display Improve Security

Wearable screenless devices may be best for protecting patients’ privacy. Healthcare information needs to be safeguarded and there are HIPPA rules that employees should follow, but mistakes do happen. Wearable screenless displays would cut down on the risk because the information would only be seen by the person wearing the device. No one could look over their should at their screen, they wouldn’t have to remember to lock their computer while stepping away. Patient information would only be available to the people meant to see it.

To learn more about advances in healthcare training or how Avidity Medical Design is striving to innovate healthcare education platforms, feel free to contact us.

The Latest Trends in Cancer Treatment: Targeted Cancer Drugs

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the latest trends in cancer treatment 2014

One of the latest trends in cancer treatment for 2014 is the use of targeted drugs that attack the genetic “on switch” for cancer. According to recent story on CBS News, one of these new approaches to fighting cancer is a type of targeted cancer therapy that could one day eliminate conventional chemotherapy as we know it.

Chemotherapy, as it is currently practiced, involves delivering powerful cancer-fighting drugs intravenously to the site of a tumor. While this type of treatment can reduce or even eliminate a tumor, it also wreaks havoc on surrounding healthy tissue. This makes cancer patients ill and weak. Conventional chemotherapy is like World War II era carpet bombing: a powerful attack but with a lot of collateral damage remaining.

medications on white surface

Targeted drugs are more like smart bombs. A recent research project describes a new treatment that uses the tumors own genetic sequence to attack it. Researchers sequenced 10 genes in lung cancer patients and in two thirds of them found the “on switch” that causes cancers to manifest and grow. The new drug, an oral medication that is selected according to the results of the genetic sequencing of the tumors, turns that switch to “off,” keeping the cancer under control for a significant period of time.

Targeted drugs that attack the genetic “on switch” for cancer do not currently represent a cure for cancer. What they may do, however, is to turn cancer into a chronic disease, rather than a fatal disease. Although there may still be some adverse health effects, these drugs may keep the cancer from metastasizing, or spreading to other areas of the body, thereby allowing patients to live longer and healthier lives. Targeted drugs may hopefully work for many different types of cancer, and may buy patients enough time to allow real cures to come through the pipeline.

young medical professional using clear tablet to study x-ray and other medical data

For more healthcare news, follow the Avidity Medical Design Blog. If you are interested in taking an online healthcare course, visit Avidity Medical Design Academy. If you like scented candles and soaps, visit Avidity Medical Scentations to purchase scented candles and soaps with a healthcare inspiration.

How To Use Twitter To Train Healthcare Students In 3 Steps

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What can be said in 140 characters? To be honest a lot can be said between the first and last word that can change the world. It can start a revolution or raise awareness for a cause. The power of Twitter to shape the world is undeniable.

It brings people from all over the world into the global town square to air their thoughts, hopes and dreams for the world to latch on to. Twitter is a powerful tool that can also be used to change the worldTwitter healthcare and educate healthcare students at the same time. Some might say; how can Twitter possible be used to educate healthcare students? The answer is based on 3 simple concepts:

Study In Real Time

Utilizing Twitter to train healthcare students is easy once you set up your Twitter account.  Twitter allows you to communicate instantaneously with anyone on the platform.

This allows you to have real time conversations with your cohort about study material, class assignments and other relevant information. Organizing a study session is as simple as asking your friends to follow you and starting a conversation.

The average person reads about 300 words per minute, so a study session should be easy for everyone to keep up with.

The Hashtag

The # sign or hashtag is by far the most important symbol in the Twitterverse. It serves a dual purpose. It allows you to organize your tweets and helps you find them when you need them.

For example say a student wants to start a subject on ICD-10, all they would have to do is enter #ICD-10 and the tweets covering this subject with this hashtag handle can be found with a search.

The hashtag makes finding and organizing your conversations efficient and easy to manage. Hashtags allow you to create communities of people interested in the same topic by making it easier for them to find and share info related to it.

Finding Information You Need

Along with bringing together people from all walks of life, Twitter is also an effective tool for disseminating information. Millions of Twitter users use their accounts to promote a certain agenda, spread ideas and information.

Twitter allows you to link and share web pages that you think are important. While researching information for an assignment you may find something interesting on the web.

The odds are that this website will have a Twitter share button for you to click. This allows your followers and classmates to see the website you shared making researching information a breeze.

When these three concepts are blended together you get a platform that allows you to organize in groups, find topics and research information effortlessly. Twitter can serve as a valuable tool in educating the next generation of healthcare professionals on a platform that they are accustomed to using. If you have any questions about this topic please contact us today.