Medical App Explosion: TR's picks

Medical apps are bringing health care to your mobile phone. Technology Review picks six of the most promising.

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Apple approved: Lark is an app and armband that track, score, and offer advice on your sleep patterns. The $99 system, sold in Apple stores, was designed with advice from sleep researcher Jo Solet of Harvard University. The armband contains accelerometers that transmit your movements to the app. Lark also acts as an “un-alarm,” vibrating to wake you at a point in your sleep cycle when you will feel alert, not groggy. 

Credit: Lark

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Doctor tool: The Mobile MIM app for iOS gives physicians a sophisticated, hands-on mobile system for viewing and annotating radiology images, such as CT scans. Heavy encryption keeps patient data safe in case of a lost or stolen device, while a version for patients, VueMe, allows them to securely receive images sent by a doctor. The app first appeared in 2008 but was pulled from Apple’s app store after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration signaled that it would require regulatory approval. Earlier this year, Mobile MIM became the second app ever to be approved by the FDA.

Credit: MIM Software

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Blood work: Telcare makes a blood glucose meter (right) for diabetics that broadcasts readings to a mobile-phone app (center) where patients can see results and set goals. Charts and custom alerts make it easier to avoid undesirable swings in blood sugar. A Web interface (left) provides fuller access to data, also stored on a secure server. Telcare’s system recently won first prize from the Cellular Telephone Institute of America (CTIA) for best Mobile Healthcare Solution and for best Enterprise Healthcare Solution.

Credit: Telcare

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Listen closely: The 99-cent iStethoscope app was created by computer science researcher Peter Bentley of University College London, who says that more than three million doctors have downloaded it. The user holds the base of an iPhone—where the microphone is—against a person’s chest and listens in using earphones. The screen displays a detailed spectrogram of the sound picked up (left), and the app can also filter out background noise to produce a clearer signal.

Credit: Peter J. Bentley

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Safe storage: Need instant access to your family’s health records? HealthVault, Microsoft’s system for storing such records, is now mobile friendly thanks to third-party apps. Here, the Health Guard app for Windows Phone 7 provides a secure way to store and analyze health records for casual browsing or emergency use.

Credit: Akvelon

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Light pulse: One of the most popular health apps on the market, Instant Heart Rate takes your pulse when you place your finger over your phone’s camera lens. The app uses light from the camera flash to detect color changes caused by blood moving through your finger. The app is available for Android (left) and iOS (right). 

Credit: Instant Heart Rate

New Implant Can Monitor Tumors Continuously

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Sensing oxygen: This implantable sensor measures the concentration of dissolved oxygen in tissue, an indicator of tumor growth. The biocompatible housing also contains a transmitter, analysis unit, and a battery.
Credit: Technical University of Munich

BIOMEDICINE

New Implant Can Monitor Tumors Continuously

Researchers ultimately hope to combine the tiny sensor with a device to deliver targeted chemotherapy only when the tumor becomes more aggressive.

• BY KATE BAGGOTT

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A team of medical engineers in Germany has developed an implant to continuously monitor tumor growth in cancer patients. The device, designed to be implanted in the patient near the tumor site, uses chip sensors to measure oxygen levels in the blood, an indicator of growth. The data is then transmitted wirelessly to an external receiver carried by the patient and transferred to his or her doctor for remote monitoring and analysis.  

"We developed the device to monitor and treat slow-growing tumors that are difficult to operate on, such as brain tumors and liver tumors, and for tumors in elderly patients for whom surgery might be dangerous," said Helmut Grothe, head of the Heinz-Nixdorf Institute for Medical Electronics at the Technical University of Munich.

The roughly two-centimeter-long device, dubbed the IntelliTuM (Intelligent Implant for Tumor Monitoring), includes a self-calibrating sensor, data measurement and evaluation electronics, and a transmitter. All the components are contained within a biocompatible plastic housing.

The device sensor detects the level of dissolved oxygen in the fluid near the tumor; a drop in that measure suggests the metabolic behavior of the tumor is changing, often in a more aggressive way. So far, researchers have tested the device in tissue grown in culture. The next step is to test it in live animals.

