The new procedures are the latest addition to the comprehensive list of essential medical-surgical, critical care, perioperative, maternal-neonatal, pediatric, psychiatric, and emergency nursing procedures that make up the trusted online clinical resource. With the most recent enhancement, Lippincott’s Nursing Procedures and Skills will give nurses accurate, step-by-step guidance for more than 1,200 evidence-based procedures. The online resource provides skills checklists and competency tests for each procedure to help facilities verify staff competence. Each procedure undergoes a thorough annual review process to ensure the most up-to-date clinical information is provided. Facilities can customize and add procedures to meet their specific needs.

“Lippincott’s Nursing Procedures and Skills gives NICU and PICU nurses immediate access to the important and highly specialized procedures necessary to care for their young patients,” says Judy McCann, MSN, RN, and Chief Nursing Officer at Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. “In a quickly changing environment, such as the NICU or PICU, instant access to complex procedures at the point of care can help nurses improve outcomes when caring for critically ill infants and children.”

The new procedures are available online and through mobile devices to subscribing institutions.

To request for a demo or free trial of Lippincott’s Nursing Procedures and Skills, contact Wong Kit Mei at +65 6211 3911 or email her at kitmei.wong@wolterskluwer.com.

To stay updated on LWW’s latest offerings and promotions, visit facebook.com/LWWSEA!

The new languages are available with the company’s new simulator curricula management system, MentorLearn (TM). MentorLearn is available either as the new interface for simulator management or as an online administration system.

The president of Simbionix, Ray Bronstein, said MentorLearn allowed Simbionix customers to use a unified interface to control and manage all Simbionix simulators, which was now possible in multiple languages.

Furthermore, to enhance its user-friendly system, MentorLearn had been installed with extensive content that included a library of read-to-use simulator based courses and a platform to design new training courses, he said.

Courses may include online didactic material, proficiency based hands-on training and performance review and assessment.

Bronstein said that the success of these simulators depended solely on their excellent service and fulfilling their customer’s need was their main priority.

Offering the simulators in various language also enhanced their reach to medical professionals worldwide, he said.

Bronstein added that they were currently looking at expanding the simulator into Spanish.

Data from the device can be uploaded via a computer for physicians to be able to analyze results over time.

The Spiro PD (“Spiro” stands for spirometer, a device used to measure the volume and flow of air entering and leaving the lungs2 and “PD” stands for personal device), is the first personal spirometer that enables patients with lung diseases – those with asthma, COPD, CF and lung transplants – to easily and accurately monitor their lung function anytime and anywhere. Spiro PD allows patients to view their lung function trends over time, manage medications, set alarms reminding them to take medicine, do breathing exercises and quickly upload data to their computer and share it with their doctor.

Spiro PD is cleared to market by the FDA for the use by a patient to test lung function in children, adolescents and adults. It is a single-patient device. Spiro PD is also certified with the CE mark for the European Union (EU) market. Spiro PD meets American Thoracic Society (ATS) and European Respiratory Society (ERS) standards.

Fascinated with the mechanics of muscle movement in people and animals, Wakeling has developed a novel method using ultrasound imaging, 3D motion-capture technology and proprietary data-processing software to scan and capture 3D maps of the muscle structure – in just 90 seconds.

It’s a medical-imaging breakthrough because previous methods took 15 minutes to do the job – far too long to ask people to hold a muscle contraction.

The key to the breakthrough is the way the software processes the data, says Wakeling, who teaches in SFU’s department of Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology. He developed the software with graduate student Manku Rana.

“Now, we can get people to do muscle contractions and we can actually see how the internal structure of the muscle changes,” he says.

Wakeling’s goal is to improve the muscle models used in musculoskeletal simulation software that predicts how people move and the forces on their joints.

Current packages are missing important information about muscle contraction, such as how the muscle shape changes, how it bulges, or how the internal muscle fibres become more curved – all details that Wakeling’s technology can capture.

Wakeling hopes his research will ultimately lead to new software programs for predicting the outcome of orthopaedic surgeries such as tendon-transfers for treating conditions like cerebral palsy in children.

“We’re poised to start making new observations and insights,” he says, “and to do new experiments that haven’t been possible before.”

Called PneumoniaCheck, the device created at Georgia Tech is a solution to the problem of diagnosing pneumonia, which is a major initiative of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Pneumonia, an inflammation of the lungs, kills about 2.4 million people each year. The problem is particularly devastating in Africa, Southeast Asia and the Eastern Mediterranean, where a child dies of pneumonia every 15 seconds.

Developed by mechanical engineering students, graduate business students and faculty at Georgia Tech, PneumoniaCheck will be commercially launched this month to healthcare professionals through the startup company, MD Innovate Inc.

“Georgia Tech created a simple and new device to detect the lung pathogens causing pneumonia, “ said David Ku, Georgia Tech Regents’ Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Lawrence P. Huang Chair Professor for Engineering Entrepreneurship in the College of Management, and Professor of Surgery at Emory University. “It has the potential to save more lives than any other medical device.”

