Automatic Tape-collecting Lathe Ultramicrotome (ATLUM) device - In search of Immortality

I have always thought that one of the goals of ehealth was towards life extension, and this research article is indicative of the advances being made towards immortality, specifically - mind uploading - and a new word that I wonder might make head way in the English language lexicon - connectomics!

The strange neuroscience of immortality

July 30, 2012

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Kenneth Hayworth with his Automatic Tape-collecting Lathe Ultramicrotome (ATLUM) device (credit: Kenneth Hayworth)

Neuroscientist Kenneth Hayworth believes that he can live forever, the Chronicle of Higher Education reports. But first he has to die.

“The human race is on a beeline to mind uploading: We will preserve a brain, slice it up, simulate it on a computer, and hook it up to a robot body,” he says.

He wants that brain to be his brain. He wants his 100 billion neurons and more than 100 trillion synapses to be encased in a block of transparent, amber-colored resin — before he dies of natural causes.

The connectome grand theory

To understand why Hayworth wants to plastinate his own brain you have to understand his field — connectomics, a new branch of neuroscience. A connectome is a complete map of a brain’s neural circuitry. Hayworth looks at the growth of connectomics — especially advances in brain preservation, tissue imaging, and computer simulations of neural networks — and sees a cure for death.

Among some connectomics scholars, there is a grand theory: We are our connectomes. Our unique selves — the way we think, act, feel — is etched into the wiring of our brains. Unlike genomes, which never change, connectomes are forever being molded and remolded by life experience.

A human connectome would be the most complicated map the world has ever seen. Yet it could be a reality before the end of the century, if not sooner, thanks to new technologies that “automate the process of seeing smaller,” as Sebastian Seung puts it in his new book, Connectome: How The Brain’s Wiring Makes Us Who We Are.

Hayworth looks at the growth of connectomics — especially advances in brain preservation, tissue imaging, and computer simulations of neural networks — and sees something else: a cure for death. In a new paper in the International Journal of Machine Consciousness, he argues that mind uploading is an “enormous engineering challenge” but one that can be accomplished without “radically new science and technologies.”

Hayworth has founded the Brain Preservation Foundation, which offer a cash prize for the first individual or team to preserve the connectome of a large mammal. A dependable brain-preservation protocol is possible within five years, Hayworth says. “We might have a whole mouse brain preserved very soon.”

The foundation has published a Brain Preservation Bill of Rights on its Web site. ”It is our individual unalienable right to choose death, or to choose the possibility of further life for our memories or identity, as desired,” the document declares.

Hayworth’s brain-preservation and mind-uploading protocol

Before becoming “very sick or very old,” he’ll opt for an “early ‘retirement’ to the future,” he writes. There will be a send-off party with friends and family, followed by a trip to the hospital. After Hayworth is placed under anesthesia, a cocktail of toxic chemicals will be perfused through his still-functioning vascular system, fixing every protein and lipid in his brain into place, preventing decay, and killing him instantly.

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Preserved in amber resin (Credit: Bad Robot/Fringe)

Then he will be injected with heavy-metal staining solutions to make his cell membranes visible under a microscope. All of the water will then be drained from his brain and spinal cord, replaced by pure plastic resin.

Every neuron and synapse in his central nervous system will be protected down to the nanometer level, Hayworth says, “the most perfectly preserved fossil imaginable.”

Using a ultramicrotome (like one developed by Hayworth, with a grant by the McKnight Endowment Fund for Neuroscience), his plastic-embedded preserved brain will eventually be cut into strips, and then imaged in an electron microscope. The physical brain will be destroyed, but in its place will be a precise map of his connectome.

In 100 years or so, Hayworth says, scientists will be able to determine the function of each neuron and synapse and build a computer simulation of the mind. And because the plastination process will have preserved his spinal nerves, the computer-generated mind can be connected to a robot body.

“This isn’t cryonics, where maybe you have a .001 percent chance of surviving,” he said. “We’ve got a good scientific case for brain preservation and mind uploading.”

REFERENCES:

• Kenneth J. Hayworth, Electron Imaging Technology for Whole Brain Neural Circuit Mapping, International Journal of Machine Consciousness, 2012, DOI: 10.1142/S1793843012400057

RELATED:

• ‘Mind uploading’ featured in academic journal special issue for first time
• A Connectome Observatory for nanoscale brain imaging

Online Journal Articles and Social Media

http://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/6/2/492

The academic study of Health Informatics requires a lot of researching of journal articles, mostly online versions through a university electronic subscription. The work of librarians is constantly changing because of digital technology, and journal articles are framed in the context of relevance, statistics, interrelationship.  Of course, one needs to know how to read a journal article, and in my courses at McMaster, we learned how to read journal articles along the principles of evidence based medicine.  Evidence based medicine was started at McMaster, and one of my tutorial leaders, Dr. Brian Haynes, was one of the original founders of this approach.

