Mobile phone

Evolving Medical Education for a Digital Future

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Three major technology trends—mobile phone–enabled platforms, big data, and artificial intelligence (AI)—exemplify how new technologies are transforming conventional modes of healthcare delivery. Mobile applications are replacing activities previously requiring in-person visits, computers are using vast new data streams to personalize treatment approaches, and AI is augmenting disease diagnosis.

Physicians have an important role in deciding where and how these new tools might be best utilized in diagnosing, treating, and managing health conditions. As medicine undergoes a “digital transformation,” a foundational review of medical education spanning medical school, residency, and continuing medical education (CME) is needed to ensure that physicians at all stages of practice are equipped to integrate emerging technologies into their daily practice. By evolving medical education today, we can prepare physicians for medicine’s digital future.

Computers algorithmically diagnosing diabetes from retinal scans[1]; chatbots providing automated mental health counseling[2]; smartphone applications using activity, location, and social data to help patients achieve lifestyle changes[3]; mobile applications delivering surgical follow-up care[4]; and smartwatches passively detecting atrial fibrillation[5] are just a few examples in which technology is being used to augment conventional modes of healthcare delivery.

Many proposals to evolve medical training in a world of continuous technology transformation have focused on specific technologies, such as incorporating telemedicine into existing Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) competencies,[6] creating a new specialty of “medical virtualists,”[7] or better integrating data science into healthcare.[8]

Emerging Technologies Transforming Medicine

Looking beyond legacy health information technology platforms like electronic health records (EHRs), active venture capital funding provides a vision for where the community is placing its bets for emerging technologies. We highlight three areas drawing significant investor interest: mobile health ($1.3 billion raised in 2016),[9] big data enabling precision medicine ($679 million),[10] and AI ($794 million).[11]

Mobile health. In a 2015 national survey, 58.2% of smartphone owners reported having downloaded a health-related mobile application[12] from an estimated 259,000 available health-related applications.[13] These applications frequently help patients self-manage their health conditions by providing education, tracking tools, and community support between clinic visits.

Big data enabling precision medicine. Phone-based sensors, wearable devices, social media, EHRs, and genomics are just a few of the many new technologies collecting and transmitting clinical, environmental, and behavioral information. These new contextual data streams are facilitating personalized medical decision-making with treatments tailored to each individual patient.

AI. New computational methods such as AI, machine learning, and neural networks are augmenting clinical decisions via algorithmic interpretation of huge data sets that exceed human cognitive capacities. These new computational technologies hold great potential to assist with diagnosis (interpretation of ECGs, radiology, pathology), personalized treatment (tailoring treatment regimens for individual tumor genotypes), and population health (risk prediction and stratification), though for now they remain software innovations reliant on human clinician hardware to guide appropriate use.[14]

Knowledge Domains

Physicians have an important role in deciding where and how new tools might be best utilized in diagnosing, treating, and managing health conditions. A recent study by the American Medical Association (AMA) found significant physician interest in digital health tools, with 85% of physicians reporting that they perceived at least some benefit from new digital tools in improving their ability to care for patients.[15]

Integrating emerging technologies such as mobile applications, big data, and AI into regular practice will require providers to acquire new knowledge across ACGME educational domains such as Professionalism, Interpersonal & Communication Skills, and Systems-Based Practice.

From a foundational perspective, it is important that physicians understand their role and potential liability as related to these new technologies. This includes but is not limited to:

  • Understanding relevant laws, particularly state-based regulations concerning remote practice of medicine (ie, telemedicine). (Systems-Based Practice)
  • Compliance with HIPAA and other key privacy regulations when interacting with patient-generated data outside the bounds of the EHR. (Systems-Based Practice)
  • Evaluating potential malpractice implications, including assessing coverage scope. (Systems-Based Practice)
  • Awareness of emerging reimbursement codes for time allocated to new technology–enabled practice models. (Systems-Based Practice)