Most monitoring of tumor growth is currently done via CT scans, MRI, and other forms of external imaging. "The advantage of an implant over external imaging is that you can monitor the tumor on the go," says Sven Becker of the Technical University of Munich. "This means patients would have to pay fewer visits to the hospital for progression and postsurgery monitoring of tumors. They also wouldn't have to swallow contrast agents."

While the device is currently calibrated to monitor oxygen, its chips can also be used to monitor other signs of tumor change or growth. "Oxygen levels are one of the primary indicators of tumor growth, but we have also found a way to activate the pH sensors by recalibrating the device from outside the body," says Grothe.

The team also plans to incorporate a miniature medication pump that can be set to deliver chemotherapy directly into the tumor environment, if and when the monitoring chips show that the tumor has become more aggressive.

It's still not clear who will be the best candidates for this type of device. "Most folks who are not good candidates for [tumor removal] surgery will not want surgery to implant this so that they can be monitored," warns Eugene Woltering, professor of surgery and neurosciences at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center.

Woltering, who was not involved in the research, does believe the device may be ideal for those for whom complete surgical removal of the tumor is impossible or not desirable.

"Those individuals could have these implanted in sites where we left tumor behind to act as an early warning system," Woltering said. "If it could drip some chemo in the affected area, then the local concentration of chemo would far exceed the diluted chemo concentration that would otherwise reach the tumor in the blood's total volume."

Black Button - Short Film

Black Button

WOULD YOU PRESS THIS BUTTON FOR A MILLION DOLLARS? WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU PRESS IT? A CLASSIC MORAL DILEMMA UNFOLDS.

Ifound this week’s film, Black Button, on YouTube where it has become rather popular. That makes sense since it is a good film, but more so than that it is also emblematic of the uniqueness of YouTube and the possibilities for filmmakers there.
Black Button is minimalistic in design and execution, but is the kind of tautly paced, well-written film that really shines in the short format. The film centers around a classic hypothetical and moral quandary; lost and confused in a stark white room the main character, Mr. Roberts, is offered ten million dollars by a mysterious older gentleman to push a black button. The catch? If he does, someone, somewhere will die. This premise sets the stage for a provocative conversation between the two as they discuss the implications of such a choice.

There is a lot to like about the film, the visual aesthetic is stylish; stark and ultra-exposed in order to create the depth-less white set. As mentioned, the pacing is excellent, sucking in your attention and never letting it flag and the shot selection wrings the most dynamism possible out of the limited set. The two strongest aspects though are the excellent sound work and superb acting. Fantastically creepy, disorienting sounds emanate during the payoff that heighten the affect nicely, and quite simply Robert Grubb steals the show with his turn as the elderly gentlemen.

As accomplished a film as it is, especially for a $200 first time effort, Black Buttonlikely would have found success on the festival circuit, but instead on YouTube it has become a phenomena, garnering a half a million views and over 6000 comments. It’s hard to imagine garnering as much exposure or feedback from any other means than the online video giant. But also because of the community-nature of the site, the feedback is often a lot more substantial than other sites. Thirteen video responseshave been posted already by fans of the film, and questions generated by the short prompted the filmmakers to post two new “making of” segments to YouTube as well, extending the level of interactions possible between independent filmmakers and their audiences. Now if only YouTube can perfect some revenue sharing…

-YouTube Awards 2007 - Top Six Finalist, Best Short Film
-WINNER: Fitzroy Short Film Festival (Melb, Aus)
-WINNER: DearCinemaFest Short Film Festival (Int.)
and more...

Mr Roberts finds himself awoken inexplicably in a white room. A man sits before him at a desk and in between them stands a black button. If Mr Roberts pushes it, he will receive a briefcase filled with millions of dollars. Or he can take the key to the door and leave penniless. The catch? Pushing the button will result in the death of a human being. What would you do?

EDIT 1: Some people have observed a similarity in the premise of this film and an revival episode of The Twilight Zone in 1986. Please note (1) We had never seen the episode and only learned of it long after we'd finished the film. (2) The Twilight Zone weren't the first to do it. There was a short story before that, which was in turn based on an old premise called the 'Faustian Bargain', around since the 16th century (deal with the 'devil'). An almost identical premise exists in several cultures. Richard Kelly is even making a film with this premise called 'The Box'. (3) Our film is similar in premise, but different in plot, characters, dialogue, aesthetics, setting, moral meaning, religious undertone, twist etc. Each version, including ours, aims to bring something new to an old idea. Please have the respect to not accuse us of plagiarism.

