INLINE Medical News October 2010
Welcome
Welcome to the October newsletter from INLINE. It was great to catch up with many of you at the recent Head & Neck conference held in Manly and we hope that those of you who visited from interstate were able to enjoy the 'Northern Beaches' of Sydney.
With a range of new products arriving from various suppliers, we have been busy registering these with the TGA and getting them ready for their Australian release in the new year. Some of the new products include a high end Stroboscope from Ecleris, high intensity LED light sources to rival traditional Xenon units, 3D endoscopy which will be introduced in the first half of 2011 and the FSC2 Medical Camera System. Stay tuned in the new year for more information on these products. If you are interested in acting as a reference site for any of these products, please feel free to let us know.
With the festive period rapidly approaching we would like to wish you and your family all the best for the Christmas period as this will be our last newsletter for the year. We look forward to hearing from you soon and wish you a safe and happy new year.
Mobile service treats Indigenous ear disease 'epidemic'
The trial of the mobile telemedicine program in Cherbourg, south east Queensland has come to an end with impressive results that allow this service a permanent place in remote indigenous communities. The continutation of this program is fantastic as it will ensure the early detection and monitoring of children at higher risk of developing chronic disease and ensures that treatment and follow up services are developed in a most efficient manner. It is expected to reduce the occurance of preventable conditions such as chronic ear and eye disease and bring down the level of hearing aid level deafness amongst Aborginal communities.
Pictured right: The Health-e-Piccaninnies Van
The University of Queensland (UQ) Centre for Online Health devised the $1.5 million pilot program, which has been trialled in Queensland’s remote Cherbourg region. The rural Aboriginal community, located 300 km north-west of Brisbane is the third largest Indigenous community in the state and is home to about 1,200 people.
Health-e-Screen 4 Kids is an initiative of The University of Queensland's Centre for Online Health (COH), in close collaboration with the Cherbourg Community Health Service and the Royal Children's Hospital in Brisbane. The project has also gathered support from some of Australia's corporate heavyweights, including Virgin Blue, as well as charitable foundations such as the Rio Tinto Aboriginal Fund, the Telstra Foundation, the Ian Potter Foundation, Grosvenor Foundation, Perpetual Trustees and the Australian Children's Trust. It will provide a health screening service, combined with telemedicine links to specialist doctors in Brisbane. Telemedicine will enable specialists to assess children who normally would have limited access to this level of care due to their remote location.
The program in Cherbourg uses state of the art medical technology and a mobile van staffed by local health workers and coordinated by Cecil Brown to provide specialist care to almost 1000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children who would otherwise be unable to visit a doctor. The mobile health clinic tours the communities capturing patient images and then relays that information to specialists in Brisbane. All screening information collected is stored in a secure online database, from which specialists review, diagnose and recommend treatment. 
Pictured right: The inside of The Health-e-Piccaninnies Van with Flexicase portable medical camera.
Dr Anthony Smith from the University of Queensland's (UQ) Centre for Online Health came up with the idea. "The program has improved screening rates because what we're doing is providing screening in a much more systematic fashion," he said. "Instead of doing screening once or twice a year by sending specialist groups out to schools and communities, what we're doing is providing a facility which will be present every day throughout the year, so that children will be able to access the service through the schools. By introducing a routine mobile clinic for the Cherbourg region, we hope to screen more than 90% of children aged 3-15 (up to 1000 children) annually and contribute to improved health outcomes in the community.”
Dr Smith added "By sorting through these kids for us, including taking images of the important bits, we can more efficiently go to these communities," he said. "We don't need to see 150 or 400 kids in a community. We can go in and the 10 or 20 worst effected kids can have an efficient intervention to try and change their lives. "And that involves maybe taking out adenoids, maybe putting in grommets, very, very simple surgery; grafting holes in ear drums. And our time is better spent doing that."
The Health-e-Piccaninnies Van is equiped with an INLINE Medical & Dental Flexicase Medical Camera which has a full range of integration options including, general imaging, otoscope, ophthalmology, dermatology and dental. Whilst the initial program has focussed on detecting problems with childrens hearing and vision there is a real potential to expand the screening service and include other specialties such as dentistry and dermatology.
The permanency of such a mobile service is fantastic as it allows something to finally be done to improve health conditions which impact upon children's hearing, vision and general well being.
Cecil Brown Shares with us his experience with the Flexicase Portable Medical Camera
"The portable imaging case is excellent for patient education, confirmation of clinical signs, and for screening records. Images can be saved to patient files and also emailed to specialists in Brisbane for diagnosis. The images are also fantastic for review and follow up.
Pictured right courtesy of Glenn Barnes Courer Mail: Cecil Brown tests Xapheniah Ramsay-Tanner, 2, with mum Sandra in the telemedicine mobile clinic.
Checking for ear disease at the earliest possible age is the main priority because it has serious consequences for education outcomes. This program ensures a targeted approach and results in better learning outcomes for the local children which means these kids will have a better start to life and we'll see a lot of our children go on-to reach higher levels of education.
