Google glass in the OR

It is not a big surprise that in this global world somewhere someone thought about introducing a pair of google glasses in the OR. 

 The good news is that this has happened around the corner: the "someone" has been a small company in murcia, south spain, and the "somewhere" has been at clinica cemtro.

An implant of  autologous chondrocyte cells to a 49 year-old male patient suffering a knee problem (a cartilage defect) has been streamed in real time.

The solution as it is can be of value to  train young surgeons as well as for a better recording of the operation for QA. 
My first impresion of the idea is good though there is still plenty of margin for improvement.

The  overlay on the image of additional information, such as  computer generate feedback to the surgeon, seems to be happening  very soon.

However, critics have expressed concerns that the Google Glass technology could lead to invasions of privacy.

Organic Detectors for X-Rays

Siemens claims that his research into organic detectors for X-rays  has the potential to reduce production costs while improving image resolution. That's a technology worth having a look at!

 The innovation involves mixing specific substances into organic detector materials. The scintillating substances involved absorb X-ray radiation and produced light that is thereafter captured with a sort of "camera".

 These detectors are based on organic plastics and can be sprayed or printed onto a substrate at a low cost. This largely decouples production costs from the detector surface area, which is not the case with crystalline detectors. The organic diodes can also be used as dose-measurement chambers. They are more sensitive than ionization measurement chambers and can be structured more easily, which means the measurement unit can be adjusted to individual patient dimensions and dose regulation can be controlled more effectively. 
The problem is that organic photodiodes mostly detect visible light and for this reason special nanoparticles that can be mixed into the organic plastic solution as scintillators are being investigated.

Other project partners are examining an alternative that involves admixing semiconductor nanocrystals that directly absorb X-ray light, which is forwarded to the organic detector matrix in the form of electrons. Siemens is also responsible for the design of the new photodiodes and the creation of demonstration systems. The other Hop-X partners are Merck KgaA, the Leibniz Institute for New Materials and CAN-GmbH.