Inauguration of the Centro 3R for the promotion of 3Rs principles in teaching and research

The first European interuniversity center dedicated to promoting 3Rs principles in teaching and research was inaugurated in Pisa, Italy on March 14, 2018. The Centro 3R1 was spearheaded by the Universities of Pisa and Genova. Membership is open to all Italian universities and agreements for twinning across Europe and other countries are being pursued

The Kahawa Declaration: a manifesto for the democratization of medical technology

Most medical technology is employed and accepted passively by patients and doctors who have little or no influence in its design or usability. Patients are not involved in the development of medical technology, which is undertaken behind closed doors and whose global impact is hindered by proprietary know-how and by costs. This has so far impeded equitable healthcare as most of the world does not have access to the technology or healthcare coverage. Understanding the relevance of international partnerships for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, feeling specially committed to the promotion of the Goal on “Good Health and Well-Being”, and convinced about the role that open-source biomedical engineering approaches may play in the future of medical technology, we commit ourselves, through the Kahawa Declaration, to enlighten the transformation of the biomedical engineering field, towards the democratization of medical technology as a key for achieving universal equitable health care. This paper presents the content of the Kahawa Declaration, which was signed in Nairobi in December 2017

Improving African healthcare through open source biomedical engineering

The lack of accessible quality healthcare is one of the biggest problems in Africa and other developing countries. This is not only due to the unavailability of resources, but also to the absence of a structured formative process for the design and management of healthcare facilities. Crucial to the effective and efficient exploitation of healthcare facilities and biomedical technology is the support of Biomedical engineers, who form the link between technology and medical practice. Indeed Biomedical engineers, together with nurses and doctors, form the pillars of healthcare systems in the developed world. In this paper, the Open Source for BioMedical Engineering (OS4BME) project and its kick off summer school are presented. The OS4BME project aims at developing a new generation of biomedical engineers, able to exploit emerging technologies generated by the recent "Makers" revolution. During the one week summer school, students from various sub-Saharan countries were introduced to these new design, development and sharing paradigms. Students worked together to identify new simple biomedical devices, which could help in daily clinical practice in their countries. A cheap and easy-to-use neonatal monitoring device was chosen as a Crowd design project. The OS4BME Baby Monitor was designed and assembled by the students during the one week summer school, demonstrating the creative potential of the new generation of biomedical engineers empowered with the paradigms of crowdsourcing and rapid prototyping

Poland syndrome: Atypical presentation and review of literature

Poland syndrome is a rare congenital disorder with absent or hypoplastic pectoralis major and hand anomalies. Dextroposition,female predisposition, and the left-sided anomalies in Poland syndrome are rarely reported in literature. We report a female babywho was born with chest wall defects, left hand anomalies, dextroposed heart, and hypoplastic ribs. She was diagnosed as Polandsyndrome and managed conservatively

Give meaning to alternative methods to animal testing.

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HUBUNGAN PERILAKU MEROKOK DENGAN SUBJECTIVE WELL-BEING PADA MAHASISWA FAKULTAS KEDOKTERAN DALAM MENGHADAPI PEMBELAJARAN TATAP MUKA DI BANDAR LAMPUNG

Subjective well-being sangat penting dimiliki oleh mahasiswa, terutama mahasiswa fakultas kedokteran. Faktor yang mempengaruhi subjective well-being pada mahasiswa fakultas kedokteran adalah kesehatan dan gaya hidup. perilaku merokok merupakan salah satu gaya hidup yang dipercaya dapat menghilangkan stres pada mahasiswa terutama mahasiswa kedokteran.  Berdasarkan penelitian yang telah dilakukan sebelumnya, perilaku merokok dapat menurunkan subjective well-being. untuk mengetahui perilaku merokok dengan subjective well-being pada mahasiswa sarjana pendidikan dokter dalam menghadapi pembelajaran tatap muka. Jenis penelitian kuantitatif dengan desain survei analitik dan rancangan cross-sectional. Sampel penelitian berjumlah 139 mahasiswa kedokteran di Bandar Lampung. Alat ukur yang digunakan adalah data demografi mahasiswa dan Positive Affect Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) dan Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile II (HPLP II). sebagian besar responden memiliki tingkat perilaku merokok ringan (80,6%) dan subjective well-being (38,8%). Hasil analisis korelasi didapatkan p-value 0,000. terdapat korelasi perilaku merokok dengan subjective well-being pada mahasiswa sarjana pendidikan dokter dalam menghadapi pembelajaran tatap muka di Bandar Lampung

Palpreast - A New Wearable Device for Breast Self-Examination

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women worldwide. Although targeted screening programs using mammography have facilitated earlier detection and improved treatment has resulted in a significant reduction in mortality, some negative aspects related to cost, the availability of trained staff, the duration of the procedure, and its non-generalizability to all women must be taken into consideration. Breast palpation is a simple non-invasive procedure that can be performed by lay individuals for detecting possible malignant nodules in the breast. It is a simple test, based on the haptic perception of different stiffness between healthy and abnormal tissues. According to a survey we carried out, despite being safe and simple, breast self-examination is not carried by women because they are not confident of their ability to detect a lump. In this study, a non-invasive wearable device designed to mimic the process of breast self-examination using pressure sensing textiles and thus increase the confidence and self-awareness of women is proposed. Combined with other screening methods, the device can increase the odds of early detection for better prognosis. Here, we present the physical implementation of the device and a finite element analysis of the mechanics underlying its working principle. Characterization of the device using models of large and medium breast phantoms with rigid inclusions demonstrates that it can detect nodules in much the same way as does the human hand during breast self-examination

Safe innovation: On medical device legislation in Europe and Africa

Objectives: The principal motivation for regulating medical devices is to protect patients and users. Complying with regulations may result in an increase in development, manufacturing and service costs for medical companies and ultimately for healthcare providers and patients, limiting the access to adequate medical equipment. On the other hand, poor regulatory control has resulted in the use of substandard devices. This study aims at comparing the certification route that manufactures have to respect for marketing a medical device in some African Countries and in European Union. Methods: We examined and compared the current and future regulations on medical devices in the European Union and in some countries in Africa. Contextually we proposed future approaches to open design strategies supported by emerging technologies as a means to enhance economically sustainable healthcare system driven by innovation. Results: African medical device regulations have an affinity to European directives, despite the fact that the latter are particularly strict. Several states have also implemented or harmonized directives to medical device regulation, or have expressed interest in establishing them in their legislation. Open Source Medical Devices hold a great promise to reduce costs but do need a high level of supervision, to control their quality and to guarantee their respect for safety standards. Conclusion: Harmonization across the two continents could be leveraged to optimize the costs of device manufacture and sale. Regulated open design strategies can enhance economically sustainable innovation