9, May 2014

ICU at home - at a fraction of the cost

Imagine a fully functional ICU in the comfort of your home and at a fraction of the cost - Rs.7,000 to Rs.10,000 per day against Rs.25,000 to Rs.50,000 per day in a hospital. It's a reality in the national capital.

"Such services are up to the mark and cost-effective. As compared to a hospital, the cost of an ICU at home service is half. Additionally, the patient gets all the necessary treatment, equipment and infrastructure required," Gaurav Thukral, head of Health Care at Home, who left his job as an internal medicine doctor at Fortis to launch the project last year, said.

Seventy-year-old Satish Kaushik vouches for the benefits of a facility like this.

Admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of a hospital for over two months following a severe heart stroke, the prolonged stay only served to make him more distraught.

Unable to walk around much, he was confined to a bed and was bogged down by the fear of not ever being able to return home. The surging rent was another major cause of worry.

Even the doctors were unsure about the duration of his stay and told his family members they could take him back at their own peril, as without the benefit of an ICU, his life was at risk. The stress pushed Kaushik deeper into depression.

However, things changed for the better after a family friend pointed to a healthcare at home service. The service set up an entire ICU at Kaushik's home and helped him shift back.

Since then, not only is he able to spend time with his family members, there is also a marked improvement in his health.

Many such organisations providing health care at home have mushroomed in the national capital. They are not only comparatively affordable but also increase the chances of improving a patient's health as they spend time with their family members, unlike in a hospital.

Source: www.timesofindia.com

09.05.2014

Portable chip to run blood tests in a jiffy

Days are not far when doctors would run blood tests for you almost instantly on a piece of plastic about the size of a credit card!

Yes, these labs-on-a-chip would not only be quick - results are available in minutes - but also inexpensive and portable.

"They could be used miles from the nearest medical clinic to test for anything from HIV to diabetes. As powerful as they may be, they could be far better," said Shiyan Hu, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at Michigan Technological University.

"In a very short time, you could test for many conditions. This really would be an entire lab on a chip," he added.

Generally, a lab-on-a-chip can run no more than a test or two. That is because the chips are designed manually.

"If the lab-on-a-chip were made using computer-aided design, you could run dozens of tests with a single drop of blood," Hu said.

With Ph.D. student Chen Liao, Hu developed an inexpensive software that routes droplet of blood or other fluid through each test on the chip efficiently while avoiding any chip contamination.

"The materials are very cheap and the results are more accurate than a conventional lab's," the duo said.

Their work has been featured in the journal titled IEEE Transactions on Nanobiosciences.

Source: www.timesofindia.com

09.05.2014

Just do what must be done. This may not be happiness but it is greatness

George Bernard Shaw