| Mi-Co Funded by National Cancer Institute to Deploy Mi-Forms |
Print this story |
Team wins Small Business Innovation Research award to deploy Mi-Forms and study its effectiveness for clinical trial data collection at UNC.
Mi-Co and its partners, the University of North Carolina (UNC) Breast Imaging Section, Health Decisions and American College of Radiology Imaging Network (ACRIN) have been awarded a $750,000 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract by the National Institute of Health’s National Cancer Institute. Mi-Co will utilize its Mi-Forms product suite in order to study the impact of the industry-leading digital writing, data capture software in a clinical trials setting.
This contract will build upon previously successful work by Mi-Co and UNC Breast Imaging Section. In the Phase I study, the research team assessed alternative pen based methods of recording clinical trial data through the digital writing process. The research team found that the Tablet PC and the Anoto functionality Digital Pen when using the Mi-Forms Software were more efficient, effective and satisfying to users than the more traditional methods. The traditional methods assessed included standard pen on paper processes as well as first generation digital writing technology using the Pocket PC.
In the second phase of the program, Mi-Co, ACRIN and UNC will deploy Mi-Forms with Digital Pens and Tablet PCs on a targeted basis for a clinical trial that is being conducted at UNC.
Dr. Etta Pisano at UNC is optimistic about the use of the Mi-Co technology in the clinical trial setting. “Mi-Co’s technology is very exciting because it will make participation in clinical trials easier and more acceptable to very busy clinicians. The digital writing techniques we have been testing are much easier to use than a keyboard and mouse. In addition, these techniques will provide more accurate data because of the system’s ability to check for data errors throughout the process from data capture to data communication.”
“The entire project team is truly excited about this award. We will see the entire system working in a very demanding environment because of FDA regulations for clinical trials software and processes and the very high data quality standards of the ACRIN organization,” said Dr. Greg Clary, Principal Investigator and CTO at Mi-Co.
“The payoff for organizations conducting clinical trials and using digital writing technology could be extraordinary,” continued Clary. “The number of steps that can be eliminated or reduced in the process of data capture to data utilization and analysis is significant. We have seen the impact of the ease of use of the Mi-Forms system, as well as the positive impact of the system’s error checking, in a number of settings and adding the ACRIN clinical trials process will be beneficial to all organizations that are subject to FDA requirements.”
In addition to the specific assessment of data capture and digital writing solutions that turn handwriting into electronic text, the study also includes implementing the transfer of data from Mi-Forms to ACRIN’s Oracle backend system via XML.
About Mi-Co
Mi-Co, the mobile data capture company, provides digital writing software that enables an efficient and effective process for capturing and communicating handwritten data. Mi-Co’s enterprise Mi-Forms Software System enables flexible e-forms design for data capture using digital ink. In addition, Mi-Forms Software has proven capabilities for handwriting interpretation, verification, data validation and communication of forms-based data for enterprise users. Mi-Forms supports Tablet PCs, Digital Pens, Pocket PCs and signature capture devices. Mi-Co is headquartered in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina and has a Washington customer service center. For more information on Mi-Co, visit www.mi-corporation.com.
|
| Low cost International Pharmacies Save Elderly on Prescription Drug Costs. - Nov 27, 2004 11:50 IST |
|
As pointed out by Jack Shapiro, an internationally-known healthcare marketing consultant “For the first nine months of this year, the U.S. imported $40 billion in pharmaceuticals and exported only $21 billion. In 2003, we imported $50 billion and exported $23 billion. So what makes buying from your local U.S. based pharmacy any safer then purchasing from Mexico or Canada?
Many of today’s elderly (U.S.) cross the borders of Mexico and Canada in order to get their prescriptions filled at a huge discount. For some it has become a necessity because they simply can’t afford necessary drug treatments any other way.
|
| SourceOne Healthcare Technologies Signs Strategic National Distribution Agreement with Barco - Nov 27, 2004 11:43 IST |
|
SourceOne Healthcare Technologies, Inc., the nation’s leading distributor of medical imaging systems, equipment, radiographic consumable supplies, and service to healthcare providers, today announced that the company has signed a strategic national distribution agreement with Barco, (the medical imaging unit of BARCO – (Reuters: BARBt.BR and Bloomberg: BAR BB), the global leader in high-performance medical-imaging display technology.
