Oct 24, 2022 01:26 AM
(This post was last modified: Oct 24, 2022 03:13 AM by C C.)
Scared of Injections? Try a Wearable Soft Robot to Ease Aversion to Needles
https://www.tsukuba.ac.jp/en/research-ne...80000.html
RELEASE: While most of us are never without our smartphones, robots may also soon become indispensable companions. It certainly seems so based on the recent experiments conducted by researchers in Japan, who developed a hand-held soft robot that can improve the experience of patients while undergoing potentially unpleasant medical procedures, such as injections.
During the campaign to encourage vaccination against COVID-19, public health officials recognized that some people are simply afraid of needles, which contributed to reduced vaccination rates. While the problems of patient anxiety and pain during medical procedures have been well studied, there remains a need to test and implement solutions to help patients.
In a recently published study in Scientific Reports, researchers at the University of Tsukuba have developed a wearable soft robot for patients to use during treatments, in an attempt to ease their pain. On being subjected to a moderate heat stimulus, the study participants who wore the robot experienced less pain than in the tests in which they did not wear the robot. "Our results suggest that the use of wearable soft robots may reduce fear as well as alleviate the perception of pain during medical treatments, including vaccinations," says senior author Professor Fumihide Tanaka.
The soft, fur-covered robot the scientists called Reliebo was designed to be attached to the participant's hand; it contained small airbags that could inflate in response to hand movements. The researchers tested its effectiveness under various conditions based on the clenching of the participant's hand, while applying the painful thermal stimulus to the other arm that was not being used to hold the robot.
The researchers also measured the levels of oxytocin and cortisol (which are biomarkers for stress) from the patients' saliva samples. Additionally, subjective pain ratings were recorded using an assessment scale, and a survey test was conducted to evaluate the patients' fear of injections and psychological state before and after the experiments.
The researchers found that holding the robot helped relieve the experience for patients regardless of the experimental conditions used, and speculated that the feelings of well-being that can be created by human touch may have also been activated by the robot. "It is well known that interpersonal touch can reduce pain and fear, and we believe that this effect can be achieved even with nonliving soft robots," states Professor Tanaka. This may be useful when actual human contact is not feasible, such as during pandemics.
Future versions of the robot might use a controlled gaze or even AR (augmented reality) technologies to help build a connection with the patient or distract them from pain perception in various situations. PAPER: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-21183-7
The Left and the Right have lost their minds over Covid
https://doctorbuzz.substack.com/p/the-le...-have-lost
INTRO: I know, I know. Claiming that our American ideologues have lost their tether to reason is not exactly an aggressive position to stake. However, last week pushed my perspective on the discourse around Covid-19 in this country from dismay to disgust. To borrow from Elvis Costello, I am not seeing the path to amusement at this point.
What happened? Twin stories emerged in close proximity, both similarly disturbing for people who prefer their public health authorities to behave responsibly. First, right around beer thirty on a Friday night, Florida released this bulletin: https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts...ns/3312697
A few days later, the FDA rather quietly announced the approval of the bivalent Moderna booster for kids 6-17 — the first time any Moderna booster was approved for this age group — and Pfizer’s bivalent booster for children 5-17. No VRBAC meeting to hash this out first, nor ACIP convocation afterwards to advise the CDC, which quickly followed with a recommendation that these bivalent boosters are now required for everyone to be considered up to date on their vaccines.
Well, only “some people.” All people over the age of 5. Those people.
Much bickering ensued after these news stories broke, rightfully so. Both proclamations represent the workings of the minds of people who have lost the ability to express a nuanced thought. Both are asinine in their incompleteness. Hearing their supporters climb aboard with hardly an objection was more than I could bear.
I’ll dig into just what was so unacceptable about these stories momentarily. First, though, I need to define my terms. I am not equating “Left” with what we used to call “liberals” or Democrats, or “Right” with what we once termed “conservatives” or Republicans, although there is a fair bit of overlap.
Rather, I refer to the “Covid Left” as the generally blue-state supporters who have pushed hard for prolonged school closures, mask-wearing, and Covid-19 vaccine mandates, and tend to treat Long COVID as an existential threat to humankind; and the “Covid Right” as the generally red-staters who happily dismantle public health organizations, were quick to equate Covid to the flu (and now a cold), dismiss Long COVID as a sort of neurotic hangnail, and equate mask and vaccine requirements to WW2 Nazi atrocities.
You know the types. There might be a hundred million of them in our country these days.
