SCHILLER Australia Pty Ltd

CareFlight pilot hailed as a hero

Mat Packer — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 02:44:53 +0000

A CareFlight medical evacuation flight operated by Pel-Air from Apia (Western Samoa) to Melbourne was scheduled to land at Norfolk Island for a planned fuel stop on Wednesday evening when it encountered deteriorating weather conditions.

After several unsuccessful approaches and with diminishing fuel, the pilot-in-command, Captain Dominic James, made the decision to carry out a controlled landing onto the water off the coast of Norfolk Island.

The aircraft, a specially-equipped medical retrieval Westwind jet carried out a successful landing on the water and the patient, accompanying spouse and two medical crew as well as the pilots evacuated safely. They were rescued by boat and brought to the local Norfolk Island hospital for observation. The Captain reported that all passengers and crew did not have any apparent injuries.

Further details are on CareFlight’s website.

CareFlight are a valued client of SCHILLER Australia, having outfitted several of their retrieval aircraft with ARGUS ProLifecare patient monitors, so we are very happy to see that no one was injured in the ditching of this aircraft.

And we’d like to extend a big “dude you’re awesome” to the Captain Dominic James for his text book ditching.

ECGs May Misdiagnose Common Heart Condition

Mat Packer — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 07:37:06 +0000

Orlando, FL (AHN) – A common test prescribed to detect heart problems can often lead doctors to misdiagnose a common heart condition, according to a recent study.

Researchers at the Henry Ford Hospital studied 500 patients and found a false positive reading for the condition, known as left ventricular hypertrophy, between 77 and 82 percent in patients screened by electrocardiogram. The researchers said they found a false negative reading between 6 and 7 percent in the same sample.

Doctors typically give several ECGs before diagnosing left ventricular hypertrophy.

The researchers said is a statement that CT scans were a more accurate way of diagnosing the condition. An ECG measures the electrical activity of a heartbeat and a CT scan uses X-rays to take clear and detailed images of the heart.

The study was presented at the American Heart Association’s annual scientific conference in Orlando, Florida.

[From Study: EKGs May Misdiagnose Common Heart Condition]

Related news / blog articles

© SCHILLER Australia 2009 - find more information on our website www.schiller.com.au.

ECGs May Misdiagnose Common Heart Condition

Nintendo Wii Vitality

Mat Packer — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:15:16 +0000

By now many of us are familiar with Nintendo’s Wii Fit, if not you can find out more information here, well now we’ve got the Wii Vitality sensor, Nintendo’s new addition to their revolutionary Wiimote game controller was announced at the recent E3 gaming industry expo in the USA.

From the press release – “Nintendo’s newest groundbreaking product, the Wii Vitality Sensor, expands the appeal of video games. It will initially sense the user’s pulse and a number of other signals being transmitted by their bodies, and will then provide information to the users about the body’s inner world.”

Straight away the applications are obvious, apart from integration with the Wii Fit platform, there’s a host of medical potential in Children’s Hospitals all over the world. How much easier would it be to check on your patients vitals if it was in the form of a game?

It’s certainly a converging world now with all sorts of technologies merging and becoming useful in so many ways we’ve never dreamt of in the past.

72 hour Holter Recordings with MT-101 nano

Mat Packer — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:15:43 +0000

The strengths of Holter ECG monitoring include its simplicity and the lack of need for patient activation. The continuous monitoring allows capture of asymptomatic arrhythmias or arrhythmias associated with loss of consciousness as well as documentation of circadian variation in arrhythmia occurrence.

However the regular 24-hour Holter ECG’s imposed a very limited period of monitoring to a very short window that is often inadequate to diagnose the cause of symptoms.

With SCHILLER’s new MICROVIT MT-101 nano Holter ECG Recorder, you may now monitor your patients heart activity up to 72 hours.

The MT-101 nano Holter Recorder is designed for 2 or 3-channel ECG recordings, depending on the ECG cable you use.

To view and analyse your recorded data you may simply transmit the patients data via integrated USB interface or external SD card reader to any computer, featuring the Medilog Darwin analysis system.

On a very user-friendly Windows Interface, the MT-200 Analysis Software executes the most complicated operations, such as:

Analysis of 2 or 3 channels in different combinations
ST-Analysis
HR Trend overview
HR Variability (Fire of Life)
Pacemaker Templates
Template Matching
Reclassification in less than 2 seconds by ‘Drag & Drop’ function

When it comes to administrating and saving your data, the system enables:

Generation of PDF files
E-mail function
Connection to the SCHILLER SEMA-200 Data Management System

Are you interested in trying SCHILLER’s new 72-hour Holter ECG System? Just give us a call and we’ll take care of the rest!