But if you look at the journal article link above "Emerging Patient-Driven Health Care Models: An Examination of Health Social Networks, Consumer Personalized Medicine and Quantified Self-Tracking", there are many ways to make the data in the article organizable, searchable, and ultimately understandable.  One of those is the link to Connotea, which  reminded me that I setup a Connotea account but haven't used it in several years.  There are so many ways to slice and dice a journal article as a research object, which is why it makes sense to approach research looking for the "nano-slice of the pie of science".

My favourite way of organizing journal articles was through Refworks.  There are three main reasons way Refworks really rocks:
1) you can search the Pubmed or other library catalogues and import articles quickly
2) you can create footnotes and references exported into Word documents easily
3) you can share, add, edit and delete your references with others on the academic team

Tetherless World Constellation

http://tw.rpi.edu/web/

This educational and research program at Rensselaer University is fascinating.  The name of the program - Tetherless World Constellation - itself is intriguing. Yes, the WWW is anything but tethered. There are health informatics programs of study here, though it is just one of the X in what they call Xinformatics - general areas of informatics study.   I notice that the template for the website is the garland theme in Drupal, one I used to use, and I like the way they have designed the navigation.

HL7 Working Group on Personal Health Records

There is an HL7 Working Group on Personal Health Records.  They have weekly teleconferences. I have listened in for a few of them.  I just joined one of the HL7 listservs to get involved. It appears to be mostly a voluntary organization run by people in the industry, with oversight from the HL7 organization. Highly recommended for those who want to become more involved in this development.

UK unveils patient-centred electronic health strategy

I am reposting this CMAJ article that some of my eHealth friends had posted on a forum.  Seems like UK eHealth has a different framework strategy, that is more distributed and locally agile in response to the crashing failure of the previous centralized all encompassing waterfall approach. Give local systems room to breath, and they will all mesh naturally in future. 

The Health and Wellness Companion Personal Health Record

I just found out through my online life insurance company (employer's benefits) that I can access a Practice Solution Personal Health Record.  I am about to apply for online access but I found the user agreement quite interesting, so I am posting it here:




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Privacy and Security for Patient Portals: 2012 Guidelines for the Protection of Health Information Special Edition

The COACH 2012 Special Edition "Privacy and Security for Patient Portals 2012 Guidelines for the Protection of Health Information Special Edition", has just been released. I got my web version copy in advance last week because I was a member of the Expert Group who initially drafted it.  The final product looks really good, and presents the hard work of the volunteer group really well. Highly recommended reading if you are at all thinking of implementing or using patient portals, otherwise known as electronic Personal Health Records.

Australia's Personally Controlled E-Health Record system starts

I have been interested in following the development of this.  It is a national architecture for an electronically personally controlled health record system.  The recent demise of the UK system suggests that large national architectures don't always do well.  To my knowledge Canada does not have nor is planning such an architecture.  Alberta has the backbone infrastructure to use one, through their Myhealth system. I am not at all sure about eHealth Ontario.

Australia’s controversial Personally Controlled E-Health Record (PCEHR) system is to become available from today onwards.

The PCEHR, accessed by the patient and his or her authorised healthcare providers, is a electronic record of patient’s medical history, stored and shared in a network of connected systems.

Managed by the National E-Health Transition Authority (NEHTA) on behalf of the Department of Health and Ageing, the PCEHR reform agenda will save the Australian government and related agencies US$11.5 billion over 15 years.

These saving stem from expanded use of health information management systems, on-line registration capabilies, improved information-sharing between healthcare providers, and consolidated patient record-keeping programmes.

Initially, consumers can register for the e-Health system using a dedicated 1800 number.

An on-line registration website is being finalised by the Australian Department of Health and Ageing, enabling citizens to register on-line through a dedicated portal.

The PCEHR offers an opt-in system, however it is still unclear how this opt-in system will work.

The PCEHR legislation clarifies guidelines about who can enter health information and who can read or change this information. Among these guidelines, patients can access their own e-Health record. They can also track who else has accessed their record.

Patients can upgrade their privacy settings to suit personal needs. But only doctors, or other health professionals, will be alllowed to create medical notes on a patient’s file.

Users who sign up for an eHealth record will no longer have to repeat their medical history each time they see a different GP or other healthcare professional.

ePosters at eHealth 2012 Vancouver

I was just looking through some of the ePosters from the eHealth 2012 conference in Vancouver.  I am glad I didn't go because I was accepted for an ePoster and I don't think mine (on Personal Health Records) would look as good as some of these.

Global eHealth & Environmental eHealth

I have read some of the work of Dr. Richard Scott from the University of Calgary on Information Communication Technology and Global Health.  I have in my calendar to listen to a webinar that he will give today through COACH.  I didn't know he was leading a program on Environmental eHealth - which is thinking outside the box literally. Had a look through the WHO Global eHealth Bulletin the other day.

