Technology and Cost: An Inverse Relationship

When one goes up, the other goes down. A rise in technology almost always brings about a fall in cost. With new materials and processes constantly being developed by scientists, the costs of old methods decrease exponentially. A computer chip used to cost a fortune, but now they can be developed for as little as a cent. With the invention of cheaper and more efficient medicines and methods for administering healthcare, the cost of healthcare will be reduced.

List of ways to reduce healthcare using technology:*
Medications
1.Using Solid State Chemistry to produce medications in large quantities in a safe, contained way
2.Using Soil to produce Antibodies as opposed to bacteria. The amount available is great; it just has to be researched.
3.Using synthetic materials in medications that are cheaper to produce
Patient-Doctor Relationship
4.Computerized surgery would decrease the cost of surgery (no doctor fees, only technician fees.)
5.Computerized, monitoring chips that could check your vital information, decreasing the time of doctor-patient interactions.
Administering Medications
6.Higher accuracy in treatments would decrease the amount of treatment needed
7.Use solid state chemistry crystals to administer medications in the right proportions at the right times
8.Administering drugs through pills as opposed to needles, which need a nurse to inject
9.Higher accuracy in treatments would decrease the amount of treatment needed, hence save money.
Overall Cheaper Practices
10.Using the human body as a store house for personal medications (i.e. causing your body to create the medications you need for your disease.)
11.Earlier detection methods (using blood, scent or DNA as a method of detection.)

*All these methods if decreasing healthcare costs would be expensive to implement and to initially produce, but overall, would decrease healthcare costs.

On My Own, Here I Go...

My transformation from high school to UPenn has been somewhat gradual since I took a year off in between to study in Israel. I don’t have the shock factor of “OMG I am not living at home anymore and I am on my own” because last year, I was away for 10 months, much longer than any amount of consecutive time I’ll be at UPenn without going home. However it has been challenging to adjust to the class work and the classes themselves. Teachers move quickly and expect you to follow at a rapid pace. Coming from a high school where classes generally moved slower and were smaller, it has taken me a few days to get the hang of it. And I’m not sure I am 100% used to 75 people classes yet. (In high school, class size varied from 4-12 kids).
The one thing that I love about college above all else in regards to classes is the topics taught. In high school, you were required to take an English, a history, a math, a language and a science every day, among other things. But here, I only take classes that interest me (or are pre-requisites for classes that interest me) so I’m not bored.

Swine Flu and the Earth Shattering Question it Raises

According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) “2009 H1N1 (referred to as “swine flu” early on) is a new influenza virus causing illness in people. This new virus was first detected in people in the United States in April 2009. This virus is spreading from person-to-person worldwide, probably in much the same way that regular seasonal influenza viruses spread. On June 11, 2009, the World Health Organization (WHO)[3] signaled that a pandemic of 2009 H1N1 flu was underway.” [1]

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA)[2] has recently approved a swine flu vaccine and the earth shattering question arises: Should I get the shot?

To answer this question, I did some research about the vaccine itself and the flu in general. The majority of people who die from swine flu are at high risk, meaning they have chronic medical issues.[1] I do not fall into this category. I am also not under 5 months, I am over 18 and I am not pregnant, making my risk factor much less.[1] All this points to the fact that I should not get the vaccine since it seems to be a waste of a shot.

However, the fact that I am part of a community seems to outweigh all the negative cons. As part of a community, immunizing me keeps the community healthier and on the flipside, being part of a community makes me more susceptible to the disease. So with this logic, I should get the vaccine. I may not be part of a high risk group, the my presence at UPenn places me in a high density population.[3]

The final step to consider is the risks of the vaccine itself. The H1N1 strain mutates rapidly and the vaccine they have created may not be effective against the new strain. If this is the case, there is no point in taking the vaccine, since it will be ineffective. Also, while the preliminary clinical trials say that the side effects are the same as those for the seasonal flu shot (fever, soreness, etc.)[2] there are no long term effect trials available.

Taking into account all these issues, I would not run out and get the shot at this moment. However, should the virus become more widespread at UPenn, I would not hesitate to get vaccinated.

A second question arises as to who should receive the vaccine if a limited amount of vaccine is available. The CDC reported that the vaccine should be given to “pregnant women, people who live with or care for children younger than 6 months of age, health care and emergency medical services personnel with direct patient contact, children 6 months through 4 years of age, and children 5 through 18 years of age who have chronic medical conditions” should there be a shortage.[1] The vaccine should be given to those at risk, for example, chronic illness patients, young children, and pregnant women.[3] By administering the shot directly to these groups of people, it directly saves lives. If you give it to healthy people, you may stop the spreading of the virus, but you never know if it was effective in stopping overall mortality.


References:
1. Center for Disease Control www.cdc.gov
2. Food and Drug Administration www.fda.gov
3. World Health Organization www.who.int/en

The Ultimate Package: Pain Relief and Healing

I read an article titled "Development of an ibuprofen releasing biodegradable PLA/PGA electrospum scaffold for tissue regeneration." (Canton I, McKean R, Charnley M, Blackwood KA, Fiorica C, Ryan AJ, Macneil S. Aug 2009) The scientists in England and Italy have done amazing research in the field of injury and pain relief. They have taken PLGA scaffolds and infused them with ibuprofen and watched the release under certain conditions. They also utilized these scaffolds to heal the skin wound while administering pain relief. Although I've been exposed to PLGA scaffolds, the idea that they could be used for timed release of drugs never occurred to me. Reading the article, I was excited for the scientists for coming up with such an exciting concept. This innovation can be utilized globally.

Stem Cells Are a Bioengineers Best Friends

If I could learn about anything, I would probably have to chose "utilizing stem cells to grow body parts." If you could extract umbilical stem cells when a baby is born, freeze and store them until needed, and then use them as the starting blocks for tissue growth and organ formation, then all the artificial organs could be replaced with biological copies. It would also discontinue organ transplantation from other sources. I would love to learn about the aspects of organ transplantation, stem cell growth and the medical ethics involved with these fields of study. Maybe when I leave Penn, I will be able to have a better understanding of tissue formation, organ growth and stem cell research. I may even be able to go into research dealing with these topics.

Can You Build A Body From Science?

One contribution that bioengineers have made over the past few decades is the artificial pacemaker. I wish I was part of the team that developed this machine. The heart is such a central part of the body and basically decides whether you are alive or dead. You can live with one kidney but you can’t live without a heart. So the invention of an artificial pacemaker allowed for longer and better lives for so many. The artificial lung is another device that has helped so many. Both devices allowed so many to live by creating artificial copies of much-needed body parts.

Image of Artificial Heart (Image taken from Science Head- http://www.scienceahead.com/entry/top-10-artificial-technologies-ready-to-create-a-real-human-being/)

Hold Up- New Classes, New Experiences

I’ve never blogged before, and never thought I would ever start one, much less on a topic like bioengineering. But for class, its part of our grade to complete a blog, so I will attempt to formulate something that can masquerade as a blog. (I guess I’ll have to learn what a blog is first)
I’ve always loved working in labs. It was during my summers working in various labs that I became familiar with bioengineering research and techniques. Because I loved working with tissue engineering and stem cell development, I chose to major in bioengineering. I didn’t realize it came with an added writing requirement (this blog) but I’m hoping it will help with my overall writing abilities.