Related news / blog articles

© SCHILLER Australia 2009 - find more information on our website www.schiller.com.au.

72 hour Holter Recordings with MT-101 nano

What makes the FRED easyport so unique?

Mat Packer — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:52:40 +0000

SCHILLER’s unique Multipulse Biowave® is a wave that is pulsed at a high frequency (chopped).

The pulsed wave is made up of two phases, where the current flows in two opposite directions (biphasic) with a fixed duration of 4 ms for each phase, regardless of the patient impedance. That duration has been found to be optimal for the excitation of myocardial cells, maximising the safety and effectiveness of the defibrillation.

Because a second capacitor is used to produce the second phase (negative), the amplitude of the phase is not necessarily identical to that prevalent at the end of the first phase. Consequently, it can be defined freely so as to obtain the amplitude that is best suited to the physiological needs of the heart.

The second phase is sized optimally, and the charges accumulated during the first phase in the myocardial cells can be eliminated completely at the end of the wave. As a result of that elimination, the re-excitation of the unstable cells is prevented, and therefore all the re-entry loops are blocked. The outcome is optimised defibrillation with the least possible energy.

This is how the greatest efficacy can be derived from a biphasic defibrillation wave.

Related news / blog articles

© SCHILLER Australia 2009 - find more information on our website www.schiller.com.au.

What makes the FRED easyport so unique?

British NHS evaluate FRED easy AED

Mat Packer — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 05:33:45 +0000

Recently the British National Health Service evaluated the FRED easyport defibrillator, and here’s what they had to say about it.

An ideal defibrillator when size and weight are the most important features.

You can download the full report on the SCHILLER FRED easyport AED in PDF format from here.

If you would like to receive further information on the, or any other products in the SCHILLER range, do not hesitate to contact us.

Related news / blog articles

© SCHILLER Australia 2009 - find more information on our website www.schiller.com.au.

British NHS evaluate FRED easy AED

Recording paper, think twice

Mat Packer — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 03:10:01 +0000

There are many after market suppliers of recording paper that claim to save you “big dollars” on your consumables purchases. These may be short -term savings but in the long run can cost you a lot of money.

We often receive calls from customers who are experiencing a problem associated with the printing function on their ECG machine. They tell us, “The machine will not print an ECG” or “Every time I press the print button the machine feeds extra sheets of paper after the ECG has been printed”

Both of these problems are consistently related to the use of cheap recording paper that is badly manufactured. Usually the paper registration mark is in the wrong place or commonly is too small. The black registration mark is very important because it is used to correctly position each sheet of paper so that the next ECG printed is in the correct position. The registration mark is recognized by a sensor that is positioned close to the print head. If it is too small or in the wrong position is will either be missed completely or will incorrectly position the recording paper.

We make dozens of service calls each month to fix print problems that are related to the use of cheap recording paper. As this is not covered under the machine’s warranty the customer always ends up with a service charge that far exceeds any savings they have made. So think twice when someone offers you a cheap price. In the long run it can actually cost you a lot of money.

FRED easy, Power for Life!

Mat Packer — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 23:25:52 +0000

The clinic for cardiology of the Zurich University Hospital launched the project ‘Power for Life’ in May together with partners. 13 telephone booths on the famous Bahnhofstrasse in Zurich were equipped with SCHILLER FRED easy defibrillators.

In addition to a SCHILLER FRED easy type defibrillator, the resuscitation boxes installed contain an integrated GSM unit. When the first-aid box is removed, the emergency number 144 is dialled automatically, connecting the first aider directly to the Zurich rescue service via a mobile handsfree telephone. In this way, the dispatcher can help the non-professional rescuer on the phone until the paramedics arrive and take over.

More information about the FRED easy defibrillator can be found here.

Tasers, likely preventing deaths

Mat Packer — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 23:48:29 +0000

Currently, there is a great deal of attention being paid to the use of Tasers by police forces around the world. In the USA, we have two very divided camps. One side says that there have been no proven detrimental effects from the use of Tasers to subdue violent people and the other side says that every week a death is recorded that is attributable to the use of Tasers.

Closer to home, we have the NSW Police Service currently conducting a twelve month trial. The New South Wales Government is refusing to commit to key recommendation’s made in a report by the NSW Ombudsman. The report advocates a two-year ban on any further distribution of the stun gun to police and recommends another independent review of the weapon’s dangers.