Autism, Calories, & Marathons

Instead of scouring the world's headlines for ehealth stories for this blog, I have been silently reading 3 books.

1. It is funny how we hear about books. The first I heard about on an interview with James Fitzgerald on CBC radio.  I thought it tragic that both his father and paternal grandfather, who were in the medical profession, had committed suicide.  Then there was the intriguing story about how his grandfather's life was kept secret in a kind of family shame.  It turns out the grandfather, Gerry Fitzgerald, was the founder of Connaught Labs at the University of Toronto, which developed the insulin of Banting and Best, (and a lot of other vaccines for mass public immunization) and was one of the visionary founders and promoters of Public Health in Canada.
What Disturbs our Blood: A Son's Quest to Redeem the Past", by James Fitzgerald.
2. Different ... Not Less: Inspiring Stories of Achievement and Successful Employment from Adults with Autism, Asperger's, and ADHD, edited by Temple Grandin, PhD. I saw the TV special about her and her special gifts working as a designer in the cattle industry.  In my job in research ethics I have seen a lot of research on autism spectrum. The stories of the lives of persons living with the spectrum, or are "Aspies" makes me think how many people I might know or have known who have this condition but have learned how to adapt among all us "neurotypicals".   Someone told me a lot of people leading developments in Silicon Valley are like this.  One of the life stories speculates that even Steven Jobs, one of the founders of Apple Computer, might have had Asperger's syndrome.

3. The book about diet is probably the only one that I won't finish reading, as it is kind of dense, but it also one of the most interesting.  Well written books that question the "conventional wisdom" and science itself are always welcome.  I heard about this book in a conversation with a Psychology professor who had previously told me about another great book that questioned the conventional wisdom, and which I also read, Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Super Athletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen, by Christopher McDougall . 

Medical Clown School - No, Really!

Healthcare Informatics top 100 rankings

No idea there was such a thing -  but here are the top 100 Healthcare Informatics rankings:
http://www.healthcare-informatics.com/hci100/2012-healthcare-informatics-100-ranking

iPatients and Diagnosis

Are physicians losing the art and science of the physical exam because of technology?  Dr. Abraham Verghese in this TED talk refers to the "ipatient" - when the the electronic record is viewed as being of more importance than observation of the actual patient.  The topic of the disappearing art of the physical exam also appears in an excellent book, "Every Patient Tells a Story" by Dr. Lisa Sanders.  Dr. Sanders apparently used to consult on the TV program House, as well as writing a column on "Diagnosis" for the New York Times.  There is a lesson here for health informatics.  I used to think the "virtual patient" would be quite useful to run diagnostic simulations, self-tracking, etc., but this is different.

NHS to shut down Personal Health Record Service

The UKs National Health Service is going to shut down it's personal health recored service, called Healthspace.  < Here > is the story. This quote by the clinical informatics director, Dr Charles Gutteridge, citing reasons for shutting it down, is insightful:

"It is too difficult to make an account; it is too difficult to log on; it is just too difficult," he said.

I had previously read journal articles citing this as a failure, or at least there being no real benefit to eHealth technologies like personal health records:

Greenhalgh T, Hinder S, Stramer K, Bratan T, Russell J. Adoption, non-adoption, and abandonment of a personal electronic health record: case study of HealthSpace. BMJ. 2010 Nov 16;341:c5814. doi: 10.1136/bmj.c5814

Linkedin groups - Careers on the LiMS groups

Linkedin is very interesting, but after I joined so many groups, I started getting too many emails with my subscriptions, so I had to trim back.  One group I have not unsubscribed from (yet) is the Laboratory Informatics group.  I am astounded at the number of jobs for this group and will post the list I got today.  I think I get a list like this everyday. In case anyone else doesn't know, LiMS stands for Laboratory Information Management Systems.

StarLIMS Developer/Business Analyst

LabAnswer - Greater Atlanta Area

LIMS Administrator

VersityLink - Northern California

LIMS Product Specialist

Autoscribe Ltd. - Reading, United Kingdom

LIMS Manager

Microbioticos Analises Laboratoriais S/C. Ltda - Campinas Area, Brazil

Java Software Engineer (Front-End / UI / LIMS)

Natera - San Carlos, CA

Systems Engineer (R&BPD) - LIMS, CDS

MedImmune - Gaithersburg, MD

Superviseur Production

KRONOS Canada Inc. - Varennes, Qc, Canada

Sr Level Chemist / Technical Director

Silliker - Crete, IL

IT Manager

HRM Innovations - Kalamazoo

Software Implementation Project Manager – Contract Position

WuXi AppTec - St. Paul, MN

Lab Capacity / Efficiency Engineer

Hexcel Corporation - Salt Lake City, UT

Sr. Software Engineer

Siemens Healthcare - Greater Philadelphia Area

ERP Software Engineer, BAAN, SAGE, Developer, CRM

CyberCoders - baltimore, MD

Laboratory Systems Administrator/Manager

Supernus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. - Rockville, Maryland