Outstanding questions remain regarding the clinical efficacy of many new technologies. With formal clinical trials still underway, physicians may feel unable to speak definitively regarding a specific technology’s potential risks and benefits. Yet, the increasingly broad use of these tools requires that physicians use their clinical expertise to help their patients understand the limitations of such technologies and steer them toward appropriate tools. Essential skills and roles that modern physicians must now adopt include:

  • Teaching patients how to identify trusted tools—those using evidence-based guidelines or created in conjunction with credible physicians, scientists, and hospitals (Medical Knowledge)
  • Setting clear expectations upfront about the extent of physician involvement in reviewing patient-generated data (particularly if there is no anticipated involvement) (Patient Care)
  • Assessing technology literacy in the social history and adapting patient education on the basis of digital attainment, including recommending websites, online video, and mobile apps when appropriate (Patient Care)
  • Advancing clinical knowledge by referring select patients to enroll in digital remote clinical trials (Systems-Based Practice)

Taking into account the rapidly increasing amounts of data inputs in clinical decisions, physicians must augment their statistical knowledge to become generally familiar with new data science methods:

  • Leverage data science tools such as visualization to more efficiently review large amounts of patient data, including identification of outliers and trends (Medical Knowledge)
  • Seek to understand the inputs and assumptions of advanced computational algorithms and not allow them to become a black box. Recognize that although deep-learning algorithms can deduce important patterns and relationships, physicians remain necessary as a critical lens in deciding how to apply findings to each individual patient. (Patient Care)

Implications for Physicians

For current medical students and trainees, many of whom are digital natives themselves, the educational domains outlined above may seem intuitive or obvious. In contrast, physicians currently practicing today are already burdened with countless administrative tasks that may make these future technologies feel overwhelming or irrelevant. Yet, the frustration and feelings of burnout that many physicians have as related to the use of EHRs exactly illustrates why it is critically important that physicians engage early in the dissemination of new technologies.

The first step for providers in the digital transformation of medicine is awareness. While providers may not be aware of, or are dismissive of, new technologies, these tools are already being used avidly by millions of patients around the world.[11] Mobile health, big data, and AI soon will become an integral part of medicine, much like EHRs (and stethoscopes).

The second step is for physicians to familiarize themselves with general categories of new digital tools. New journals such as the Journal of Medical Internet Research offer peer-reviewed manuscripts focused on “eHealth and healthcare in the Internet age.” Physicians may benefit from downloading and signing up for test accounts of new applications or connected health devices. Organizations should consider allowing physicians to spend a portion of their CME budgets on such “digital transformation” learning activities.

The third step is for physician leadership organizations to work with regulatory agencies like the FDA to help identify the most robust tools for physicians to adopt and recommend. A positive example of this is the AMA’s recently issued guidelines on the appropriate use of digital medical devices.[16]

By evolving medical education today, we can prepare physicians for medicine’s digital future. In the face of complex and rapid change, we may all be trainees in a world of ever-accelerating technological evolution.

Italian Court Rules Mobile Phone Use Caused Brain Tumor

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A man in Italy who claimed that having to use cell phones for work gave him a brain tumor has been awarded €500 ($535) a month in compensation. Luckily, the tumor was benign, The Guardian reported, although he did lose hearing in his right ear.

In 2011, the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer declared the radiation emitted by cell phones and wireless devices a Group 2B “Possible Carcinogen,” and most recently, the National Toxicology Program, an interagency research program, based at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, concluded that whole body exposure to cell phone radiation likely caused heart and brain tumors in male rats.

Despite such findings, cell phones have become increasingly pervasive and such a common part of our daily lives that most people never think twice about using them — which makes it even more important to start thinking about ways to be safe with your phone and other wearable, wireless devices.

One factor that should no longer be debated is the risk of cell phones to children. Children simply shouldn’t be using them. Keep your own cell phone use to a minimum. Limit wearable device usage to areas with excellent reception, as the weaker the reception, the more power your phone must use to transmit, and the more power it uses, the more radiation it emits.

Never carry your cellphone on your body or sleep with it under your pillow or near your head. And, use a well-shielded wired headset. One of the best kinds of headsets use a combination of shielded wire and air-tube. These operate like a stethoscope, transmitting the sound to your head as an actual sound wave.

