University Medical Center at El Paso (UMC) on May 7 launched a new patient registration system that uses biometric technology called PatientSecure. The small device uses near-infrared light to capture the vein pattern of a patient’s palm. During registration, patients are asked to place their right hand on the device and their biometric information is used as a unique identifier. It ensures that registrars are able to accurately identify each patient, quickly locate that patient’s demographic information, and do so... [more]
Tech/Tech Transfer
UTEP-born TeVido BioDevices is featured in MedCityNews
April 15th, 2013
MedCityNews.com, one of the fastest growing online magazines in healthcare and life sciences, published a story about TeVido BioDevices. The story says that the new technology “could be one of the new products in the $8.4 billion market of 3D printer products projected for 2025” and that the technology could make plastic surgery cheaper and more successful. If all goes well for TeVido, doctors might be able to print breast implants using a patient’s... [more]
Moss determined to get Alzheimer’s Drug on the market, starts company
April 7th, 2013
Donald Moss, PhD, former professor of psychology at the University of Texas at El Paso, has started the company Brain-Tools to get a safer, more effective drug to Alzheimer’s patients to help improve and prolong their memories and delay symptoms. Only recently retired, Moss identified methanesulfonyl fluoride, or MSF, during the 1980s at UTEP as an ideal treatment for Alzheimer’s. Studies have shown it is three-to-five times more effective than all Alzheimer’s drugs currently out on the market, with... [more]
Medical school acquires new teaching tool
January 29th, 2013
The Department of Medical Education at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) has announced it now offers medical students the Anatomage DICOM viewer. It works like a giant tablet or pad and can display various 3D views and cross-sections of healthy and diseased bodies. Virtual dissections can be made with the viewer’s scalpel tool. This technology gives students an opportunity to intuitively explore the intricacies of human anatomy as seen by CT and MRI.... [more]
El Paso’s health information exchange launches two products for physicians
November 26th, 2012
The Paso del Norte Health Information Exchange, an electronic medical record sharing network in El Paso, recently announced the launched of two products – an electronic patient referral system and a secure email system. Right now, about 60 of the city’s estimated 1,000 physicians are using the electronic referral system, which allows doctors to see a referred patient’s preconditions and receive attachments such as an EKG report. The system also allows doctors to see the status of a referral. The... [more]
Center announces new tiered system to help specialists transition to electronic health records
November 9th, 2012
The West Texas Health Information Technology Regional Extension Center (WTxHITREC) has announced it is now offering a new 3-tier system aimed at helping specialists who want to transition to an electronic health records system. The new tiered system is designed to help specialists at any stage of implementation:
- Tier 1 - No certified EHR previously adopted
- Tier 2 - Certified EHR previously adopted, but not implemented
- Tier 3 - Meaningful use gap analysis of... [more]
NMSU professor receives U.S. patent on reduced-gravity technology
October 3rd, 2012
New Mexico State University professor Ou Ma, along with Jiego Wang of Brampton, Ontario, Canada, received a U.S. patent for their project, "Apparatus and Method for Reduced-Gravity Simulation." Ma is a mechanical and aerospace engineering professor. His reduced-gravity technology can not only train astronauts to work in space, but can also help persons with disabilities or injuries by offloading some of the weight so they can train or rehabilitate. A reduced-gravity condition may be... [more]
Arrowhead Center wins $1 million in federal funding
September 28th, 2012
New Mexico State University's Arrowhead Center received a $1 million grant Sept. 19 after winning a national competition called “i6 Challenge” aimed at spurring technology commercialization and small business development. NMSU is matching the $1 million award. Arrowhead was awarded funding for their initiatives to accelerate commercialization of research and to build an entrepreneurial environment in Southern N.M. and West Texas. Funding for the Arrowhead Center will support an existing proof of concept center created in 2011 to move innovative... [more]
El Paso Children’s Hospital will obtain imaging device for orthopedic procedures
August 6th, 2012
El Paso Children’s Hospital will purchase a C-Arm imaging device with a $60,353 grant from the Walter Hightower Foundation to University Medical Center Foundation. The equipment provides unobstructed imaging access around patients, which makes possible faster surgical procedures. The Hightower Foundation also donated a Mizuhosi orthopedic pediatric surgical table system that is used with the C-Arm for surgery on children with orthopedic disabilities like spinal deformities, dislocated hips and ace tabular growth deformities.
El Paso inventor of high/low wheelchair wins contest
August 3rd, 2012
Innovate El Paso has announced Armando Silva of El Paso as the winner of its Hottest Inventor Challenge. Silva entered the contest with his patented high/low wheelchair. Silva invented a battery-powered, pneumatic wheelchair that can be adjusted from a height of 20 inches down to 11 inches (U.S. patent 7090241). Silva was inspired to invent the chair out of love and concern for his father, who used a wheelchair... [more]