The children love the screening equipment and often comment that they have never seen inside their ear before. When trying to explain treatment options, it can be difficult for patients to visualise what you are saying. However, once they see an image, they understand immediately, which helps greatly with the acceptance of treatment options. The before and after shots are fantastic and parents can also come onboard and get involved and see what is going on which helps to realise the need for treatment.
Having a mobile clinic is fantastic as we have encountered problems in the past where patients and mothers can't attend, with the van we go to them and we are completely self sufficient. The portability of the medical camera is excellent, I have 100% attendance and full support from the schools in the communities."
INLINE appoints new medical imaging product specialist
INLINE Medical and Dental welcomes David George to the National Sales Team. David comes to Inline with almost 20 years of medical industry experience, specifically in the fields of Dental and Head & Neck imaging. David has wide-ranging skills in sales, marketing and business management and has a broad clinical knowledge as a result of working with some of the major dental implant and medical imaging companies.
With INLINE's growth into the radiology sector, David will be coordinating the sales efforts and calling on customers who are interested in expanding their imaging capabilities into the third dimension. Managing products such as the Newtom VG and the I-Max 3D requires a solid understanding of imaging techniques and David's background will be invaluable in his role as product manager. We welcome him into the team.
Email : david@inline.com.au
Odyssey Mini 3 Watt LED
The Odyssey Mini 3 Watt LED is the next generation of portable LED headlight systems. SurgiTel adds the lightest and brightest to their arsenal of headlights.
Pictured below: Odyssey Mini 3W LED and battery shown with SurgiTel Micro250 on Oakley Radar Frame
General Scientific Corporation/SurgiTel Systems, a global leader in optical technology since 1932, recently announced the release of their new ultra-portable LED headlight system. The new Odyssey Mini 3 Watt LED system was designed as a perfect complement to the newest SurgiTel lightweight magnification systems. This light provides the user with a focussed evenly illuminated beam of natural white light with no distracting hot-spots.
Like its stable-mate, the Odyssey “MAX”, the “Mini” has been engineered with the next generation of Lithium-Ion Quick-Charge batteries. The Odyssey Max provides up to 4 hours of regulated power while the Mini more than doubles that when set at the recommended output setting (two-thirds power). Built into the battery unit is a digitally controlled light intensity microprocessor. This allows the user to have precise control over the brightness of the headlight allowing for the maximum detail to be viewed. It is important to note that “Brighter” is not necessarily better, as over illuminating a reflective surface, such as teeth, causes the image to “burn out” resulting in loss of highlight detail.
SurgiTel has been an innovator with illumination systems for over 20 years. They were one of the first manufacturers to offer system integration with a battery powered headlight. Today, with all their experience, they have developed an amazingly light-weight and future ready modular light system that integrates perfectly with a range of magnifications. System integration is a key component when trying to match coaxial “line of sight” illumination and the ocular of a loupe or telescope.
“One of the unique features of these headlight systems is the ability to charge the battery while the light is in use or in the case of the “Max” model even swap out a battery through it’s quick-change compartment built into the unit.. It’s as easy as popping out the battery and sliding in a new one, giving the user up to 8 hrs of power. Another problem with most illumination systems on the market is the lack of a single light system that works adequately with a variety of magnification levels. Having the ability to change heads and thus beam type gives the user flexibility to adapt it for use with various magnifications, video recording or as a stand alone illuminator.” Alan Slack – Product Manager – Australia & New Zealand
Link: http://www.inline.com.au/headlight-illumination
Email : info@inline.com.au
New Endoscope Camera to cover all your requirements
The Flexiscope 2 ENT Camera system represents unmatched convenience, functionality and comes with an unlimited range of integration options. The FSC2 boasts the latest in CCD camera technology, provides excellent illumination through the integrated LED’s in the camera handpiece and comes with a large range of interchangeable probes.
The camera control unit features auto white balance, automatic gain control, a custom window feature that fits the endoscope image to the camera chip, and variable brightness control. Outputs include composite video, Y/C video, and a USB 2.0 digital port for archiving images to a computer.
This camera system is compact, portable, lightweight and is the ideal solution for the practitioners rooms as the ability to use interchangeable probes increases versatility in performing a wide variety of procedures with a single piece of equipment.
The endoscope adaptor plugs directly into the camera system and allows for the all purpose adaptation to commercially available brand name medical endoscopes such as Olympus, Schoelly & Storz. Whilst the ‘snap on’ otoscope probe is designed to provide brilliant endoscopic images of both the ear and nasal cavities from small children to adults. No additional light source is required as the illumination is supplied through the handpiece.
Power is supplied via a separate low voltage plug in power supply unit and a membrane keypad is used to adjust all of the image settings including colour and contrast values along with white balance in an on screen process. The system operates perfectly over a PC network or can be used as a standalone camera system with images being stored via a USB storage device.
Features Summary
- Huge variety of interchangeable probes.
- Bright LED light source for increased image clarity and depth of field.
- Additional video inputs available for connection of existing cameras, VCR's and DVD's.
- Powerful archiving software for secure storage of all patient files & images.
- High resolution digital or analogue images allowing fast & accurate diagnosis.
Link: http://www.inline.com.au/fsc2
Email : info@inline.com.au