Short Film - House Wife

The film is about loneliness of a married woman. In this male dominated society, in most of the cases, women are considered competent only to take care of the kitchen and Kids. Many women with excellent skills and abilities are forced to remain at home just because they are women and they are not suppose to earn, because earning is suppose to be a 'Man's Job'. Being idle can be a terrible experience for any able person. The housewife in this short film is one of those women in our society who are just killing their valuable time and abilities sitting idle at home.

Short Film - Karma

Karma talks about how the monsters of lust and greed compel the protagonist to go to any length to satisfy them leading to a disastrous fate.

The PLOT - short film - with subtitles

மறைபொருள் - maraiporul - tamil short film

Dhuruva Natchathiram (Pole Star) - Tamil Short Film HD

இன்னொரு மீன் by: என். சொக்கன்

*****

விஜயராகவனின் வீட்டுக்கும், அலுவலகத்துக்கும் பதினைந்து நிமிட நடை தூரம்தான். ஆனால் தினந்தோறும் ஒரே பாதையில் பயணம் செய்யவேண்டியிருப்பது கிட்டத்தட்ட நரகத்துக்குச் சமமான சிரமம் என்று அவனுக்குத் தோன்றியது.

இந்த ‘தினந்தோறும்’ என்கிற வார்த்தைதான் இங்கே முக்கியம் – எத்தனை வளமான சூழலையும் வறட்சியானதாகத் தெரியச் செய்துவிடுகிற சூட்சுமம் அதற்கு உண்டு. பார்த்த காட்சிகளையே திரும்பத் திரும்ப பார்த்துக்கொண்டிருப்பதால் மனம் அலுத்துச் சலித்துப்போகிறது, ஏதேனும் ஒரு மாற்றம் தட்டுப்படாதா என்று ஏங்கச்செய்துவிடுகிறது.

அப்படி அவன் ஏங்கிக்கொண்டிருந்தபோதுதான், அவனுடைய பயணப் பாதையில் ஒரு சின்ன மாறுதல், வழியிலிருந்த ஒரு சிறிய கல்யாண மண்டபத்தின் அருகே திடுதிப்பென்று தோன்றிய புதிய கடை. அதன் வாசலில் ஏகப்பட்ட மீன் தொட்டிகளை நிறுத்திவைத்து வண்ணமயமான விளக்குகளால் அலங்கரித்திருந்தார்கள்.

அந்தப் பிரம்மாண்டமான தொட்டிகளுக்குள் நீந்தி விளையாடும் பல வண்ண மீன்கள் விஜயராகவனின் புதிய பொழுதுபோக்காயின. காலை வெளிச்சத்தில் அவற்றைப் பார்ப்பதற்கும், இரவின் செயற்கை வெளிச்சத்தில் பார்ப்பதற்கும் இடையிலான வித்தியாசங்களைப் பட்டியலிடும் அளவுக்கு விற்பன்னனாகிவிட்டான் அவன்! சோர்ந்திருந்த அவனுடைய வாழ்க்கையில் ஒரு பெரும் மலர்ச்சியாக இந்த மீன்கள்.

சீக்கிரத்திலேயே விஜயராகவனின் அன்றாட நடவடிக்கைகளில் மாற்றம் தெரிந்தது – மீன்களை அதிக நேரம் பார்த்து ரசிக்கவேண்டும் என்பதற்காக, வழக்கமான நேரத்துக்குமுன்பாகவே கிளம்பத்துவங்கினான் அவன். செயற்கை ஆக்ஸிஜனின் தொடர்ந்த முட்டைகளிடையே சுழன்று சுழன்று திரும்பும் அந்த மீன்களுக்கு, செல்லப் பெயர்கள்கூட வைத்துவிட்டான் – அவற்றைப் பார்க்கப்பார்க்க, தன்னை ஒரு சின்னக் குழந்தையாக உணர்ந்தான் விஜயராகவன்.

