An ear microsurgery trainer for low-resource settings

An affordable laparoscopic surgery trainer for trainees in poor resource settings.

BACKGROUND Laparoscopic surgery requires acquisition of new skills such as hand eye coordination of instruments whose working tips can only be seen in two dimensions on a monitor screen and depth perception. Simulators have been demonstrated as necessary to acquire these skills safely. However these simulators are expensive and not readily available in developing countries. METHODS I describe...

Telemedicine in Low-Resource Settings

Telemedicine is a fuzzy term with several synonyms (telehealth, e-health, etc), which cover a wide range of topics, all concerning the delivery of health care at a distance. “Health care” itself is a broad concept, encompassing diagnosis and treatment of patients, education of staff, patients, and the general public, and administrative activities, such as collecting public health data, as well ...

An Accuracy Approach to Robotic Microsurgery in the Ear

Concerns of rising healthcare costs and the ever increasing desire to improve surgical outcome have motivated the development of a new robotic assisted surgical procedure for the implantation of artificial hearing devices (AHDs). This paper describes our efforts to enable minimally invasive, cost effective surgery for the implantation of AHDs. We approach this problem with a fundamental goal to...

Cervical cancer prevention in low-resource settings.

Objective: To help care providers understand the current status of cervical cancer in low-resource countries. Options: The most effective and practical options for cervical screening and treatment in low-resource countries are evaluated. Outcomes: Improvement in rates of prevention and early detection of cervical cancer in low-resource countries. Evidence: PubMed or Medline, CINAHL, and The Coc...

Urinary Tract Injuries in Low-Resource Settings