Low back pain (or lumbago) is a common ailment often triggered by something as simple as lifting a suitcase. What is the best way to remedy the situation? An exercise machine designed specifically for back muscles could be the solution according to a new study published in the Journal of the American College of Sports Medicine.

“If you want to bring about physiological change to help the development and endurance of back muscles, you must focus your training on those specific muscles and not other muscular groups such as hip extensors,” says Christian LariviГЁre, a professor at the Institut de recherche Robert-SauvГ© en santГ© et en sГ©curitГ© du travail (IRSST), who conducted the study with UniversitГ© de MontrГ©al researchers Bertrand Arsenault, Rubens A. Da Silva, Sylvie Nadeau, AndrГ© Plamondon et Roger Vadeboncoeur.

The investigation requested that subjects aged 18 to 65 – some healthy and others with low back pain – complete various exercises. Electromyography (EMG) sensors were used to measure the level of activity and fatigue in various muscles during the routine. “Thanks to this technique, we can target tired muscles which aren’t yet showing a decrease in strength,” says LariviГЁre.

Test subjects also used a machine designed for back exercises in a semi-sitting position. Results clearly showed that using this machine was beneficial. Using a cushion to stabilize the pelvis brought about a better response from the back muscles. In addition, extending the legs strengthened muscles. “Therefore, we can decrease the use of hip muscles and in turn increase the use of the back muscles,” says LariviГЁre.

Such exercises can only help reduce pain and disabilities caused by back pain, says LariviГЁre. He recommends those who suffer severe hurt begin with stretches on the ground with low to medium effort. “Progressively, the individual will gain confidence and can use machines that require superior strength,” he says.

LariviГЁre highlights the fact that six out of 10 Quebecers will suffer from back pain in their lifetime. “Musculoskeletal disorders are a serious public health issue,” says LariviГЁre. “They’re also an economic problem. In 2007, back pain cost Quebec’s Commission de la santГ© et de la sГ©curitГ© du travail $516 million in worker compensations.”

Source:
Sylvain-Jacques Desjardins
University of Montreal

Summaries of several recent developments related to health care information technology appear below.Hospitals: The New York Times on Monday examined how some U.S. hospitals have begun to install “Internet systems, complete with dedicated shopping channels, to help patients pick up goods they will need for their recuperation.” According to the Times, the “idea is that patients and visitors who are busy shopping and browsing the Web will be happier, less prone to bother nurses, and more likely to arm themselves with health care information that can help smooth the patient’s recovery.” The systems also can help hospitals attract more patients. However, only a “small fraction of the nation’s roughly 6,000 community hospitals now have bedside Internet systems, perhaps because the costs can be considerable,” the Times reports (Tedeschi, New York Times, 3/17).

Physician services: The Washington Times on Tuesday profiled the medical practice of Howard Stark, a physician in Washington, D.C., who uses a secure Web site to provide some services to his almost 500 patients. Among other services, the Web site allows patients to make appointments, ask medical questions, retrieve laboratory test results and obtain prescription refills. According to Stark, the Web site reduces his paperwork and time on the telephone and allows him to schedule appointments for 30 minutes, about twice the time that most physicians schedule (Goldberg Goff, Washington Times, 3/18).

Rural health care: The AP/Chicago Tribune on Wednesday profiled the University of New Mexico Center for Telehealth and Cybermedicine Research, which will use a $15.5 million grant from the Federal Communications Commission to design, build, operate and evaluate the Southwest Telehealth Access Grid, a broadband network that in large part will serve rural areas without such technology. The project will support systems and connections to more than 500 sites in New Mexico and Arizona — as well as a number of Indian Health Service sites in Colorado, California, Nevada, Texas and Utah — in an effort to provide physicians and patients in rural areas with improved access to health care services and information. The project will allow the sites to offer about 60 forms of telemedicine services (Major Holmes, AP/Chicago Tribune, 3/19).
Reprinted with kind permission from kaisernetwork. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at kaisernetwork/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation© 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has today (20 March 2008) published a further two new commissioning guides to help the NHS in England effectively commission evidence-based care for patients.