ஒன்றிரண்டு வாரங்களுக்கு இந்தப் பொழுதுபோக்கு தொடர, திடீரென்று அவனுக்கு ஓர் ஆசை தோன்றியது – யாரோ வளர்க்கும் மீனைப் பார்ப்பதிலேயே இத்தனை சந்தோஷம் என்றால், நாமே ஒரு சில மீன்களை வாங்கி வளர்த்தால் என்ன? வீட்டில் தொட்டி வைத்து மீன் வளர்த்தால் இதய நோய் வருகிற வாய்ப்புகள் குறையும் என்று எங்கோ படித்ததை நினைத்துக்கொண்டான் அவன்.

ஆனால், மீனை எங்கே வாங்குவது? எப்படி வளர்ப்பது? அவனுக்குத் தெரியவில்லை.

‘அதனால் என்ன? வாசல்முழுக்க மீன்களை நிரப்பிவைத்திருக்கிற அந்தக் கடையிலேயே கேட்டால் ஆச்சு!’, என்று சொல்லிக்கொண்டான் அவன்.

அன்று மாலையே, தனது செல்ல மீன்களை ஆசையாகப் பார்வையிட்டபடி அந்தக் கடையினுள் நுழைந்தான் விஜயராகவன்.

உள்ளே புகுந்ததும், குப்பென்று தீர்க்கமான ஒரு வாசனை அவனைத் தாக்கியது. லேசாக மூக்கைத் தடவிக்கொண்டபடி உள்ளே நடந்தான்.

அறையின் மூலையிலிருந்த பெரிய மேஜைக்குப் பின்னால் ஒரு மீசைக்காரன் அமர்ந்திருந்தான். புதியவர்களிடம் சகஜமாகப் பேசும் பழக்கமில்லாத விஜயராகவன் அவனை நெருங்கி, ‘மீன் வேணும்’, என்றான் திணறலாக.

‘எந்த மீன் வேணும் சார்? எவ்ளோ கிலோ?’, என்றபடி கீழ் ட்ரேயிலிருந்து ஒரு மீனை எடுத்து, நடு உடம்பில் வெட்டினான் அவன்.

10 Ways to Turn Your Blog into a Lead-Generation Machine

BY ANN HANDLEY 

Sometimes when I hear companies talking about creating a "machine" for their lead-generation efforts, I think about Dr. Seuss. Specifically, I think about all the fantastical and imaginative machines he created in his 46 children's books--like the Super-Axe-Hacker, the Utterly Sputter and (my favorite) the Eight-Nozzled Elephant-Toted Boom Blitz, a mighty machine that rapidly fires explosive sour-cherry stones.

Of course in real life, businesses can't flip the switch on a Triple-Sling Jigger to instantly produce prospects. But what if you could create a kind of machine for lead generation on your own company blog, allowing it to help you continuously fill that sales funnel?

39% of b2b marketers in North America find blog posts to be valuable marketing content.
--Focus research, June 2011

Blogs are a great way to increase your digital presence, making you more visible and "findable" via Google, Bing and the like. They can also be a great way to generate leads. Your blog can function as a kind of triage for your sales team, fielding and answering questions organically via the content you produce there. However, it can perform that function only if you effectively create momentum with visitors who are likely to buy, turning them from mere passersby into something more.

Here's a 10-step prescription to increase your visibility and attract more qualified folks to yoursite. It may not shoot cherry pits, but it will help you convert your traffic into leads.

1. Make your blog an extension of your main website. A visitor's first experience with your company might be through a blog page. He or she might never land on your main site's homepage, so link your blog visually (mirroring the navigation and design of your main site) as well as technically. Maintain the blog as a subdomain of your main domain (something like blog.website.com) versus putting it on a separate domain entirely. Blogging on the same domain that hosts your company site ensures that all inbound links to blog pages also juice up the search mojo of your main site.

2. Solve or share, don't shill. Your blog should focus on your customers. It should either solve their problems or share your resources. Don't shill your stuff. This may sound obvious, but too many business blogs seem to be a repository for press releases, regurgitated marketing-speak and other pablum. News about your company and its products and services might be fascinating to you, but it's not what will ultimately attract and engage prospects. Write about what they care about.