Source:.mercola.com

Mobile Phone Use in Children and Teens Translates to 5 Times Increase in Brain Cancer Rates

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Research indicates children and teenagers are five times more likely to get brain cancer if they use mobile phones, and if today’s young people don’t reduce their use of wireless mobile devices, they may suffer an “epidemic” of the disease in later life.

child on cell phone

In the United States, at least nine out of ten 16-year-olds have their own handset, as do more than 40 percent of primary schoolchildren.

Many scientists have claimed that the wave of mobile communications made popular in the last two decades will result in long-term health implications worldwide. An unprecedented level and frequency of tumor growth inside the human brain may be inevitable.

Yet investigating dangers to the young were omitted from a massive investigation of the risks of cancer from using mobile phones, even though the official Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research (MTHR) Programme — which is conducting it — admits that the issue is of the “highest priority”.

Mobile phone owners were urged to limit their use after the World Health Organisation admitted they may cause cancer. Yet despite recommendations of an official report that the use of mobiles by children should be “minimised”, the Government has done almost nothing to discourage it.

Ministers across Europe have been encouraged to bring in stricter limits for exposure to radiation from mobile and cordless phones, Wi-fi and other devices, partly because children are especially vulnerable to them. They are more at risk because their brains and nervous systems are still developing and because — since their heads are smaller and their skulls are thinner — the radiation penetrates deeper into their brains.

Neurosurgeon and researcher Dr. Leif Salford has conducted many studies on radio frequency radiation and its effects on the brain. Dr. Salford called the potential implications of some of his research “terrifying.” Some of the most concerning conclusions result from the fact that the weakest exposure levels to wireless radiation caused the greatest effect — causing the blood brain barrier to leak.

Since he began his line of research in 1988, Dr. Leif Salford and his colleagues at Lund University Hospital in Sweden has exposed over 1,600 experimental animals to low-level radiation. Their results were consistent and worrisome: radiation, including that from cell phones, caused the blood-brain barrier–the brain’s first line of defense against infections and toxic chemicals–to leak.

Swedish research reported at the first international conference on mobile phones and health stemmed from .further analysis of data from one of the biggest studies carried out into the risk that the radiation causes cancer, headed by Professor Lennart Hardell of the University Hospital in Orebro, Sweden. Professor Hardell told the conference — held at the Royal Society by the Radiation Research Trust — that “people who started mobile phone use before the age of 20″ had more than five-fold increase in glioma”, a cancer of the glial cells that support the central nervous system. The extra risk to young people of contracting the disease from using the cordless phone found in many homes was almost as great, at more than four times higher.

Those who started using mobiles young, he added, were also five times more likely to get acoustic neuromas, benign but often disabling tumours of the auditory nerve, which usually cause deafness.

By contrast, people who were in their twenties before using handsets were only 50 percent more likely to contract gliomas and just twice as likely to get acoustic neuromas.

Professor Hardell told the IoS: “This is a warning sign. It is very worrying. We should be taking precautions.” He believes that children under 12 should not use mobiles except in emergencies and that teenagers should use hands-free devices or headsets and concentrate on texting. At 20 the danger diminishes because then the brain is fully developed. Indeed, he admits, the hazard to children and teenagers may be greater even than his results suggest, because the results of his study do not show the effects of their using the phones for many years. Most cancers take decades to develop, longer than mobile phones have been on the market.

The research has shown that adults who have used the handsets for more than 10 years are much more likely to get gliomas and acoustic neuromas, but he said that there was not enough data to show how such relatively long-term use would increase the risk for those who had started young.

He wants more research to be done, but the risks to children will not be studied in the MTHR study, which will follow 90,000 people in Britain. Professor David Coggon, the chairman of the programmes management committee, said they had not been included because other research was being done on young people by a study at Sweden’s Kariolinska Institute.

He said: “It looks frightening to see a five-fold increase in cancer among people who started use in childhood,” but he said he “would be extremely surprised” if the risk was shown to be so high once all the evidence was in.