So, what are the dangers? Sabin Russell from the San Francisco Chronicle writes:

When 50,000 volts of electricity from a Taser surge across the body, it can instantly incapacitate a person — more safely than a blow from a police baton or a blast of pepper spray, its manufacturer contends.

But cardiologists are concerned that, in certain cases, the device might also interrupt the rhythm of the human heart, throwing it into a potentially fatal chaotic state known as ventricular fibrillation. Rather than pump blood in sequence through its four chambers, a heart in ventricular fibrillation writhes uncontrollably. It is a common cause of sudden death.

Dr. Zian Tseng, a cardiologist at the University of California, believes Tasers are potentially dangerous because a jolt of electricity, at just the right moment in the heartbeat cycle, can trigger ventricular fibrillation.

He ought to know. He uses a precisely timed jolt to throw the hearts of his patients into ventricular fibrillation on a regular basis.

Tseng installs implantable electric defibrillators into the chests of heart patients who are at risk of sudden cardiac arrest. The devices are miniature versions of the electric paddles used to jolt a stalled heart back into its proper rhythm. Vice President Dick Cheney is the most prominent American with such a device implanted in his chest.

Before Tseng can wheel a patient out of the operating room, he must test the new defibrillator by stopping the heart, and watching to see if the life-saving implant does its job.

“There are vulnerable periods in the cardiac cycle, when shocks can cause dangerous arrhythmias,” Tseng said. Known as a T-wave on the heart monitor, the brief pause in pumping takes up about 3 percent of a heartbeat’s cycle. Tseng times his jolt of electricity for that moment, to stop a heart, so the defibrillator can automatically start it again.

People using Tasers, he said, risk jolting a person at precisely the wrong instant. “I think they are dangerous,” he said. “If you are shocking someone repeatedly, it becomes a bit like Russian roulette. At some point, you may hit that vulnerable period.”

Cardiologists also know that the window in which a jolt of electricity can halt a heart expands significantly when a patient is treated with certain drugs, or when the body is flooded with the fear hormone, adrenaline. Patients with heart problems are also more vulnerable to the condition.

Executives at Taser International are aware of the heart’s vulnerability to ventricular fibrillation, but they insist their device is safe. The electrical current used in an operating room to stop a heart is 30 times higher than that produced by a Taser, said Mark Kroll, an electrical engineer and board member of the Scottsdale, Ariz., firm. Medically induced fibrillation involves applying a current directly to the inside of the heart, he added, while a Taser’s current is applied to the clothing and skin.

“The current delivered by a Taser is too weak to induce ventricular fibrillation,” he said. Ventricular fibrillation (VF) is the most common cause of so called Cardiac Arrest in the general population. In fact, 85% of Cardiac Arrests are VF. The only way to return a persons heart rhythm to its normal rhythm is by using a defibrillator.

These days’ defibrillators are appearing in all sorts of places. Airports, Railway Stations Gyms, Health Clubs, many public places and even at your local watering hole. So why can’t police officers carry a defibrillator, either in there patrol car or carried on the same belt as the Taser. A defibrillator is currently available that weighs 495 grams and is 133mm x 126mm x 35 mm. The defibrillator is called Easyport and is currently used by bicycle paramedics in Victoria and South Australia.

There is obviously a lot of argument from both sides going around at the moment and I guess that the jury will be out for some time on this issue. Is it better to use a Taser or a gun to subdue a dangerous person? Personally, I think so but not at the cost of a life. If the risk can be mitigated by a police officer carrying a miniature defibrillator as well as the Taser I think it will go a long way to helping both sides of the argument.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/health/207168_tasers10.html

ICD ‘hacking’ being researched

Mat Packer — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 04:30:34 +0000

It is now possible to hack implanted devices such as pacemakers to obtain patient information or even make them lethal, a study has warned.

Implanted devices are used to keep the heart beating regularly, to shock a heart that is beating chaotically, to stimulate parts of the brain or to deliver drugs. Millions are in use worldwide.

The implants are increasingly equipped with wireless technology, allowing for remote device checks and freeing patients from repeated doctor visits.

But this convenience may come with unanticipated risks, warns a team of researchers in the US.

The researchers, from three American universities, have demonstrated how to use a radio to hack a combination heart defibrillator and pacemaker, suggesting it could be possible to remotely control someone’s heart.

The team reports that it is possible to extract private medical information and reprogram the devices without a patient realising it.

They were able to reprogram the devices to shut down and to deliver jolts of electricity that would potentially be fatal had they been inside a person.