The guides cover the following services:

– Cardiac rehabilitation
– Heart failure for the management of chronic heart failure

Each commissioning guide signposts and provides topic-specific information on key clinical and service-related issues to consider during the commissioning process. They also offer an indicative benchmark of activity to help commissioners determine the level of service needed locally. Within each commissioning guide, an interactive tool provides data for local comparison against the benchmark and resources to estimate and inform the cost of commissioning intentions. The Institute aims to produce up to 10 commissioning guides a year. These will be updated annually, with new releases timed to have maximum impact on the annual commissioning process.

In January, NICE published six commissioning guides and updated commissioning tools published in 2007. Both the updated and new commissioning tools offer enhanced functionality to end users. They now allow commissioners in Strategic Health Authorities (SHA) to log in and view data at Primary Care Trust (PCT) level. GP practices within a commissioning group/cluster can also give other practices in their cluster permission to view their data and to model commissioning intentions for the group.

Dr Carl Parker, General Practitioner, Hartlepool PCT, says: “The good thing about the commissioning guides is that they offer a one-stop resource to help GPs like myself review current activity and plan future commissioning activity to meet local needs, using benchmarks that can be adjusted to reflect local circumstances, and to calculate resources needed. As these guides have quality assurance and are developed with the involvement of primary care clinicians, specialists in the topic area, service commissioners and policy leads, I have confidence that I am not making commissioning decisions on a ‘whim’ but ones which are based on evidence and best practice.”

Nicola J Baker, Associate Director Commissioning, Manchester PCT says: “As practice based commissioning lead for the South Manchester commissioning hub, the guides have been a very useful resource in the development of some of our new services and have been utilised by managers (including business, finance and information staff) and clinical leads from the practice-based commissioning consortium. It’s really helpful to have a personal login as it means I can safeguard data on my local population and go back to the commissioning model and work on it at a later date. I would encourage commissioners at other PCTs to make use of them in their planning and commissioning of services. They give a unique insight into the commissioning cycle and, most importantly, give an overview of the outcomes that commissioners can aspire to achieve.”

To access the guides go to: www.nice/CommissioningGuides.

NICE is the independent organisation responsible for providing national guidance on the promotion of good health and the prevention and treatment of ill health.

www.nice

A comparison of hockey leagues in Canada for 11-12 year old players finds that compared with leagues that do not allow body checking, those that do have an associated 3-fold increased risk of game-related injuries, including severe injuries and severe concussions, according to a study in the June 9 issue of JAMA.

“Ice hockey is a popular North American winter sport, with more than 550,000 registered youth players in Hockey Canada and more than 340,000 registered players in the USA Hockey Association in 2008-2009. Despite the advantages of sport participation, there is increasing concern regarding the frequency of ice hockey injuries in youth,” the authors write. They add that recent attention has been focused on the increased frequency of concussive head injuries in youth hockey. It is the most common type of specific injury, accounting for more than 15 percent of all injuries in 9- to 16-year-old players, according to background information in the article.

Internationally, there are different regulations regarding the age at which body checking is introduced in ice hockey. In the United States, body checking is introduced in all leagues for the age group 11-12 years, but leagues not permitting body checking exist through all ages, up to the leagues for 15-16 year-olds. In Canada, the youngest age group in which body checking is permitted is Pee Wee (ages 11-12 years). In the province of Quebec, however, Bantam (ages 13-14 years) is the youngest age group in which body checking is permitted.

Carolyn A. Emery, Ph.D., B.Sc.P.T., of the University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and colleagues examined whether the risk of concussion and injury differed for youth ice hockey players in a league that permits body checking vs. a league that does not. The study was conducted in Alberta and Quebec during the 2007-2008 Pee Wee ice hockey season and included players (n = 2,154) from teams in the top 60 percent of divisions of play. Among the outcomes measured was the rate for game- and practice-related injuries and concussions.