Quality Management Solution Architect

Leprino Foods Company - Denver, Colorado

Manager, Quality Control Laboratory

Corn Products International - Stockton, CA

Quality Control Lab Manager

Riverhead Resources - Des Moines, Iowa Area

Java Developer/Software Engineer

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory - Walnut Creek, CA

Senior Research Investigator-Biologic Drug Development

Bristol-Myers Squibb - Princeton, New Jersey

System Administrator

Transgenomic - New Haven, CT

Lab Automation - Senior Engineer / Scientist

Becton Dickinson - Baltimore, Maryland Area

Laboratory Informatics System Engineer

Abbott Laboratories - Dallas, TX, TX

UK& Ireland Business Analyst: MMD IT Operations

Merck - Dublin, Leinster, IE

Laboratory Analyst - EM Laboratory

Merck - Durham, NC

IT Developer II

MWH Global - Greater Los Angeles Area

Hacking an insulin pump - no good unless it is your own

www.kslaw.com/library/publication/HH051412_Bulletin.pdf

Here is another reason why separate channels for health data is a good idea - if we can only get the encryption right.  A man was able to hack into an insulin pump and turn it off.  Mind you, the hacker was just doing a demo and was a computer security  expert, as well as a diabetic:

During an August 2011 Black Hat conference, a security researcher demonstrated how an outside actor can shut off or alter the settings of an insulin pump without the user’s knowledge. The demonstration was given to show the audience that the pump’s cyber vulnerabilities could lead to severe consequences. The researcher that provided the demonstration is a diabetic and personally aware of the implications of this activity. The researcher also found that a malicious actor can eavesdrop on a continuous glucose monitor’s (CGM) transmission by using an oscilloscope, but device settings could not be reprogrammed. The researcher acknowledged that he was not able to completely assume remote control or modify the programming of the CGM, but he was able to disrupt and jam the device

Story also found < here >

List of US Universities with Masters In Health Informatics

http://mastersinhealthinformatics.com/universities-with-masters-in-health-informatics-degree-programs/

I am posting a lot about the US recently.  This list is quite an extensive one for Health Informatics.  I have seen PhD programs in Health Informatics.  One curriculum for a University in Florida had courses very different from the ones I was required to take, for example, Anatomy, SQL Programming, and Datbase Management, were all individual courses.  I did not have to take anatomy, but in fact I have been invited to see surgical skills training and an autopsy in an anatomy lab in the next few weeks.  Thought it would help expand my knowledge of technology used in skills training by pathologists.

Browsing these university programs is interesting.

FCC Announcement - MBAN: Medical Body Area Network

This story was posted by a member of the HL7 working group on Personal Health Records listserv that I subscribe to, with the acclamation that PHRs will take over the world.  Body sensor data is going to be voluminous, if not ubiquitous, and having two different frequencies for wireless communication makes a ton of sense:

Thu, May 17 00:15 AM EDT

By Sinead Carew

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. telecommunications regulator is expected to announce plans on Thursday to set aside spectrum to connect wireless medical devices for more convenient health monitoring.

The Federal Communications Commission said it is scheduled to vote on May 24 to adopt the plan for so-called Medical Body Area Networks, according to the telecom regulator, which has been working on the project for about two years.

The idea is that doctors could monitor a patient's vital signs at home or in hospital via low-cost wearable sensors that are attached to the patient's body and wirelessly connected to the machines that process and display the data for doctors.

Currently, such sensors have to be attached directly to machines by wires, making it difficult for patients to leave their beds.

According to the FCC, the new devices could help speed a diagnosis or allow earlier intervention in the case of a medical problem as doctors may be able to respond more quickly.

The regulator hopes to set aside two spectrum bands for the devices, one of which would only be valid for devices used in medical facilities. A second spectrum band could be used for remote monitoring of patients who are in their own homes.

(Editing by Leslie Gevirtz)

ipod for seniors with dementia

I think this is a study that has merit. The benefits of music for developmental psychology in children is just being empirically researched, so why not in seniors, or seniors with dementia? http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/2012/05/11/nb-ipod-pilot-nursing-dementia.html?cmp=rss This article made me think of the music and the mind institute at McMaster University which has done a lot of research on the benefits for learning music at a young age. It also made me think of my own mother, who is in a nursing home, and also has developed forms of dementia. Unfortunately, she also has a hearing impairment. Music is a great "carrier-wave" of emotion. I have read the works of a great musician, psychologist, and philosopher from India, who maintained that music was the highest science. Wasn't physics supposed to be the king of the sciences, or was there ever an argument there to begin with?