However, the researchers stressed that there had never been a reported case of a patient with an implantable cardiac defibrillator or pacemaker being targeted by hackers.

Their efforts cost $30,000 and the study was designed to identify and prevent future problems.

The research was led by two computer scientists – Tadayoshi Kohno of the University of Washington and Kevin Fu of the University of Massachusetts Amherst – with cardiologist Dr William Maisel of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre and Harvard Medical School.

The report, to published at www.secure-medicine.org, will be presented and published at the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers Symposium on Security and Privacy in Oakland, California in May, though it omits key details to prevent abuse.

Dr Maisel said one aim of the research was “to encourage the medical device industry to think more carefully”.

“Fortunately, there are some safeguards already in place, but device manufacturers can do better,” he said.

“We hope our research is a wake-up call,” added Dr Kohno, an assistant professor of computer science and engineering at the University of Washington, who fears that this kind of hacking could soon be attempted.

“In the 1970s, the Bionic Woman was a dream, but modern technology is making it a reality. People will have sophisticated computers with wireless capabilities in their bodies. Our goal is to make sure those devices are secure, private, safe and effective.”

The team has set out three defence mechanisms that require no battery power, making them potentially easy to incorporate in the devices without extensive redesigning: a device that audibly alerts patients of security breaches, one that authenticates requests for access from outside devices and a vibrating device that patients can sense.

The researchers’ hacking experiments used an implantable cardiac defibrillator, a sophisticated device that automatically regulates the heart beat by sending small corrective electrical signals to the heart or by delivering a large shock to restore a potentially fatal heart rhythm back to normal.

The model they tested contained computers and radios that allow health care practitioners to diagnose patients, read and write private medical information, and adjust the device’s therapy settings wirelessly.

In computer laboratory bench tests, the research team used an inexpensive software radio to intercept and capture signals sent from the implantable device. They were able to obtain detailed information about a hypothetical patient, including name, diagnosis, date of birth and medical ID number.

Researchers could determine the make and model of the device and access real-time electrocardiogram results, as well as data on the hypothetical patient’s heart rate and cardiac activity.

The team then mounted attacks. They were able to turn off the therapy settings stored in the implantable device, rendering it incapable of responding to dangerous cardiac events. Additional commands were delivered, resulting in the delivery of a shock that could induce ventricular fibrillation, a potentially lethal arrhythmia.

Bruce Lindsay, an electrophysiologist at the Cleveland Clinic and president of the Heart Rhythm Society, said defibrillator transmissions were “not designed to withstand terrorist attacks”.

“But I don’t think the findings have any great clinical significance,” he added. “To hack the system, you have to get the programmer right up against the patient’s chest. It’s not as if somebody could do this from down the street.”

Key defibrillator makers are Medtronic Inc, Boston Scientific Corp and St Jude Medical Inc. It was Medtronic’s Maximo defibrillator that Maisel’s team studied.

Medtronic spokesman Rob Clark said the risk of any “deliberate, malicious or unauthorised manipulation of a device is extremely low.”

Future versions capable of transmitting signals as far as 30 feet from a patient will incorporate stronger security, he said.

Boston Scientific said its defibrillators “incorporate encryption and security technologies designed to mitigate these risks,” including measures to prevent unauthorized reprogramming.

St Jude said: “As the study points out, the likelihood of unauthorised or illegal manipulation of an implantable device is extremely remote, and St Jude Medical is not aware of such an event with our devices.”

The Food and Drug Administration said it was working on standards to raise the security of medical devices that receive instructions over radio waves but had not finalised them.

“The chance of an ICD being reprogrammed by a computer hacker is extremely remote,” said a spokeswoman, using the abbreviation for implanted defibrillator.

Prof Tipu Aziz of Oxford University, who does brain implants, comments: “This is a very interesting report,” but adds: “It is unlikely at present that this will be a risk to my patients. It is also even more unlikely to be of interest to hackers in general and very few terrorists.”

A British spokesman for the manufacturer Medtronic adds: “There has not been a single reported incident of such an event in more than 30 years of device telemetry use, which includes millions of implanted patients worldwide.”

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the UK government agency which is responsible for ensuring that medical are acceptably safe says it will investigate: “Despite an extensive database of adverse incidents, the Agency has never received any reports of hacking associated with implantable medical devices such as pacemakers or ICDs (implantable Cardioverter defibrillators).

“Nevertheless, as part of our adverse incident investigation process this we will look into this further, in consultation with the relevant device manufacturers.”