Seventy-four Pee Wee teams from Alberta (n = 1,108 players) and 76 Pee Wee teams from Quebec (n = 1,046 players) completed the study. There were a total of 241 injuries (78 concussions) reported in Alberta and 91 injuries (23 concussions) reported in Quebec. For game-related injuries, the Alberta vs. Quebec incidence rate ratio (comparison of the risk of injury in the two leagues) was 3.26 (n = 209 and n = 70 for Alberta and Quebec, respectively]) for all injuries; 3.88 (n = 73 and n = 20) for concussion; 3.30 (n = 51 and n = 16) for severe injury (time loss, greater than 7 days); and 3.61 (n = 14 and n = 4) for severe concussion (time loss, greater than 10 days).

“The estimated absolute risk reduction (injuries per 1,000 player-hours) that would be achieved if body checking were not permitted in Alberta was 2.84 for all game-related injuries, 0.72 for severe injuries, 1.08 for concussion, and 0.20 for severe concussion. There was no difference between provinces for practice-related injuries,” the authors write.

“Among 11- to 12-year-old ice hockey players, playing in a league in which body checking is permitted compared with a league in which body checking is not permitted was associated with a 3-fold increased risk of all game-related injuries, concussion, severe injury, and severe concussion. These findings may have important implications for policy decisions related to body checking in youth ice hockey. The public health implications associated with injury in Pee Wee hockey in which body checking is permitted are significant.”

“Future research should compare the injury and concussion risk in the next age group of play (Bantam, ages 13-14 years), in which players in one cohort will have 2 years of body checking experience prior to Bantam participation. This research can inform the development and rigorous evaluation of prevention strategies to reduce the risk of injury in this population of youth ice hockey participants,” the authors conclude.

JAMA . 2010;303[22]:2265-2272.

Source
Journal of the American Medical Association

Robots are fluent in their native language of 1 and 0 absolutes but struggle to grasp the nuances and imprecise nature of human language. While scientists are making slow, incremental progress in their quest to create a robot that responds to speech, gestures and body language, a more straightforward method of communication may help robots find their way into homes sooner.

A team of researchers led by Charlie Kemp, director of the Center for Healthcare Robotics in the Health Systems Institute at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University, have found a way to instruct a robot to find and deliver an item it may have never seen before using a more direct manner of communication – a laser pointer.

El-E (pronounced like the name Ellie), a robot designed to help users with limited mobility with everyday tasks, autonomously moves to an item selected with a green laser pointer, picks up the item and then delivers it to the user, another person or a selected location such as a table. El-E, named for her ability to elevate her arm and for the arm’s resemblance to an elephant trunk, can grasp and deliver several types of household items including towels, pill bottles and telephones from floors or tables.

To ensure that El-E will someday be ready to roll out of the lab and into the homes of patients who need assistance, the Georgia Tech and Emory research team includes Prof. Julie Jacko, an expert on human-computer interaction and assistive technologies, and Dr. Jonathan Glass, director of the Emory ALS Center at the Emory University School of Medicine. El-E’s creators are gathering input from ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease) patients and doctors to prepare El-E to assist patients with severe mobility challenges.The research was presented at the ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction in Amsterdam on March 14 and an associated workshop on “Robotic Helpers” on March 12.

The verbal instructions a person gives to help someone find a desired object are very difficult for a robot to use (the cup over near the couch or the brush next to the red toothbrush). These types of commands require the robot to understand everyday human language and the objects it describes at a level well beyond the state of the art in language recognition and object perception.

“We humans naturally point at things but we aren’t very accurate, so we use the context of the situation or verbal cues to clarify which object is important,” said Kemp, an assistant professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory. “Robots have some ability to retrieve specific, predefined objects, such as a soda can, but retrieving generic everyday objects has been a challenge for robots.”

The laser pointer interface and methods developed by Kemp’s team overcome this challenge by providing a direct way for people to communicate the location of interest to El-E and complimentary methods that enable El-E to pick up an object found at this location. Through these innovations, El-E can retrieve objects without understanding what the object is or what it’s called.

In addition to the laser pointer interface, El-E uses another approach to simplify its task. Indoors, objects are usually found on smooth, flat surfaces with uniform appearance, such as floors, tables, and shelves. Kemp’s team designed El-E to take advantage of this common structure.

Regardless of the height, El-E uses the same strategies to localize and pick up the object by elevating its arm and sensors to match the height of the object’s location. The robot’s ability to reach objects both from the floor and shelves is particularly important for patients with mobility impairments since these locations can be difficult to reach, Kemp said.