Under terms of the agreement, SourceOne will offer Barco’s full line of medical display systems to customers throughout the United States. Recognized worldwide, Barco’s high-performance display technology for X-ray, digital radiography, PACS, digital mammography, ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging are considered to be among the most advanced technology in the imaging industry.
|
| Online Pharmacy adds HIV Prescription Drugs - Nov 27, 2004 11:41 IST |
|
Indinavir is one of several new AIDS related drugs added to the www.hiv-supplements.info site. Other HIV drugs recently added were Triomune 30, Triomune 40, Combivir, Duovir-N, Lamivudine 3TC, Nevirapine and Zidovudine.
As described on the www.hiv-supplements Indinavir page Indinavir is used, alone or in combination with other medicines in the treatment of the infection caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
|
| Functional Beauty Products are Expected to Increase at a CAGR 13.7%, Reaching Nearly $1 Billion by 2008 - Nov 27, 2004 11:22 IST |
|
As consumers increasingly demand measurable, instant benefits, interest in functional products with short-term, visible effects continues to drive the multi-billion dollar nutraceuticals industry. This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the industry, identifying opportunities for growth and offering recommendations to enable manufacturers to take advantage of the beauty foods trend.
Report Scope:
US nutraceuticals 1998-2003 industry, with 2003-2008 forecasts of the beverages, bakery, dairy, confectionery, snacks, and supplements markets
|
| Holy Name Hospital Is First in the Tri-State Area to Offer Tysabri Infusion Therapy for MS Patients - Nov 27, 2004 11:3 IST |
|
The Holy Name Hospital Multiple Sclerosis Comprehensive Center will be the first hospital in the tri-state region to administer a breakthrough infusion therapy for MS patients that was licensed by the FDA earlier this week. The new biologic approach treats patients with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) to reduce the frequency of symptom flare-ups or exacerbations of the disease. MS is a chronic, often disabling disease of the brain and spinal cord.
Natalizumab also known as Antegren, released as Tysabri on Wednesday, November 24, 2004, is a monoclonal antibody bioengineered from part of a mouse antibody to closely resemble a human antibody. It is being marketed under the trade name Tysabri. The product is given intravenously once a month in a hospital or physician’s office.
|
| NHITC on Board for the Medical Records Institute’s Latest Conference - Nov 26, 2004 20:6 IST |
|
The Medical Records Institute (MRI) is pleased to announce the appointment of LeRoy Jones as one of the keynote speakers at the last MRI conference of the year, the EHR Summit IV. Jones, the Senior Technical Advisor from the Office of the National Health Information Technology Coordinator, will be presenting the topic, “Perspectives from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology” at 8:45 AM on Friday December 10th. This topic will be a discussion around national EHR perspectives and the future of EHRs.
|
| Ovarian Cancer Risk Increases with Estrogen Use - Nov 26, 2004 19:51 IST |
|
The estrogen component of oral hormone replacement therapy around the time of menopause is associated with ovarian cancer risk, findings from a Danish study show.
Our results imply that the risk increases with cumulative oral estrogen intake but not with duration of hormone therapy, the investigators report.
|
| Cord Blood Works Vs. Leukemia - Nov 26, 2004 19:48 IST |
|
Umbilical-cord blood, now used mostly to treat children with leukemia, could save thousands of adults with the disease each year who cannot find bone marrow donors, two big studies indicate.
A European study found that those who got cord blood were just as likely to be free of leukemia two years later as those who got marrow. A U.S. study looking at three-year survival yielded results almost as promising.
|
| China Approves Testing for Potential AIDS Vaccine - Nov 26, 2004 19:46 IST |
|
China has approved human testing of a locally developed potential AIDS vaccine, the official Xinhua news agency said Friday, just days before World AIDS Day.