But David Carpenter, dean of the School of Public Health at the State University of NewYork — who also attended the conference — said: “Children are spending significant time on mobile phones. We may be facing a public health crisis in an epidemic of brain cancers as a result of mobile phone use.”

A scholarly article on cell phone safety published online in the journal Electromagnetic Biology and Medicine reported the finding that cell phones used in the shirt or pants pocket exceed the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) exposure guidelines and that children absorb twice as much microwave radiation from phones as do adults.

The paper notes that the industry-designed process for evaluating microwave radiation from phones results in children absorbing twice the cellphone radiation to their heads, up to triple in their brain’s hippocampus and hypothalamus, greater absorption in their eyes, and as much as 10 times more in their bone marrow when compared to adults.

Earlier research on pregnant mothers who use mobile phones has shown they are likely to give birth to kids with behavioural problems, especially if those children start using mobile phones early themselves.

Researchers from the National Institutes of Health have found that less than an hour of cellphone use can speed up brain activity in the area closest to the phone antenna, raising new questions about the health effects of low levels of radiation emitted from cellphones.

The study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association, is among the first and largest to document that the weak radio-frequency signals from cellphones have the potential to alter brain activity.

“The study is important because it documents that the human brain is sensitive to the electromagnetic radiation that is emitted by cellphones,” Dr. Volkow said. “It also highlights the importance of doing studies to address the question of whether there are — or are not — long-lasting consequences of repeated stimulation, of getting exposed over five, 10 or 15 years.”

Ways To Reduce The Cancer-Causing Effects of Cell Phones

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Ever since the World Health Organizationadmitted in 2011 that cell phone radiation is “possibly carcinogenic“, and may be contributing to the global uptick in brain cancer cases, it’s far harder to label someone a hypochondriac for being concerned about the long-term health consequences of exposure.[i]

Ways To Reduce The Cancer Causing Effects of Cell Phones 300x234 Ways To Reduce The Cancer Causing Effects of Cell Phones

In fact, one study cited in their report showed a 40% increased risk for gliomas in the highest category of heavy users (reported average: 30 minutes per day over a 10-year period) – not exactly a small effect.

Now, a more recent study published in the journal Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology confirms that the microwave radiation given off by mobile phones is capable of transforming normal cells into cancerous ones.

Titled “Cellular Neoplastic Transformation Induced by 916 MHz Microwave Radiation“, researchers exposed fibroblast cells, a connective tissue-producing type of cell, to 916 MHz electromagnetic frequencies (which have already been shown to alter brain biomolecules), and found that after 5-8 weeks exposure they changed their form and rate of proliferation to a cancerous phenotype. These cells were also found to be tumor-forming when transplanted into mice.

What You Can Do To Protect Yourself

Realistically, most people reading this article will not be decommissioning their iPhones or Androids any time soon. These devices enable us to stay closely connected to our loved ones, as well as to connect to the global brain which is the internet. But what this research does implore us to do is to exercise caution.

Here are a few steps to take to reduce exposure:

  • Wear a headset or earphones to keep the device as far away from your head and/or other vital organs as possible.
  • Turn the device off whenever it is not being used.

If you are a heavy user, consider incorporating one of the following proven cell-phone radiation mitigating substances:

  • Bee Propolis – A compound found within bee propolis, which is like the mortar the bees use to repair and maintain the structural integrity of their hive, known as caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE), has been experimentally tested to protect the kidneys, hearts and retinas of cell-phone exposed mice.  Our bee propolis research page actually lists 12 studies on its radioprotective properties, including protecting against diagnostic and/or “therapeutic” (e.g. radiotherapy) gamma-radiation.
  • Melatonin – Melatonin is released during deep, restful sleep – which is always the best way to obtain this natural protective secretion. Melatonin has been studied for its ability to protect against cell-phone induced retinal and kidney damage.  Like propolis, melatonin has also been shown to have powerful radioprotective properties against gamma-radiation induced oxidative stress and tissue injury.
  • EGCG (green tea polyphenol) – Green tea contains a potent antioxidant known as EGCG (epigallocatechin-gallate) and which has been shown to protect the liver against mobile-phone induced radiation damage.
  • Ginkgo Biloba – This plant never ceases to amaze. Not only is Ginkgo Biloba the oldest living plant (a “living fossil”) known to man, but it seems to provide a broad range of benefits to brain and cognitive health.  It has been experimentally confirmed to prevent mobile-phone induced oxidative stress in the rat brain.
  • N-acetyl-cysteine (NAC) – the the precursor to glutathione, N-acetyl-cysteine (NAC) a powerful cell-protective antioxidant that your body produces, given it has adequate cofactors available.  It has been shown to protect the liver against mobile-phone induced damage.