How can you determine what to write about? Use inquires or "Frequently Asked Questions" as fuel for blog posts. Ask your frontline folks: What problems do our customers ask about? What advice do they need? What problems do our products or services solve? Also, check your search logs: See what keywords people use when they land on your site to get a sense of what problems they have and what words they use to describe them. (Of course, questions your customers don't ask but you wish they did--or Frequently Unasked Questions--also are great blog post fodder!)

3. Show up. Half of blogging is consistency, or just showing up on a regular basis. (Naturally, the other half is producing great stuff!) You don't have to blog every day, but you do have to create a schedule that's sustainable for you. Hiring a freelancer or a staff writer or editor can help keep you on track with regular content, especially if you are a reluctant writer. But if you can't afford that, use an editorial calendar to plan a posting schedule (and stick to it). An editorial calendar, by the way, is simply that: a calendar on which you plan what post will be published when.

Showing up also applies to the ongoing care and feeding of the community you're creating through your blog. Encourage conversation and engagement by responding to comments (even negative ones). Be part of the conversation, not above it.


 

4. Avoid War and Peace posts. The best blog posts are punchy and concise, focusing on a single idea. Think short paragraphs or bullet points. And don't bury the important information. Open with a declarative sentence that sets up the key idea. Framing blog posts this way not only respects your reader's busy schedule, but also helps address the anxiety a lot of us feel about writing. A blog post can also be a graphic, image, video or even an embedded PowerPoint presentation.

5. Pen a killer headline. I sometimes spend more time writing a headline for a blog post than I do writing the entire post. Why? Because every blog post creates a new page on your site, and every new page creates another opportunity to boost your ranking for one of your targeted keyword phrases in Google or Bing or other search engines. Your blog post title becomes your web page title, so titles matter!

An intriguing headline, or title, is also critical to attracting actual humans to read your post. The title of an article is not merely a promise to the reader (an idea of what's in store), it's also the pitchman for the entire post: It entices people to either click or … not.

6. Link to other resources. Throughout a post, link specific words or phrases to other resources on your site. You can link keywords to resource pages you've built around those words, or you can link to specific landing pages where you've posted related offers, like the ability for visitors to sign up for a companion webinar, request a white paper or get a free trial.

7. Embed companion calls to action. In addition to linking within the post itself, remember the real estate around the post. There are a few areas prime for calls to action on any blog page, including the "leaderboard" spot at the top of your blog, the sidebar on either side of the post and the often-ignored space immediately following a blog post.

The first two spots are great for banners or buttons. But the space under the post is key: Assuming readers get through the entire post, they should always be given an opportunity to learn more with either a companion offer or related piece of content. (Hint: This is also a good place from which to link to landing pages that require e-mail registration.)

8. Offer subscription services. Allow your visitors to subscribe to get regular updates to your blog via e-mail and RSS. Essentially, every time you publish a post, a subscriber is notified to check it out. Plug-ins to allow subscription options are likely available for your blogging platform of choice (most e-mail marketing providers offer plug-ins that can be integrated into WordPress and other blogging platforms to turn your blog into a comprehensive list-building system). There are also a number of third-party services that can collect names and contact info for you. FeedBlitz and Google FeedBurner are both free services.

9. Trick out with social bling. The more traffic you attract, the more opportunities you'll have for generating leads. So be sure to outfit your blog with social-sharing icons, particularly the big three: Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Doing so subtly encourages your visitors to share your content and allows you to reach your network's network, which is a key attribute of social media. Of course, this assumes that you are actively participating in social media, i.e., engaging in conversation, and not just broadcasting headlines.

10. Remember one final thing. Fundamentally, a blog is an opportunity: It's a way to connect with customers in a real-time, accessible way. But your blog needs to be part of your business, and part of your lead-gen efforts. Talk it up in e-mail newsletters, in print collateral and on packaging materials. A blog won't magically drive business without active and ongoing promotion and participation--no matter how much inspiration Dr. Seuss imparts. 

A version of this article was originally published in the September 2011 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: The Customer Capture Contraption.