Robotic Arm Offers Better Precision for Knee Surgery

Since I will be getting my knee replaced soon, the following article was of interest, it may also be for those of you who, like me need to have body parts like hips and knees replaced.

A team of biomedical engineers have developed a robotic arm that provides a faster and more efficient way to repair arthritic knees, leading to less pain and faster recovery. The robotic arm is part of a precise resurfacing system, which is used before a partial or entire knee is replaced. To do this, a three-dimensional image of the knee is generated, providing a live-action view of the knee, which surgeons use to determine how much bone to remove from the tibia and femur and where to place the implants.

 A stereo camera system constantly updates surgeons on the location of the diseased portion of the knee to help them keep the healthy parts untouched. If the surgeon gets too close to the "no-go zone," audio and visual alarms sound. Also, the robotic arm gives artificial resistance on the edge of these zones so the surgeons feel like they have hit a wall. After the resurfacing is done, the implant is performed. A few days after the surgery, many patients walk naturally and are back to work, according to the researchers. The average hospital stay after conventional knee surgery is usually three to five days, with a full recovery within six weeks.

The biomedical research group developed the robotic arm for MAKO Surgical Corp. in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and surgeons have conducted the surgery on close to 4,000 patients. The company expanded the technology outside the United States this summer for the first time, with clinical trials conducted in Scotland.



Sources: www.sciencedaily.com/videos/2009/0107-fixing_damaged_knees.htm 
www.orthosupersite.com/view.aspx?rid=65447

www.rttnews.com/Content/TopStories.aspx?Node=B1&Id=1449321  

Defining Collective Intelligence

What does it mean to say that a group is "intelligent"? According to new study co-authored by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Carnegie Mellon University and Union College, group intelligence may not be quantified as the sum or average of the cognitive abilities of its members. Anita Woolley, assistant professor at Carnegie Mellon University, set out to find the answer, which resulted in a study recently published in the journal Science.

 

For the study, she created teams of two to five people drawn from about 700 volunteers. The goal of the teams was to solve various kinds of problems, some of which had definitive answers and others that relied on innovative solutions via brainstorming. By studying small teams of randomly assembled individuals, researchers discovered that groups featuring the right kind of internal dynamics perform well on a wide range of assignments, regardless of the sum or average individual cognitive abilities of the group's members.  For example, there were two sessions in which Woolley's students had to decide whether the star basketball player should be kept on the team after the school found out that he cheated on an exam.

When the conversation was fairly evenly distributed among all the participants, the groups were more collectively intelligent, coming up with the right answers and creative problem solving.   Further, a group's intelligence, or its ability to complete a series of demanding multi-functional tasks, is positively linked to higher levels of "social sensitivity," a more equal distribution of member participation levels, and to the number of women in a group. On the other hand, in the sessions where one person dominated the conversation, the groups tended not to be as creative or balanced and thoughtful in coming up with solutions. In short, to do well, the group as a whole had to consider multiple perspectives.

Social scientists had long contended that a measurable level of intelligence in each individual person is a predictive measure of an individual's ability to fare well on diverse cognitive tasks.
"Evidence for a Collective Intelligence Factor in the Performance of Human Groups" has been accepted for publication in the scientific journal Science and was pre-published online in the Sept. 30 Science Express.

Travelling into a new paradigm

Travel is an eye opener for many of us, however many of us still can travel without raising our awareness of self or of our life. To help you as you begin retirement and begin your journey, consider the value of some of the following topic-areas in your life that may contain important themes and other content for exploration.

• the family and social histories you were born into

• the influence of historical events in shaping family and personal decisions

• childhood heroines—heroes too

• what you did that fascinated you on your vacations

• the childhood dinner table as a microcosm of family life

• old regrets and losses

• the roles you were taught to play or needed to play vs the ones you gravitated to naturally

• the uses of other family members’ stories as a means of influencing your behaviour.

Where in the world do you need to go?

Travel is a learning experience and for some travelling can challenge the paradigms we use to manage our  life and our loves.

Some places may represent psychological, spiritual or aesthetic states of being as much as physical locations. Such places can offer us a certain “energy” to discover and sit with essential questions

Travel allows compelling ideas to first come to us as metaphors or abstractions. 

Spirit places can take all shapes and forms. Listen for places that are beckoning to you…put your ear close to them.

When we see something that we cannot explain and when our assumptions are turned upside down, we know our culture is probably playing tricks with our ability to see accurately

When you are travelling the trick is to pay attention to what you’re paying attention to. But more importantly  pay attention to what habits prevent you from seeing with fresh eyes.


When we are on our journey on some days our senses can’t take it all in! So much happens in a day…if we could just slow it all down! 

And yet we often stop looking when we get home-- the landscape’s too familiar…or appears that way


Keeping notes or a journal helps anchor us when we travel. By Asking provocative questions, drawing, lists, shaped writing, dialogues with  persons and places we use techniques for seeing the several sides of our experiences. The gifts of travelling expands when we reflect.


When you travel try to cover the events of  the day in 10 minutes so at least you have the basics down. Then focus on the intriguing bits that are signalling you. When you’re home, try bringing the same attention you give to a travel day to being at home. How does that change your experience of the day?

Travel introduces us to people’s stories. Many, by their own account, reflect lives stifled by class, location and history. What can we learn from our own reaction to other’s stories about our values and possible future actions?


Travel reminds us that time is elastic--people have different attitudes towards time and what to do with it. If you lived in a different “time” culture, what might emerge for you?


Travel lets us try on new identities. What rules are you living by that may be keeping you tied to an outdated identity? If you could try out a different life for a while, what might it look like? 


You may know where to start but chances are the road will turn and you will have to trust in the turning and to trust in the new paradigms you have or will create for yourself