The story about some possible future roles for blogging brought a number of comments from readers. Pito Salas at BlogBridge liked the hospital application I described but took it to the next level. He feels that there is no reason why aggregators should display their results as a time-ordered series of posts. For example, BlogBridge recently introduced “Photo Feeds”, where they display the results of a blog feed full of pictures not as posts but as a photo album. Taking this concept into the healthcare arena, Pito envisions the vital signs of a patient being taken every 15 minutes and placed into a blog feed. The aggregator would then display the information as a graph or chart. Seems to me this would have a lot of potential in the area of home healthcare such as the remote monitoring I wrote about a year ago.

Earlier this week, I saw two other healthcare solutions which point to the future.

Surgical robotics was little more than a medical curiosity until 1999, the year Intuitive Surgical introduced the da Vinci® Surgical System. Today, Intuitive Surgical is the global leader in the rapidly emerging field of robotic-assisted minimally invasive surgery. Since its inception, the company has consistently provided surgeons and hospitals with the tools needed to improve clinical outcomes and to help patients return to active and productive lives.

Intuitive Surgical leads the development and commercialization of robotic technology designed to extend the benefits of minimally invasive surgery to broadest possible base of patients. Intuitive’s products can provide surgeons with all the clinical and technical capabilities of traditional open surgery while enabling them to operate through tiny incisions.
How does a Hospital Measure the Value of a Technology Investment?

Intuitive Surgical’s da Vinci® Surgical System combines superior 3D visualization along with greatly enhanced dexterity, precision and control in an intuitive, ergonomic interface with breakthrough surgical capabilities.

The da Vinci Surgical System is improving patient experiences and outcomes by fundamentally changing surgery in three ways:

Simplifies many existing MIS procedures

Many surgical procedures performed today using standard laparoscopic technique may be performed more quickly and easily using the da Vinci Surgical System. This is because the da Vinci System delivers increased clinical capability while maintaining the same “look and feel” of open surgery.

Makes difficult MIS operations routine

Traditional laparoscopy has never become widely applied outside a limited set of routine procedures. Only a select group of highly skilled surgeons routinely attempt complex procedures using a minimally invasive approach . The da Vinci Surgical System finally allows more surgeons to perform complex procedures using a minimally invasive approach – routinely and with confidence.

Makes new MIS procedures possible

A number of procedures that could not be performed using traditional MIS technologies can now be performed using the da Vinci Surgical System. The advanced feature set and extensive EndoWrist® instrumentation of the da Vinci System enable surgeons to perform more procedures through 1-2 cm incisions.
Improved Patient Outcomes

By enhancing surgical capabilities, Intuitive’s products are helping to improve clinical outcomes and redefine standards of care. Patients may experience the following benefits:

• Reduced trauma to the body
• Reduced blood loss and need for transfusions
• Less post-operative pain and discomfort
• Less risk of infection
• Shorter hospital stay
• Faster recovery and return to normal daily activities
• Less scarring and improved cosmesis

Due to the patient- and procedure-specific nature of surgery, these benefits cannot be guaranteed.

For more information about Intuitive Surg

http://www.intuitivesurgical.com/

www.systems4pt.com/