 

The Mark: Scientist Claims Human Microchip Implants Will Become “Not Optional”.

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Technologies designed specifically to track and monitor human beings have been in development for at least two decades.

In the virtual realm, software programs are now capable of watching us in real time, going so far as to make predictions about our future behaviors and sending alerts to the appropriate monitoring station depending on how a computer algorithm flags your activities. That is in and of itself a scary proposition.

tracking-chip

What may be even scarier, however, is what’s happening in the physical realm. According to researches working on human-embedded microchips it’s only a matter of time before these systems achieve widespread acceptance.

Chances are you’re carrying a couple of RFID microchips now. And if you are, they’re sending out a 15-digit number that identifies you. That number can be picked up by what’s called an ISO compliant scanner. And they’re everywhere, too.

…

It’s not possible to interact with society in a meaningful way by not having a mobile phone. I think human implants are likely to go along a very similar route. It would be such a disadvantage to not have the implant that it essentially becomes not optional.

Video Report:
(Watch at The Age)

Your initial reaction to this idea may be one of disbelief. There’s no way society would accept such a device. Why would anyone want to implant this in their body?

Consider for a moment where we are right now. For decades Americans rejected the notion that they would submit to being tracked or recorded.

Yet, just about every American now carries a mobile phone. They’re so prevalent, in fact, that many consider it a “right,” prompting the government to actually provide subsidies to those who can’t afford one on their own.

Embedded in every one of those phones is an RFID chip that can track our every movement via GPS or cell tower triangulation. Moreover, those microphones and cameras that come standard on every phone can be remotely activated by law enforcement surveillance systems, a capability that has existed since the early 2000′s.

But as intrusive as these devices are, they are accepted as the norm by billions of people world wide. Not only that, but no one had to “force” them on us. We are, it seems, the masters of our own enslavement. And we pay top dollar to have the best tracking device money can buy!

Granted, one can simply disconnect from “the grid” by throwing away their cell phone. But, the direction these new monitoring technologies are moving coupled with continued government expansion of surveillance suggests that microchip RFID technology will eventually be non-voluntary.

Michael Snyder of The Truth Wins asks What will you do when you can no longer buy or sell without submitting to biometric identification?

This technology is going to keep spreading, and it is going to become harder and harder to avoid it.

And it is easy to imagine what a tyrannical government could do with this kind of technology. If it wanted to, it could use it to literally track the movements and behavior of everyone.

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And one day, this kind of technology will likely be so pervasive that you won’t be able to open a bank account, get a credit card or even buy anything without having either your hand or your face scanned first.

It’s difficult to imagine a populace that will freely submit to such digital bondage. But as has been the case with the degradation of personal privacy and rights in America, be assured it won’t simply become law over night.

First, the technologies will need to be generally accepted by society. It’ll start with real-time consumer based products like Google Glass. The older generations may reject it, but in a couple of years you can bet that tens of millions of kids, teens and younger adults will be roaming the streets while sporting cool shades, interactive web surfing and the capability to record everything around them and upload it to the internet instantly.

Next, as we’re already seeing from early adopters, RFID chips will be voluntarily implanted under our skin for everything from access to high security buildings to grocery store purchases.

Eventually, once the concept is generally accepted by the majority, it will become our new “social security number.”

