During the last decade or so, health care has been rapidly transforming from a reactive, paper-based system to a responsive digital model. Massachusetts, under Gov. Charlie Baker’s leadership, has launched a comprehensive public-private partnership to accelerate the state’s digital health care sector. The partnership has identified multiple ways to drive investment and growth in the state. Technology […]
Vector Blog
Lung transplants for children: Exploring the intricacies
Most adult transplant centers require patients to walk a set distance in under six minutes to remain a good candidate for lung transplant. The thought is that if patients cannot meet this minimal threshold, then their chances of being able to rehabilitate after transplant are diminished. In pediatrics, this is also important. But Dawn Freiberger, RN, MSN, Boston […]
How TriVox is using online tracking to improve patient care
Since we spoke with the founders of TriVox Health in 2014, their disease management program has taken off. The program began in Boston Children’s Hospital’s Division of Developmental Medicine as a way to more efficiently collect information on children’s ADHD symptoms from parents and teachers. It is now a user-friendly, web-based platform for tracking multiple […]
Teaching your smartphone to detect benign heart murmurs
More than half of all heart murmur referrals to pediatric cardiologists are for a Still’s murmur — a benign murmur that naturally occurs in 50 to 90 percent of children and goes away by adolescence. Every year, pediatric cardiologists in the United States see 1.3 million children with Still’s murmurs. That adds up to over […]
Simulating the pulse: Ventriflo’s take on cardiopulmonary support
Is there anything more fundamental to human life than the heartbeat? That thud, thud, thud — that reliable rhythm — is synonymous with being alive. When a person undergoes open-heart surgery, however, the heartbeat must be interrupted to give surgeons access to that essential organ. The organic pulse is temporarily replaced by a machine that […]
Looking to a backup gene to fight spinal muscular atrophy
Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a condition affecting one in every 6,000 to 10,000 children, is caused by a defect in a gene called SMN1 — which stands for “survival of motor neuron.” The defect leaves children with too little functioning SMN protein to maintain their motor neurons, which begin wasting away. Muscle strength declines and […]
Detecting dyslexia – Identifying the “writing on the wall” as early as infancy
Some 5 to 17 percent of all children have developmental dyslexia, or unexplained reading difficulty. When a parent has dyslexia, the odds jump to 50 percent. Typically, though, dyslexia isn’t diagnosed until the end of second grade or as late as third grade — when interventions are less effective and self-esteem has already suffered. “It’s […]
Improving ACL repair with bio scaffolds
Tears of the knee’s anterior cruciate ligament — or ACL — are on the rise in middle school and high school athletes. The current treatment involves grafting in a piece of tendon from elsewhere in the body. It works very well, but requires six months to two years of post-op rehabilitation to regain strength in the knee […]
Learning about treating muscular dystrophy from an unusual golden retriever
Ringo was a golden retriever that defied the odds. Despite having the gene mutation for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), he remained healthy. And he’s provided a new lead for boosting muscle strength in DMD, one of the most common forms of muscular dystrophy. Unlike other dogs with the dystrophin mutation, who are weak and typically […]
Diagnosing pediatric vestibular issues with an iPhone in a bucket
Dizziness is fairly common in children, but it can be very hard to diagnose the cause. Any number of conditions can produce dizziness, and children are a special challenge since they often can’t describe what they’re feeling. “One of the toughest things to figure out is, is it a problem with the vestibular system, or […]
Hollywood SFX makers turn to the OR to help train docs
When critical care physicians at Boston Children’s Hospital practice cannulating an infant going on cardiopulmonary support, they’ll no longer have to cut through hard plastic mannequins with tubes for blood vessels. Instead, they’ll puncture a soft layer of realistic baby skin, dissect through subcutaneous fat and spread muscles that look and feel like the real […]