Last year, Ku was asked by the head of virology at the CDC to develop a quick and economical way to diagnose pneumonia, particularly in developing nations where it is a leading cause of death among children.

Ku challenged a group of mechanical engineering and bioengineering graduate students to develop an accurate device for diagnosing pneumonia. Current sampling methods using the mouth and nose are only 40 percent effective. The samples are typically contaminated by bacteria in the mouth, which leads to misdiagnosis and an incorrect prescription of antibiotics.

In developing nations, many children with respiratory infections fail to receive adequate care, and the overuse of antibiotics has led to an increase in drug-resistant bacteria. An accurate, easy-to-use and widely available new diagnostic test could improve identification of bacterial respiratory infection in children, reducing the inappropriate use of antibiotics and the long-term negative impacts of drug resistance, according to a recent article in Nature titled “Reducing the global burden of acute lower respiratory infections in children: The contributions of new diagnostics.”
As a Tech graduate student, Tamera Scholz and her peers developed the solution – PneumoniaCheck.

The device contains a plastic tube with a mouthpiece. A patient coughs into the device to fill up a balloon-like upper airway reservoir before the lung aerosols go into a filter. Using fluid mechanics, PneumoniaCheck separates the upper airway particles of the mouth from the lower airway particles coming from the lungs.

“It’s interesting because it’s so simple,” said Scholz (M.S. ’10 Mechanical Engineering), who is now an engineer for Newell Rubbermaid. “It’s not a fancy contraption. It’s a device that patients cough into and through fluid mechanics it separates upper and lower airway aerosols. Through each iteration, it got simpler. … I like that I will be able to see it make a difference in my lifetime.”

Once the device was developed, Taylor Bronikowski and a group of Georgia Tech M.B.A. students from the College of Management started developing a business plan for PneumoniaCheck that starts locally and grows globally. They used the device as a test case to develop a Triple Bottom Line company in India that could result in financial profits, environmental sustainability and social benefits, such as jobs and healthcare.

“Our goal is to provide better medicine at a cost savings to patients and hospitals,” Bronikowski said. “We wanted a worldwide solution, so patients in developing nations can afford it.”
Bronikowksi, Ku and Sarah Ku formed the startup company, MD Innovate Inc., in 2010 to manufacture the device in large quantities and organize distribution and commercialization. The device is now being used in pneumonia studies at Grady Memorial Hospital in downtown Atlanta and the Atlanta Veterans Administration Medical Center, Ku said.

The FDA has cleared PneumoniaCheck for sale in the U.S. The device is licensed but its patent is pending. The company will start selling PneumoniaCheck in the U.S. in January and it could hit other countries in two years, Ku said.

“It’s a great feeling, working on something that has the potential to save thousands of lives,” Bronikowski said.

On the horizon, Ku and future Georgia Tech graduate students will be developing a simple and effective method for diagnosing pneumonia in regions without healthcare facilities or basic infrastructure.

Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said alternative medicine should be made available to the public to encourage its development.

“By expanding the services to government hospitals and clinics, more people in residential areas can try out TCM,” he said after visiting the TCM Department here yesterday.

Currently, 10 government hospitals are offering TCM services. However, Liow said some clinics were too small to offer the service.

“We may have to think of mobile services if there is space constraint in clinics.”

Liow said the World Health Organisation had identified TCM as an important alternative treatment to improve healthcare.

“This will also help Malaysia, which is rich in herbal plants, as a favourite TCM destination when it comes to health tourism.”

Liow said the ministry planned to open two integrated hospitals every year that offer TCM.

“This year, a TCM unit will be opened at the Cheras Rehabilitation Centre, offering Malay massage and acupuncture,” he said, adding that another would follow in Malacca.

The treatment also includes traditional Malay post-natal care.

A memorandum of understanding was signed with China last November and a meeting will follow in March to discuss plans for the establishment of a traditional Chinese medicine centre in Malaysia.

Liow said Malaysia would host the fourth Conference on Traditional Medicine in Asean Countries this year.

“The ministry hopes to increase collaboration among Asean countries and make Malaysia a recognised destination for traditional and complementary medicine.”

Liow urged TCM practitioners to register online as only 4,900 out of 8,000 had done so nationwide.

“Many herbal products are not registered. We urge them to register with the pharmaceutical Department. Bogus practitioners will spoil the image of the country and we do not want this to happen.”

A survey by the department showed 12 per cent of TCM practitioners were supplying unregistered products in the market.

This will be made possible after Malaysia partners up with two United Kingdom-based higher learning institutions to train doctors to improve their skills.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai, who witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the ministry, Newcastle University and the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), said the collaboration could develop world-class medical education in Malaysia.

“Specialists will be trained to be medical educators, who will impart their knowledge and skills to housemen,” he said.

The Ministry was represented by secretary-general Datuk Kamarul Zaman Md Isa, Newcastle University by its chief executive officer and provost, Professor Reginald Keniston Jordan, and RCP by its chief executive, Martin Else.

