Archive for July, 2008
Your Weekly Tech Report
Electronic Aids for Daily Living (EADL):
EADLs are devices and systems that help individuals with a disability gain better control over their environment. These devices are created to meet a variety of needs such as providing voice activation and tongue touch for people with spinal cord injuries.
This week’s resource is the National Direct Service Workforce Resource Center (DSW). The Website, created by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in response to the growing need for caregivers, provides information on care professionals, care attendants, personal assistance providers, home health aides and others…
Late last week the Allen Institute for Brain Science revealed its Allen Spinal Cord Atlas. The atlas is the world’s first genome-wide map of the mouse spinal cord. This information will give researchers immediate access to a wealth of free online data that can be applied to spinal cord injury treatment.
According to their press release, there is close to one-quarter of a million Americans who have suffered from a spinal cord injury…
Lee Sang-ho with Wooridul Spine Hospital is involved with the creation of a “less painful and more effective” spinal disc treatment through “minimally invasive” spinal surgery.
Lee eschews the usual method of back surgery which involves cutting into the back through skin, muscle, nerves and bone in order to reach the spinal discs. The discs, composed of a jelly-like fibers, are nestled between the vertebrae which they hold together, much like ligaments. When they are damaged in an accident, they can cause a great deal of pain to the injured person…
ClinicalTrials.gov is this week’s spotlight.
This Website is dedicated to providing information on a variety of traumatic brain injury (TBI) trials. If you are interested in participating in cutting edge research regarding various aspects of TBI, this is a good place to start looking for information…
The Wall Street Journal recently highlighted the prevalent, and sometimes lethal, cases of neglect and abuse by home-care providers. Not only are the elderly becoming more and more reliant on home health aides, but those with paralysis, brain injuries and other disabilities are more likely to end up with a home care situation instead of the institutions that were so common years ago…
Q: What can you do immediately after an accident to minimize the long-term effects from a spinal cord injury (SCI)?
A: While there is still no way to completely reverse the damage done by a SCI, there are certain steps you can take to prevent further damage and to minimize the long-term effects…
The Cleveland Clinic’s Neurological Center and Baylor University has been given a $1.4 million grant to study traumatic brain injuries.
This funding comes from the department of defense, and considering the amount of soldiers returning from war with mild to severe brain damage, this is a welcome development. The study will span three years and is headed by Dr. Stephen Rao. His team’s goal is to compare the differences between TBI and civilian TBI to better help doctors structure proper treatment.
The Army has issued new guidelines for traumatic brain injury care with the intention of catching and treating early symptoms. According to Kelly Kennedy, staff writer for ArmyTimes, this will also help catch soldiers who memorize the TBI tests in order to remain on the field by passing the concussion indicators test…
Shaken Baby Syndrome has been prevalent in the news lately, not from an increase in incidents, but from a larger push for awareness of this painful topic. The Woman’s Hospital of Greensboro has created an “evidence-based shaken baby prevention program” that will begin educating parents after they have given birth but before they are discharged…