To gain access to official services, you’ll need to be a verified human. Without verification you won’t even be able to purchase a six pack of beer, let alone get medical care or a driver’s license.

Whether we like it or not this is the future. Every purchase you make and every step you take will be tracked by a tiny 15-digit passive microchip, meaning that the only way to “turn it off” will be to physically remove it from your body.

In essence, we’ll soon live in a world of Always On Monitoring.

Our children and grandchildren – at least most of them – will likely not only submit to implantation, they’ll gladly pay the costs so that they, too, can “interact with society in a meaningful way.”

 

How mobile phones increased the digital divide.

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When new technologies begin to go mainstream many assume this leads to a narrowing of the digital divide. The obvious example is the mobile phone. But this common belief may not hold true, according to Martin Hilbert, coordinator of the Information Society Programme at the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean.

He told a SciDev.Net meeting on big data this week that the immediate effect of mobile phones was in fact to widen the digital divide, as the developed nations bought into them first, initially leaving developing nations in their wake (though they are now catching up).

For example, in 2001 for every data handling piece of tech (such as computers and mobile phones) held by people in developing nations, there were six items in developed nations. In 2006 the developed world had only three times as many. So by that measure we could conclude that the gap has narrowed.

Yet, this conclusion may be wrong. This is because “we measure the digital part wrong,” Hilbert said.

The real measure of the digital divide is what people do with that technology, not only how many items of it they have. In this measure though, the gap is broadening. Hilbert said that though the capacity to process information is on the rise globally, it is accelerated in the developed world. In 2001 the developed world had 10 times as much information processing capacity as the developing world, and in 2006 it had 14 times as much.

This is all very sobering in the age of big data that promises to unleash a revolution for development — albeit one that may increase social control and reduce accountability if we’re not careful.

Another take-home message that emerged was that big data projects should be “hyper-localised” so they make sense to the people in developing countries who need information most. Geo-referenced data has the potential to allow this.

Brad Parks, a CEO of AidData argued that “liberating data is a departure point, not a destination” and that geo-referenced data could help prevent the “well intended but poorly designed projects” we often see in development.

Yet, he said, “huge number of donors still don’t publish hyper-local data”.

He also highlighted the need for making big data usable, accessible and the need for developing human capacity to deal with such data.

This made me think we needed something akin to UN data troops, an army of experts, that could be requested by governments to come and help them deal with big data. They could perhaps even be made part of a donor’s aid — you get the money as long as you allow data specialists to help you ensure that any data that is generated is shared in a free and useable fashion.

They could perhaps also provide the much-need training to thousands of people working at the national statistical offices — the publicly funded and stable infrastructure on which big data movement should build upon and work with — instead of simply brushing them aside as “dinosaurs”, as the meeting heard they sometimes are.

Such offices have outdated software and their staff were often last trained in stats in the 1970s, Hilbert said. But these are smart and ambitious people. Instead of disregarding them, he said, we should harness their skills by updating their software and training them in modern techniques.

Camera takes 3D photos in the dark

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3D images of mannequinOn the left is an image created using current technology – the photo on the right was produced from the MIT team‘s new camera technology
A camera that can create 3D-images in almost pitch black conditions has been developed by researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The team captured images of objects, using just single particles of light, known as a photons.

“Billions” of photons would be required to take a photo using the camera on a mobile phone.

The researchers say the technology could be used to help soldiers on combat operations.

Ahmed Kirmani, who wrote the paper containing the findings, said the research has been called “counter-intuitive” as normally the number of photons detected would tell you how bright an image was.

“With only one photon per pixel you would expect the image to be completely featureless,” he told the BBC.

Combat advantage

The camera technology already existed and is similar to the Lidar system used by Google for its Streetview service he explained.

Mannequin with laser
Lidar uses laser pulses and the team used the reflected photons to create their 3D image

“We borrowed the principles form this, the detectors can identify single photons but they still need hundreds of thousands to form images. But we took the system to its limit.”

Lidar uses a laser to fire pulses of light towards an object in a grid sequence. Each location on the grid corresponds to a pixel in the final image.

