When you hear the word robot, which image comes to mind first?
Those of us raised on Star Wars and Buck Rogers are likely to identify with the first image, but physically speaking, the robots of today have more in common with your computer and microwave than a Hollywood android.
They may look less interesting than your favorite sci-fi film characters, but modern medical robots are still quite helpful. So much so that the Boston Globe recently ran a story about a pilot project that placed a medical robot created by VGo Communications in the home of the Tally family, whose 2 year-old son Aidan is recovering from surgery he received at Children’s Hospital Boston last month to treat his urinary reflux .
The VGo robot’s main function is videoconferencing, which connects the Ashland-based family to their doctors and nurses here in Boston. Operated by remote control from Children’s, the VGo robot lets medical professionals see and communicate with Aidan’s parents, take video and close-up photos of Aidan’s scars for medical review and figure out if the prescribed medication is doing its job.
And because videoconferencing appointments are easier to coordinate than hospital visits, the Tally family was able to check in with Aidan’s care team every three days, instead of waiting for their first post surgical appointment, scheduled for six weeks after his surgery. Full story »
Dr. Claire McCarthy is a primary care physician and the Medical Communications Editor at Children’s Hospital Boston. Along with her blogs here on Thriving, you can find her at the Huffington Post and Boston.com. Follow her on Twitter @drClaire.
Claire McCarthy, MD
I was really nervous when my daughter invited the autistic boy in her fourth grade class to her birthday party.
I was happy she wanted to include him, don’t get me wrong. It was just that, well, anyone who has been to Roller World in Saugus will understand. It’s a really overwhelming place. It’s usually crowded (finding the people you came with can be tough), and between the music and the crowd noise it can be hard to hear the person next to you. It’s dimly lit, with a distracting and disorienting disco ball light thing over the big rink. And when you are on the big rink, you have to move in the right direction and at the right speed, without zigzagging, or you can get knocked over. Yep, perfect place for an autistic kid.
I shouldn’t have worried. The kids had it covered. Full story »
If you’ve spent time in front of a TV or computer lately, you probably already know that Apple just released the latest version of the iPad, a faster and more portable edition of the already popular tablet. As the mobile technology revolution gathers speed, many medical professionals are trying to incorporate these devices into their practices, but few have been as successful as clinicians using it in their work with patients whose abilities to communicate has been hindered by a medical condition. Howard Shane, PhD, director of Children’s Hospital Boston’s Center for Communication Enhancement (CCE) is the owner of two new iPads, and an advocate for their use in clinical settings.
“Technology plays a big role in enriching the lives of many people with communication disorders, not just children on the autism spectrum, but people with motor impairments like cerebral palsy or people who are deaf or hard of hearing as well,” Shane says. “These new devices are giving many people communication options that weren’t available a few years ago.” Full story »
Can studying brain patterns lead to earlier identification of autism?
An early detection of autism is key because it gives clinicians and parents ample time to formulate a treatment plan. But unfortunately autism is difficult to identify in infants and young children because many of its symptoms aren’t noticeable until the child is walking, talking and regularly interacting with his environment.
But work by Children’s Hospital Boston researchers suggests that a noninvasive test to evaluate an infant’s autism risk could one day be available for children under a year of age. Full story »
Can having children too close together increase the risk of autism?
A new study was released earlier this week, indicating that babies conceived within a year of their older sibling’s birth are at an increased risk of developing autism. The study looked at 662,730 pregnancies, paying close attention to babies conceived less than a year after the mother gave birth to another child. 3,137 of the second-born children had received a diagnosis of autism by the time they were 6 years old. 2,747 of those cases had birthdays less than 36 months after their older sibling.
As you may have heard on the news this morning, the British Medical Journal further discredited the research of Dr. Andrew Wakefield, an English doctor whose work attempts to link autism to vaccinations for measles, mumps and rubella. Wakefield’s data and research practices have been questioned in the past, (he was barred from practicing medicine in the U.K. by the country’s General Medical Council in May) but two new articles from the BMJ go as far as to claim that his research was not only incorrect, but purposely falsified, possibly for financial gain.
Yesterday’s article and accompanying editorial will be the first in a series stating that Wakefield either misrepresented or altered information in his study of 12 children, whose autism he claims was linked to vaccination. According to the article’s author Brian Deer, the series will “expose the bogus data behind claims that launched a worldwide scare over the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine, and reveals how the appearance of a link with autism was manufactured at a London medical school.”
Since 2004 Deer has been publishing stories discrediting Wakefield’s findings on the dangers of MMR vaccination, and now accuses the doctor of purposely submitting falsified data to prove his theories. A separate BMJ editorial written about Wakefield calls his work “an elaborate fraud.”
Sara Lee Kessler looks at autism and its treatment at Children's
Tonight at 9 pm, NJN, New Jersey’s Public Broadcast station, will air Decoding Autism, an hour-long documentary with Emmy Award-winning journalist Sara Lee Kessler. The documentary highlights the efforts of various institutions to better understand the cause of autism, as well as improve its diagnosis and treatment.
Their efforts couldn’t come at a more crucial time. This year more children will be diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder than with childhood cancer, juvenile diabetes and pediatric AIDS combined.
Several of Children’s Hospital Boston’s autism experts are featured in the documentary, as well as the Montani family, who have been participating in a Children’s program studying the younger siblings of children with autism. It is believed the data could be used to improve early detection of autism, and lead to earlier treatment.
For those of us not based in New Jersey, the full program will be streaming on NJN’s website tonight at 9 as well. Tune in on TV or head to the website for a fascinating look at autism and its treatment here at Children’s.
Epilepsy is a disease that remains stubbornly bewildering—to the nearly three million Americans who have it and the doctors who treat it. In some cases, it can be traced to an underlying disease, injury or brain malformation. But in most cases, its origins are a mystery. Last night, 60 Minutes re-aired an episode featuring the epilepsy research of Children’s Frances Jensen, MD. Make sure to check out this blog post by Jensen, where she explains the importance of funding epilepsy research. Jensen was also just appointed president of the American Epilepsy Society.
Do you have a Children's Hospital Boston story you'd like heard? By sharing your Children's story you can be a great source of inspiration and encouragement to families who are going through similar situations. And it’s a great way to find support by connecting with others. Share your story today »