El-E uses a custom-built camera that is omni-directional to see most of the room. After the robot detects that a selection has been made with the laser pointer, the robot moves two cameras to look at the laser spot and triangulate its position in three-dimensional space.

Next, the robot estimates where the item is in relation to its body and travels to the location. If the location is above the floor, the robot finds the edge of the surface on which the object is sitting, such as the edge of a table.

Picking up the unknown object is a significant challenge El-E faces in completing its task. It uses a laser range finder that scans across the surface to initially locate the object. Then, after moving its hand above the object, it uses a camera in its hand to visually distinguish the object from the texture of the floor or table. After refining the hand’s position and orientation, it descends upon the object while using sensors in its hand to decide when to stop moving down and start closing its gripper. Finally, it closes its gripper upon the object until it has a secure grip.

Once the robot has picked up the item, the laser pointer can be used to guide the robot to another location to deposit the item or direct the robot to take the item to a person. El-E distinguishes between these two situations by looking for a face near the selected location.

If the robot detects a face, it carefully moves toward the person and presents the item to the user so it can be taken. It uses the location of the face and legs to determine where it will present the object.

If no face is detected near the location illuminated by the laser pointer, the robot decides whether the location is on a table or the floor. If it is on a table, El-E places the object on the table. If the location is on the floor El-E moves to the selected location on the floor.

After delivering the item, the robot returns to the user’s side, ready to handle the next request.

El-E’s power and computation is all on board (no tethers or hidden computers in the next room) and runs Ubuntu Linux on a Mac mini.

El-E’s laser pointer interface and methods for autonomous mobile manipulation represent an important step toward robotic assistants in the home.

“If you want a robot to cook a meal or brush your hair, you will probably want the robot to first fetch the items it will need, and for tasks such as cleaning up around the home, it is essential that the robot be able to pick up objects and move them to new locations. We see object fetching as a core capability for future robots in healthcare settings, such as the home,” Kemp said.

The Georgia Tech and Emory research team is now working to help El-E expand its capabilities to include switching lights on and off when the user selects a light switch and opening and closing doors when the user selects a door knob.

###

Source: Megan McRainey

Georgia Institute of Technology

An ongoing study by Mathilde Beaulieu-Lefebvre, a graduate student from the Universite de Montreal Department of Psychology, has debunked the myth that the blind have a more acute sense of smell than the sighted. Vision loss simply makes blind people pay more attention to how they perceive smells.

“If you enter a room in which coffee is brewing, you will quickly look for the coffee machine. The blind person entering the same room will only have the smell of coffee as information,” says Beaulieu-Lefebvre. “That smell will therefore become very important for their spatial representation.”

The three-step study tested 25 subjects, 11 of whom were blind from birth. Participants answered a questionnaire and were subjected to two experiments: one where they had to differentiate 16 different perfumes using an olfactometer, another where they lay in a tomodensitometer to identify three smells: a rose, vanilla and butanol (a sweet alcohol).

“There is an urban legend that blind people have better smell than the sighted. We are proving this to be false,” says Maurice Ptito, a professor at the UniversitГ© de MontrГ©al School of Optometry and Beaulieu-Lefebvre’s thesis director. “However, the blind do set themselves apart when it comes to cognitive efforts.”

Using functional imagery, the team determined that the blind use their secondary olfactory cortex more than the sighted when they smell. They also use the occipital cortex, which is normally used for vision. “That’s interesting because it means the blind are recuperating that part of their brain,” says Dr. Ptito. “We’re not speaking of recycling per se, yet that part of the brain is reorganized and used otherwise.”

This research could lead to concrete applications in the re-adaptation of the blind. “For instance, smells are very peculiar in shopping centers,” says Beaulieu-Lefebvre. “A hair salon, a pharmacy and a clothing store each have their own distinctive scent. We could easily foresee developing re-adaptation programs for getting around in such places.”

Source:
Sylvain-Jacques Desjardins
University of Montreal

It was her love of ballet that led her to work with children who have motor disabilities. The retired dancer, now an occupational therapist, is pioneering a new “virtual” method to analyze movement patterns in children – and more effectively treat those with debilitating motor disorders.