Officials have pledged to speed up the approval process for anti-AIDS drugs in China, where the United Nations has warned AIDS victims could rise to 10 million by 2010 unless serious steps are taken to fight the epidemic.
|
| Effectiveness of Antidepressant Unclear in Elderly - Nov 26, 2004 19:45 IST |
|
Depressed people 75 or older are just as likely to improve after an 8-week course with an inactive, placebo drug as with an antidepressant, new research indicates.
|
| Everybody Must Fight AIDS, Mandela Says - Nov 26, 2004 19:43 IST |
|
Former South African President Nelson Mandela, surrounded by rock stars, launched a book of photographs of a major anti-AIDS concert on Thursday with a call to ordinary people to take a lead in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
|
| Massachusetts Medical Society Announces Call for Entries for its 10th Annual Anti-Tobacco Poster Contest for Grade School Children - Nov 26, 2004 19:28 IST |
|
The Massachusetts Medical Society and its Alliance have announced a call for entries for its 2005 Anti-Tobacco Poster Contest, a statewide program designed to make young people aware of the dangers of tobacco and smoking.
The 2005 program marks the tenth year the Medical Society has conducted its anti-tobacco contest, open to youngsters in grades 1 through 6 throughout Massachusetts.
“Physicians of the Medical Society are proud to count a decade of tobacco prevention efforts for young people with this contest,” said Alan C. Woodward, M.D., president of the Massachusetts Medical Society and Chief of Emergency Services at Emerson Hospital in Concord.
|
| Girl survives rabies without jab - Nov 26, 2004 19:14 IST |
|
A team at the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin used an experimental treatment on 15-year-old Jeanna Giese.
She was admitted to hospital last month with advanced symptoms of the disease after being bitten by an infected bat at a church in September.
|
| Surprise origin of stomach cancer - Nov 26, 2004 19:11 IST |
|
The cells appear to migrate to the stomach to try to repair damage caused by a bacterial infection.
The finding challenges many of the previous assumptions about how cancers originate, and could lead to new treatments, the scientists say.
|
| Parents ’unaware children obese’ - Nov 26, 2004 19:7 IST |
|
Researchers surveyed parents of 277 children and found only a quarter of them recognised when their offspring were overweight.
Where children were obese, a third of mothers and 57% of fathers thought they were about right, the team at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth found.
|
| ’Unnecessary fertility test’ risk - Nov 26, 2004 18:52 IST |
|
A team of doctors from several UK universities says fertility clinics are increasingly offering tests to measure natural killer (NK) cells in the blood.
Women are then given powerful drugs which may have serious side effects.
|
| Spirulina - The Ultimate Natural Nutritional Supplement - Nov 26, 2004 18:35 IST |
|
When it comes to natural nutritional supplements there is little doubt that Spirulina is head and shoulders above the rest. A nutrient rich blue green algae that grows naturally in mineral-rich alkaline lakes, Spirulina is the ultimate natural nutritional supplement and a giant leap beyond ordinary supplements. Spirulina contains the most complete source of nutrients found in any single food on the planet.
|
| Thousands ’unaware they have HIV’ - Nov 26, 2004 18:36 IST |
|
More than a quarter - 27% - do not know they have the infection, which could be as many as 14,300 people.
There were 6,606 new HIV infections diagnosed, the Health Protection Agency said, but that could rise to 7,000 once all the data are collected.
|
| NHS dentists ’may get scarcer’ - Nov 26, 2004 18:29 IST |
|
A shake-up in NHS dentistry will come into force next October in a bid to move from drill and fill treatments towards more preventative work.
But the National Audit Office (NAO) said dentists may end up cutting their NHS commitments because of scepticism and a lack of detail about the changes.
|
| Student Health Plans Thanksgiving Tradition - Nov 26, 2004 18:26 IST |
|
MedSave.com is gearing up for a lesser-known Thanksgiving tradition. Thousands of college students change their health insurance plans during their trip home to see parents this week. From the Wednesday before Thanksgiving through the following weekend, online and telephone requests from students and their parents have come in at a record pace. This trend has grown each year since the enrollment firm’s launch in 1997. Despite efforts to take more calls and process more applications, the firm still expects a backlog of business on Thanksgiving weekend. Other enrollment firms report similar trends. MedSave.com focuses on low cost health insurance, so it serves a higher percentage of students than some other enrollment firms. In addition, students are more likely than adults to enroll for a health plan online rather than traditional paper methods.
|
|
|
|
|
