Surgery in the US, watched in Pakistan

The Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan has recently made successful inroads in the field of e-Health. It has connected universities on the Pakistan Education and Research Network (PERN) with important universities of 14 countries, for an interactive video conferencing on health. This has enabled medical students and faculty members in Pakistan to witness a live arthroscopic shoulder surgery being conducted in the US, and also exchange comments and discussion prior to the surgery with a cross-section of the academic fraternity from the Columbia University, McCormick Centre Chicago, Peking University, GDLN World Bank, Washington DC, Shanghai Jiaotong University, IIT New Delhi, Hong Kong University and University of Athens.

On 5 December 2006, the 'Global Forum on Road Trauma' became the first ever health event to be telecasted via video conferencing in Pakistan. It included live interactions with academicians and professionals from top universities and research institutions, which included University of Toronto, World Bank, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, University of Vienna Medical School, Peking University, Shanghai Jiaotong University, India Institute of Technology, New Delhi, and McCormick Centre, Chicago.

Here it deserves a mention that by participating in this mega global conference on health, Pakistan formally joined a high-speed network named Internet2,  that has links with over 200 top-of-the-line research institutions of the US. The network can now help many  researchers to participate in collaborative experiments from thousands of miles apart, and also have access to high quality research material. Of course, health researchers in Pakistan should avail of this opportunity, which can give a fillip to the e-Health scenario of our not so friendly neighbour. We wish them best of luck on the road to e-Health.

Presently Higher Education Commission's video conferencing project has connected with nine universities in Pakistan through IP-based video conferencing system. This enables students of those universities to exchange ideas and views and gain knowledge and capabilities across vast distances.

A nose for cancer

Dr. Hossam Haick, a 31-year-old Israeli researcher with the Israel Institute of Technology, has received a whooping grant of 1.73 million euro by the EU under its Marie Curie Excellence programme, for the development of an electronic nose, which can sniff and detect the growth of cancer at its earliest possible stages. This grant can be seen as EU's sustained endeavours to support and encourage young scientists.

If Dr. Haick's research is successful, medical science will get a potent weapon to check any cancerous growth and eliminate this dangerous disease at its inception. Dr. Haick aims to create an instrument based on nanometer-sized sensors, that would not only be able to diagnose cancers at a very early stage, but would also ascertain as to what stage the disease is.

All odours comprise of molecules, and each of these molecules has a corresponding receptor in the human nose. When a specific receptor receives an odour molecule, it sends a signal to the brain and the brain identifies the specific odour of that particular molecule. The theory behind the electronic noses is based on this basic physiological model, only in electronic noses, sensors are substituted for the receptors. And instead of the brain, the sensors will transmit the signal to a program for processing.

A healthy charity

Christmas eve can be the ideal time for some development work cloaked in charity, and the Austral

Be a part of Elets Collaborative Initiatives. Join Us for Upcoming Events and explore business opportunities. Like us on Facebook , connect with us on LinkedIn and follow us on Twitter , Instagram.

Related News


whatsapp--v1