Dr. Dido Green of Tel Aviv University’s Department of Occupational Therapy in the School of Health Professionals is using a “virtual tabletop” called the ELEMENTS SYSTEM, developed by her partners at Australia’s Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, to “move” kids with disabilities and provide home-based treatments using virtual reality tools. Combining new three-dimensional exercises with two-dimensional graphical movement games already programmed into the tabletop (which resembles an early video game), she reports not only success but also enthusiasm among her young patients.

“I’ve been working with children with movement disorders for the last 20 years,” says Dr. Green. “By the time I meet these children, they’re sick of us. They’ve been ‘over-therapied,’ and it’s difficult to get them to practice their exercises and prescribed treatment regimes.”

Fun for kids from three to fifteen

“The virtual tabletop appealed to children as young as three and as old as 15,” Dr. Green reports. “The movement-oriented games allowed them to ‘make music’ and reach targets in ways that are normally neither comfortable nor fun in the therapeutic setting,” she explains.

Dr. Green determined that children with partial paralysis and motor dysfunction resulting from disorders such as cerebral palsy may be helped by giving them a new interface to explore. Building upon earlier research she conducted at the Evelina Children’s Hospital in London, Dr. Green found that virtual reality applications enhance the skill sets learned by her patients.

Coupled with new technology involving 3D Movement Analysis, a technique she is now integrating into research at Tel Aviv University, Dr. Green hopes to develop this virtual tabletop – type game into new and effective therapy treatment regimes.

“Traditional approaches are labor-intensive and their results limited,” Dr. Green says. “Our research aims to create a complete system for therapist, parent and child. It could bring daily treatments into the home and provides therapists with a complete solution to track and analyze improvements or setbacks in the most accurate way to date.”

From the virtual to the real world

In children who attended sessions with her interface for three days a week over a period of about one month, Dr. Green found some impressive results. One child with a paralyzed hand was able to perform more complicated movements, culminating in a “eureka!” moment when she opened a door for the first time in her life. The girl was also able to gain control over some motor movements essential for basic life tasks, such as buttoning sweaters, opening doors, or going to the washroom. These are skills some children never develop with current therapy regimes.

In the near future, Dr. Green hopes to develop the technique for remote rehabilitation, enabling children to practice movements at home with parental supervision. Therapists located elsewhere could “log in” with a webcam and computer to coach the students or monitor their progress.

The researcher also plans to analyze brain function using trans-cranial magnetic brain stimulation. Currently, brain function relating to motor activities is analyzed with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). But many children are too impatient to sit in an MRI machine, so clinicians need a more accurate means of analyzing movement in children with disabilities to develop individualized therapy regimes.

Source:
George Hunka
American Friends of Tel Aviv University

Multiple Sclerosis is a debilitating autoimmune disease that affects the central nervous system. As nerve fiber is destroyed and damaged from the disease, even the most common every day tasks can be a chore. But with regular aquatic therapy, MS sufferers can strengthen weakened muscles and improve stamina and balance.

The unique qualities of water provide exceptional benefits to people with MS, allowing them to move in ways they may not be able to on land. Aquatic exercise improves overall physical function including walking, mobility, flexibility, balance and endurance. Finding a swimming pool that’s convenient, open year-round and at the right temperature for MS therapy can be a challenge though.

The MS Society’s latest partner, Endless Pools, Inc has the answer to this dilemma. The 8′ x 15′, temperature controlled Endless Pool can be installed virtually anywhere indoors or out. Now privacy and convenience can be a part of anyone’s rehabilitation routine. “For years we’ve supported the MS Society through their National publication, so this partnership was the next logical step,” says Mark Langan, Marketing Director for Endless Pools, Inc. “We’re proud to join the movement in fighting MS.”

The Endless Pool features an adjustable current that allows you to swim or exercise in place. The current is broad and deep, and is suitable to every swimming ability and therapy need. You can also set the temperature precisely, based on preferences and needs. “We’re excited to have Endless Pools, Inc. be a part of movement to end MS,” said Joyce Nelson, President and CEO of the National MS Society.