Liow said he hoped that the two countries would work together closely to ensure that Malaysia would produce medical specialists that could deliver advanced healthcare service, apart from giving the country the recognition as a centre of excellence globally.

“Talented and well-motivated workforce with up-to-date knowledge and skills are, arguably, a nation’s greatest asset, and training programmes to enhance competence and skills of healthcare professionals are sought after, aside from being of economic value,” Liow said.

The first batch of 30 doctors will attend a training programme by the Newcastle University Medicine Malaysia and RCP in March to better train housemen.

Liow said: “Through the MoU, the ministry will also commission education and training workshops to provide doctors with the skills and knowledge to deliver excellent and effective teaching.”

The signing of the MoU with the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) London and University of Newcastle-upon-Thyne was witnessed by Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai.

Liow said the first batch of 30 senior doctors and medical specialists will begin their training in March, in this effort to develop excellent medical educators.

“The course is important because they need to give guidance to the medical graduates employed by the ministry to undergo housemanship.

“This is the beginning. We will train more in the future. We would like the public to know that we are very concerned about continuous upgrading of the ministry’s quality of services,” he told reporters after the signing ceremony.

At the signing, Newcastle University was represented by its chief executive officer and provost Prof Reginald Keniston Jordan, RCP by its chief executive Martin Else and the ministry by secretary-general Datuk Kamarul Zaman Md Isa.

Liow said the MoU will provide for both countries to work together more closely to achieve the common goal of ensuring that Malaysia has medical specialists of the highest quality to deliver healthcare to its population as well as to be recognised as a centre of excellence internationally.

The collaboration will also work towards developing a complementary and parallel suite of academic programmes at certificate, diploma and masters levels for the present and future leaders of medical education and the country’s health services, he added.

Its president, Prof Datuk Dr Zainuddin Md Wazir, said the first hospital would be built on a 2.4-hectare site in Kepala Batas, while the second would be built on a 10-hectare site in Bertam.

He said the total cost of building the two hospitals was estimated at RM2 billion.

“The construction of the first hospital, which will have 200 beds, will begin in the middle of this year and is expected to be completed by middle of next year, while the construction of the second hospital, which will have 800 beds, will begin in 2013 and is expected to be ready by 2015.”

He said this after the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between AUCMS and the Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) here Monday.

Dr Zainuddin inked the MoU on behalf of AUCMS, while Bernama was represented by its general manager, Datuk Hasnul Hassan. Present were Bernama editor-in-chief Datuk Yong Soo Heong and deputy editor-in-chief Datuk Zulkefli Salleh.

Under the MoU, AUCMS agreed to subscribe to Bernama’s integrated news package worth RM500,000 a year, while Bernama agreed to give publicity to AUCMS throughout the year.

Apart from the hospitals, Dr Zainuddin said AUCMS was also planning to build 200 clinics nationwide this year.

“We want every course offered at AUCMS will also have the service provided at our clinics,” he said, adding that AUCMS was also planning to open 14 other campuses nationwide.

At present, Dr Zainuddin said AUCMS had four faculties offering various courses to Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) holders, namely the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing, Integrated Science and Sports Science.

Among the courses offered by these faculties are Degree in Doctor of Medicine – Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (MD-UKM), Doctor of Medicine Universitas Sumatera Utara (MD-USU), Diploma in Pharmacy, Diploma in Physiotherapy and Diploma in Sports Science, he said.

Dr Zainuddin said AUCMS was also in the midst of establishing four other faculties and fine-tuning the programmes.

He said out of the total number of TCM practitioners in this country, only 4,900 had registered with the ministry so far.

“If they (TCM practitioners) do not register with the ministry through e-Pengamal, they cannot offer their services to the public,” Liow said after visiting the TCM Division at the ministry, here, today.

He said the registration of TCM practitioners was aimed at expanding services in the field, besides giving confidence to the public in TCM.

“When they are registered with the ministry, we will provide them with assistance like training courses, further studies, quality improvement and monitoring of treatments and customer satisfaction.”

Liow said the 10 hospitals equipped with TCM service included the Kepala Batas Hospital in mainland Penang, Sultan Ismail Hospital in Johor Baharu, Putrajaya Hospital, Sultanah Nur Zahirah Hospital in Kuala Terengganu and Raja Perempuan Zainab II Hospital in Kota Baharu, Kelantan.

The others are the Duchess of Kent Hospital in Sandakan, Sabah, Sarawak General Hospital in Kuching, Port Dickson Hospital in Negeri Sembilan, Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital in Alor Setar, Kedah, and Sultanah Hajah Kalsom Hospital in Cameron Highlands. The service is also available at five state health offices and the number will be increased.

“We plan to expand the TCM service up to the health primer level and a suitable location will be identified for the setting up of a pioneer TCM clinic.

“Besides this, the ministry will also be offering mobile TCM service to facilitate public access to the service,” he said.