Normally the laser would fire a large number of times at each grid position and detect multiple reflected photons.

In contrast the system used by the MIT team moved on to the next position in the grid as soon as it had detected a single photon.

A conventional Lidar system would require about 100 times as many photons to make a similar image to the one the team captured which means the system could provide “substantial savings in energy and time”.

The team say the technology could be used in many different fields. It could help ophthalmologists when they want to create an image of a patient’s eye without having to shine a bright light in someone’s eye.

The research was part funded by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency which commissions research for the Department of Defense. Mr Kirmani said the military could use the technology to allow soldiers to see in the dark, giving them an advantage in combat situations.

Slide from MIT presentation
Current 3D imaging techniques require more than single photons unlike the team’s new system

“Any technology that enhances a military’s ability to navigate, target or engage in near-total darkness would be highly prized. 3D imagery married with existing imagery and navigation technologies could significantly enhance the capabilities currently possessed,” said Reed Foster, a defence analyst at IHS.

Eventually, the researchers explain, the technology could be developed to make 3D cameras for mobile phones. The camera requires less light than the ones currently available and therefore uses less power.

Camera takes 3D photos in the dark

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A camera that can create 3D-images in almost pitch black conditions has been developed by researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

3D images of mannequin

The team captured images of objects, using just single particles of light, known as a photons.

“Billions” of photons would be required to take a photo using the camera on a mobile phone.

The researchers say the technology could be used to help soldiers on combat operations.

Ahmed Kirmani, who wrote the paper containing the findings, said the research has been called “counter-intuitive” as normally the number of photons detected would tell you how bright an image was.

“With only one photon per pixel you would expect the image to be completely featureless,” he told the BBC.

Combat advantage

The camera technology already existed and is similar to the Lidar system used by Google for its Streetview service he explained.

Mannequin with laser
Lidar uses laser pulses and the team used the reflected photons to create their 3D image

“We borrowed the principles form this, the detectors can identify single photons but they still need hundreds of thousands to form images. But we took the system to its limit.”

Lidar uses a laser to fire pulses of light towards an object in a grid sequence. Each location on the grid corresponds to a pixel in the final image.

Normally the laser would fire a large number of times at each grid position and detect multiple reflected photons.

In contrast the system used by the MIT team moved on to the next position in the grid as soon as it had detected a single photon.

A conventional Lidar system would require about 100 times as many photons to make a similar image to the one the team captured which means the system could provide “substantial savings in energy and time”.

The team say the technology could be used in many different fields. It could help ophthalmologists when they want to create an image of a patient’s eye without having to shine a bright light in someone’s eye.

The research was part funded by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency which commissions research for the Department of Defense. Mr Kirmani said the military could use the technology to allow soldiers to see in the dark, giving them an advantage in combat situations.

Slide from MIT presentation
Current 3D imaging techniques require more than single photons unlike the team’s new system

“Any technology that enhances a military’s ability to navigate, target or engage in near-total darkness would be highly prized. 3D imagery married with existing imagery and navigation technologies could significantly enhance the capabilities currently possessed,” said Reed Foster, a defence analyst at IHS.

Eventually, the researchers explain, the technology could be developed to make 3D cameras for mobile phones. The camera requires less light than the ones currently available and therefore uses less power.

300% Increased brain cancer risk for long-term users of cell phones and cordless phones.

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A Swedish study on the use of wireless phones, including cell phones and cordless phones, has uncovered a link between electromagnetic radiation exposures and the risk of malignant and non-malignant brain tumors.

Cell phones and cordless phones emit a form of non-ionizing electromagnetic radiation, radiation which can be absorbed by tissues and cells that come into close contact with the phone, e.g., the head and neck. The most conclusive evidence as to the dangers of cell phone and similar radiation exposures come from studies on long-term exposure (ten years or more) like this Swedish study.

Man-On-Cell-Phone

300% increased risk for long term users

This new study reveals that people who used cell phones and cordless phones for more than a year were at a 70% greater risk of brain cancer compared to those who used cell phones and cordless phones for a year or less. Those who used cell phones and cordless phones for more than 25 years were found to have a 300% greater risk of brain cancer than those who used cell phones and cordless phones for a year or less.