Now through the end of December 2008 visit NationalMSsociety. and the Movement Marketplace for your chance to win an Endless Pool.

About Endless Pools

Endless Pools, Inc., headquartered in Aston, PA, a suburb of Philadelphia, was founded in 1988 by James Murdock to manufacture and sell counter-current swimming pools for residential and commercial use. Over the last twenty years, more than 10,000 Endless Pools have been sold and installed in over 50 countries.
www.EndlessPools

About the National Multiple Sclerosis Society

MS stops people from moving. The National MS Society exists to make sure it doesn’t. We help each person address the challenges of living with MS. In 2006 alone, through our home office and 50 state network of chapters, we devoted nearly $126 million to programs that enhanced more than one million lives. To move us closer to a world free of MS, the Society also invested more than $46 million to support 380 research projects around the world. We are people who want to do something about MS NOW. Join the movement at www.nationalMSsociety.

The University Clinic of Schleswig-Holstein (UC S-H) commissioned a consortium of bidders including Siemens, Bilfinger Berger and HSG Technischer Service with the construction and operation of the first particle therapy center (PTC) in Northern Germany. With overall costs of roughly 250 million EUR, this represents the largest public private partnership (PPP) project ever launched in the German healthcare sector. As a competence center for tumor diseases, the PTC will be opening up new treatment possibilities for cancer therapy starting in 2012. In addition to Northern Germany, the center is intended to serve the entire Southern Scandinavian region. In its final stage of completion, the facility’s three treatment rooms will be capable of treating approximately 3000 patients with particles per year.

The contract concluded between the consortium of bidders and the UC S-H includes the planning, construction, financing, technical operation, and maintenance of the particle therapy facility in a public private partnership over a period of 25 years. To implement this project, the sponsors Siemens Project Ventures and Bilfinger Berger Project Investments established a project company which will be refinanced via an international group of banks. In addition to the facilities for applying particle therapy (PT), the PTC will also include a department for conventional radiation therapy. Conventional radiation therapy is planned to begin at the end of 2011, and the PT facility should be started up at the beginning of 2012.

“The Kiel PTC represents a milestone for medical engineering solutions and partnership models in oncology. The Competence Center for Radiotherapeutic Oncology in Kiel will set the trend for additional particle therapy centers in Europe and the United States”, emphasized Prof. Dr. Erich R. Reinhardt, CEO of the Siemens Healthcare Sector.

Siemens will provide planning and installation of the Particle Therapy System. The scope of deliverables includes medical imaging and information systems as well as the associated maintenance and technical operation. Bilfinger Berger Hochbau will be responsible for the turnkey construction of the center. The Hamburg branch will complete the building with four overground stories and two underground stories within 24 months. For this project, Bilfinger Berger can rely on their expertise gained with projects for the healthcare sector. HSG will be responsible for the technical and infrastructural building management including maintenance and reinvestment of the technical and structural facilities and the outdoor area. Furthermore, HSG will ensure the required power, heat and water quantities for the building with the exception of the medical facilities. In cooperation with Bilfinger Berger Project Investments, Siemens will also bring its expertise in infrastructure projects into the partnership via the Siemens Project Ventures GmbH (SPV). SPV and Bilfinger Berger Project Investments will each contribute 50 percent of the required equity capital.

“The participation of private financing partners plays a decisive role in the implementation of complex public infrastructure projects”, said Wolfgang Bischoff, Managing Director of Siemens Project Ventures GmbH. “This type of PPP solution is increasingly becoming the ‘standard model’ for general cooperation between the public and private sectors, and not just in healthcare.” With this project, Bilfinger Berger is extending its private-enterprise operator business to include the German healthcare sector. The company will contribute its extensive experience in financing, construction and building operation to the Kiel project.

Technological background of particle therapy

In particle therapy, protons or carbon ions are accelerated to a very high speed by an accele¬rator system and then applied precisely to the target tissue. The particles cause largely irreparable damage to the tumor cells. Calculation and control with high precision enable more accurate irradiation of tumors than with previous techniques while avoiding unnecessary treatment of the surrounding healthy tissue. Due to its accuracy, this technique is especially suited for types of cancer which are difficult to access or located close to organs at risk, e.g. tumors located at the base of the skull or brain tumors. Other applications include soft tissue sarcomas and prostate carcinomas surrounded by sensitive tissue.