Which brings us to Dr. Joe Ladapo and the great state of Florida, where he sits at the helm as State Surgeon General. The study he trotted out on a Friday evening as east coasters were settling down at the dinner table was… strange... (MORE - missing details)
https://www.tsukuba.ac.jp/en/research-ne...80000.html
RELEASE: While most of us are never without our smartphones, robots may also soon become indispensable companions. It certainly seems so based on the recent experiments conducted by researchers in Japan, who developed a hand-held soft robot that can improve the experience of patients while undergoing potentially unpleasant medical procedures, such as injections.
During the campaign to encourage vaccination against COVID-19, public health officials recognized that some people are simply afraid of needles, which contributed to reduced vaccination rates. While the problems of patient anxiety and pain during medical procedures have been well studied, there remains a need to test and implement solutions to help patients.
In a recently published study in Scientific Reports, researchers at the University of Tsukuba have developed a wearable soft robot for patients to use during treatments, in an attempt to ease their pain. On being subjected to a moderate heat stimulus, the study participants who wore the robot experienced less pain than in the tests in which they did not wear the robot. "Our results suggest that the use of wearable soft robots may reduce fear as well as alleviate the perception of pain during medical treatments, including vaccinations," says senior author Professor Fumihide Tanaka.
The soft, fur-covered robot the scientists called Reliebo was designed to be attached to the participant's hand; it contained small airbags that could inflate in response to hand movements. The researchers tested its effectiveness under various conditions based on the clenching of the participant's hand, while applying the painful thermal stimulus to the other arm that was not being used to hold the robot.
The researchers also measured the levels of oxytocin and cortisol (which are biomarkers for stress) from the patients' saliva samples. Additionally, subjective pain ratings were recorded using an assessment scale, and a survey test was conducted to evaluate the patients' fear of injections and psychological state before and after the experiments.
The researchers found that holding the robot helped relieve the experience for patients regardless of the experimental conditions used, and speculated that the feelings of well-being that can be created by human touch may have also been activated by the robot. "It is well known that interpersonal touch can reduce pain and fear, and we believe that this effect can be achieved even with nonliving soft robots," states Professor Tanaka. This may be useful when actual human contact is not feasible, such as during pandemics.
Future versions of the robot might use a controlled gaze or even AR (augmented reality) technologies to help build a connection with the patient or distract them from pain perception in various situations. PAPER: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-21183-7
The Left and the Right have lost their minds over Covid
https://doctorbuzz.substack.com/p/the-le...-have-lost
INTRO: I know, I know. Claiming that our American ideologues have lost their tether to reason is not exactly an aggressive position to stake. However, last week pushed my perspective on the discourse around Covid-19 in this country from dismay to disgust. To borrow from Elvis Costello, I am not seeing the path to amusement at this point.
What happened? Twin stories emerged in close proximity, both similarly disturbing for people who prefer their public health authorities to behave responsibly. First, right around beer thirty on a Friday night, Florida released this bulletin: https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts...ns/3312697
A few days later, the FDA rather quietly announced the approval of the bivalent Moderna booster for kids 6-17 — the first time any Moderna booster was approved for this age group — and Pfizer’s bivalent booster for children 5-17. No VRBAC meeting to hash this out first, nor ACIP convocation afterwards to advise the CDC, which quickly followed with a recommendation that these bivalent boosters are now required for everyone to be considered up to date on their vaccines.
Well, only “some people.” All people over the age of 5. Those people.
Much bickering ensued after these news stories broke, rightfully so. Both proclamations represent the workings of the minds of people who have lost the ability to express a nuanced thought. Both are asinine in their incompleteness. Hearing their supporters climb aboard with hardly an objection was more than I could bear.
I’ll dig into just what was so unacceptable about these stories momentarily. First, though, I need to define my terms. I am not equating “Left” with what we used to call “liberals” or Democrats, or “Right” with what we once termed “conservatives” or Republicans, although there is a fair bit of overlap.
Rather, I refer to the “Covid Left” as the generally blue-state supporters who have pushed hard for prolonged school closures, mask-wearing, and Covid-19 vaccine mandates, and tend to treat Long COVID as an existential threat to humankind; and the “Covid Right” as the generally red-staters who happily dismantle public health organizations, were quick to equate Covid to the flu (and now a cold), dismiss Long COVID as a sort of neurotic hangnail, and equate mask and vaccine requirements to WW2 Nazi atrocities.
You know the types. There might be a hundred million of them in our country these days.
Which brings us to Dr. Joe Ladapo and the great state of Florida, where he sits at the helm as State Surgeon General. The study he trotted out on a Friday evening as east coasters were settling down at the dinner table was… strange... (MORE - missing details)