The total number of hours of cell phone and cordless phone use was found to be as important as the number of years of use. A quarter of the study’s subjects were found to have lifetime cell phone or cordless phone use of 2,376 or more hours, which corresponds to about 40 minutes a day over ten years. Heavier users were found to have a 250% greater risk of brain tumors compared to those who’d never used cell phones or cordless phones or used them for less than 39 hours in their lifetime.

Brain cancer risk highest on side of head used to phone

This new study echoes the previous study findings of the decade long 13-nation Interphone study, which found a 180% greater risk of brain cancer among those who used cell phones for 1,640 or more hours in their lifetime. But it also goes further.

In this latest study, for all types of cell phone and cordless phone use, brain cancer risk was found to be greater in the part of the brain where the exposure to cell phone and cordless phone radiation was highest, on the side of the head where people predominantly used their phones.

Wireless safety standards inadequate

Given the consistent results from these studies, public health bodies from around the world are asking that the current wireless safety standards be reviewed.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recently classified radio frequency electromagnetic fields as a Group 2B possible carcinogen. Doctors groups are also sounding the alarm. The American Academy of Environmental Medicine, the International Society of Doctors for the Environment (ISDE) and the Irish Doctors Environmental Association (IDEA) are all calling for improved standards.

Practice safe use of wireless phones

In the absence of sufficiently protective standards and legislation, individuals need to act now. This means:

  • Limiting calls to those that are absolutely necessary on wireless devices
  • Using a speaker phone or air tube headset whenever possible
  • Keeping cell phones away from the body
  • Turning your cell phone off when not in use
  • Texting instead of talking
  • Alternating from one side of the head to the other when phoning
  • Avoiding using a cell phone when reception is poor
  • Using a corded land line whenever possible
  • Removing cordless phones from bedrooms


Minimizing the effects of these wireless exposures now instead of later is timely and crucial.

Sources :

http://www.saferemr.com

http://www.prlog.org

http://www.spandidos-publications.com

Lightning powers Frankenstein phone.

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Scientists use lightning bolt to charge mobile phone

 

Mobile phone receiving a lightning strike
The lightning bolt was recreated in the lab

Some 200 years after Mary Shelley used lightning to breathe life into Frankenstein’s monster, scientists have copied her idea to power a phone.

The proof-of-concept experiment was conducted at the University of Southampton in collaboration with Nokia.

The mobile firm warned users “not to try this at home”.

Harnessing nature in this way could provide power sources where electricity is in short supply, said experts.

Huge step

Using a transformer, the team recreated a lightning bolt in the lab by passing 200,000 volts across a 30cm (12in) air gap.

“We were amazed to see that the Nokia circuitry somehow stabilised the noisy signal, allowing the battery to be charged,” said Neil Palmer, from the University of Southampton’s high voltage laboratory.

Southampton University lab The proof-of-concept experiment is a step towards harnessing the energy from lightning

“This discovery proves devices can be charged with a current that passes through the air, and is a huge step towards understanding a natural power like lightning and harnessing its energy.”

Lightning is a discharge of static electricity that occurs when there is an imbalance in the electrical charge between a cloud and the earth’s surface.

On average three people die in the UK each year from lightning strikes, according to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (Rospa).

“We obviously aren’t recommending people try this experiment at home, but we are always looking to disrupt and push the boundaries of technology,” said Chris Weber, executive vice-president for sales at Nokia.

Finding new ways to charge mobile phones and extend battery life is one of the number one priorities for the mobile industry.

“It’s certainly a striking idea,” said Ben Wood, of analyst firm CCS Insight.

“Nokia has been among the forerunners of device-charging technology for some time. It’s also very committed to caring for the environment. So it’s perhaps not surprising that the company’s involved in what might appear to be a wacky idea.”

He thinks the concept might be useful in areas without reliable electricity.

“If you live in a remote village in India you might welcome the possibility of a communal device that charges phones.”