Approximately 50,000 patients have already been treated with particles worldwide. Of these, more than 3,000 have been treated with carbon ions. Only a combined system, which also enables the use of various ion types in addition to protons, can meet today’s requirements for the efficient treatment of a broad range of tumors.

Siemens Healthcare is one of the world’s largest suppliers to the healthcare industry. The company is a renowned medical solutions provider with core competence and innovative strength in diagnostic and therapeutic technologies as well as in knowledge engineering, including information technology and system integration. With its laboratory diagnostics acquisitions, Siemens Healthcare is the first fully integrated diagnostics company, bringing together imaging and lab diagnostics, therapy, and healthcare information technology solutions, supplemented by consulting and support services. Siemens Healthcare delivers solutions across the entire continuum of care – from prevention and early detection, to diagnosis, therapy and care. The company employs more than 49,000 people worldwide and operates in 130 countries. In the fiscal year 2007 (Sept. 30), Siemens Healthcare reported sales of €9.85 billion, orders of €10.27 billion, and group profit of €1.32 billion. Further information can be found by visiting siemens/healthcare.

Siemens Project Ventures GmbH (SPV) is a Group company of Siemens Financial Services. Together with renowned partners, SPV has with equity capital contributions been involved worldwide in the development of infrastructure projects, particularly in the energy, transport and telecommunication sectors. SPV has already participated in the development of 10 international power plant projects with an overall capacity of more than 6,600 MW as well as in three telecommunication projects and an airport, with a cumulative project volume of 7 billion USD.

As a 100% subsidiary of the Bilfinger Berger Multi Service Group, Bilfinger Berger Project Investments is responsible for the private-enterprise implementation and operation of public infrastructure projects as public private partnerships. To date, Bilfinger Berger Project Investments has invested equity capital amounting to a total of 330 million euros worldwide in an overall project portfolio of 7 billion euros. For further information, please refer to pi.bilfinger.

Bilfinger Berger Hochbau implements projects worth roughly 1 billion euros in Germany each year. The company’s core competences range from contract development, planning, turnkey construction and complete renovation to inventory optimization of commercial, residential or special real estate. Bilfinger Berger Hochbau defines itself as the customer’s partner and consultant who develops customized solutions to optimally meet the customer’s individual requirements. For further information, please refer to hochbau.bilfingerberger.de.

HSG Technischer Service offers integrated facility management services with in-house operative manpower in practically all real estate fields from specialist trade to complex service packages. Real estate objects are serviced throughout the life cycle, from the planning stage to smooth operation to reorientation, including continuous quality control and customized services. The customer benefits from these services in every respect: through low operating costs that can be calculated in the long term and through the complete relief of all real estate-related tasks. Thus, HSG contributes to a noticeable increase in value and a long-term added value of real estate objects. For further information, please refer to facilityservices.bilfinger.de.

Siemens

APTA will host a tweet chat on Twitter on Tuesday, May 4, 8 pm-9 pm ET, that will focus on foot health for runners. A tweet chat is a scheduled chat where participants’ converse using Twitter updates called tweets. APTA will promote the chat on Facebook and Twitter as well as popular runners’ blogs to draw participation. Topics will include wellness resources for runners, injury prevention recommendations, orthotics tips, training regimens, and the benefits of physical therapy. Talli van Sunder, PT, DPT, who is considered an expert on healthy living and has considerable online presence with more than 10,000 followers on her Twitter page, will moderate the chat. APTA member Aaron Keil PT, OCS, who specializes in foot health, will be on hand to answer participants’ questions related to foot health via the association’s consumer Twitter account at twitter/moveforwardpt. (Click here to read the social media release. )

APTA members can follow the chat at designated Tweetchat room at tweetchat/room/MovePT or by following the Twitter hashtag #MovePT on search.twitter. If you have patients who are runners, encourage them to join the discussion.

Source
American Physical Therapy Association