Category: technology

It’s Time to End Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis is an often-overlooked disease. Many might question the importance of learning more about this illness. However, a lack of awareness and preparedness can cause this disease to fast spiral out of control, affecting many immunocompromised communities.

So what is tuberculosis, or TB?

TB is a communicable disease brought about in people by Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria. It mainly influences the lung and affects other organs of the body. In the case of latent tuberculosis, TB-infected patients don’t tend to show any symptoms.

 

TB IN INDIA

In 2018, the WHO (World Health Organization) estimated that over 2.69 million people in India were affected by tuberculosis, at the rate of 199 per 1,00,000 people. Currently, India contributes about a quarter of the world’s TB patients. According to TB Facts, India also has approximately 79,000 multi-drug resistant TB patients. India falls in the list of high-burden countries, a list of countries that have higher counts of infected patients and have been prioritized on a global level.

WHY IS AWARENESS IMPORTANT

Tuberculosis still poses a great global health burden on medical facilities around the world. With over a quarter of the world infected with this disease, it is crucial to increase awareness to stop the spread of the illness. However, current surveys quantify that the degree of awareness about TB prevention is only around 63%.

 

SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS

The main symptoms of TB include persistent cough, consistent weight loss, loss of appetite, and coughing up blood.

THE RISK FACTORS

The risk factors for getting prone to TB infections are high due to the infectious nature of the disease. The following people are at risk:

People in close contact with a TB-infected patient

People with a poor immune response system

People  affected by habitual diseases like diabetes and kidney disorders

Cancer patients going through chemotherapy.

With the spread of this highly communicable disease on a rise, the WHO Europe, along with the UN, are working in close partnership to help countries speed up testing and response times. In December 2019, the Government of India created a national framework for a gender-responsive approach towards eradicating TB in India. As a key signatory of the UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, India has pledged to achieve its goal of a TB-free India by 2025. In the proposed 2020-2021 budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman advocated for expanding Jan Aushadhi Kendras to all districts of the country to provide medicines at affordable rates. If you have any more questions about tuberculosis awareness in India, you can visit the Central Tuberculosis Division’s website.

So this March 24th, on World TB Day, let’s make a commitment to reducing the stigma around tuberculosis and working towards a happier and healthier future.

 

0

Air Purifier: An alarming need to invest in your health

Where do you spend a major part of your day? Is it at home or in the office? Or maybe you are the third category of people who spend a lot of time on the road (travelling) if your work demands the same? Most of us are likely to belong to the initial two categories – which involves spending maximum time indoors.

You often hear people complain about the deteriorating air quality while travelling outside. But, do you know that the quality of indoor air (at home or office) is much worse than the air outside (as per EPA estimates). The indoor air is susceptible to different kinds of dust particles, germs, and similar micro-sized items, which when inhaled by you can cause allergies, breathing problems and related diseases, and even serious health issues.

This is scary – considering the amount of time you spend at the office for work, and at home for relaxation, unwinding, and getting some much-needed sleep. So, how do you ensure you breathe better quality of air indoors? Invest in a good set of air purifiers – and ensure better health for yourself, your family members, and your office colleagues.

In this post, let us find out how air purifiers can be an effective investment for your health maintenance through purification of indoor air.

What do Air Purifiers Do?

These purifiers comprise of few internal fans that pull the air circulating in your rooms/office space. They start removing airborne germs (bacteria), dust particles, pollen, and so on with the help of well-maintained filters. The purified air is then released back into the rooms/office space. This cycle of air purification keeps repeating at periodic intervals of time – till the time the air purifier is switched ON. Thus, they keep your surroundings free from harmful airborne particles and enable you to breathe relatively fresh and pure air while you are indoors.

Benefits Offered by Air Purifiers

Prevents Dust from Settling

No matter how much cleaning you get done at your home or office, dust will find a way to accumulate and start entering the bodies of people when they inhale air. This dust may come in from the nearby road or playground, or from the nearby construction site, and cause complications like sinus, watering of eyes, pulmonary issues, breathing problems, and so on.  The air purifier will trap the dust particles and get rid of most of them before releasing the improved air back to the indoor environment.

Gets Rid of Unpleasant Odour

Apart from removing harmful micro-sized particles from the air, their purifiers also help you to get rid of bad odour coming out of the kitchen (due to specific items being cooked), or from the socks, or from wet clothes. Thus, you need not worry about that bad odour causing cough, nausea or breathing issues.

Decreases Exposure to Harmful Smoke

Smoke – be it from cigarettes or from industries or from vehicle traffic is harmful to the human body as it may cause serious diseases related to the lungs or even aggravate the condition of people suffering from Asthma and any pulmonary complications.  Most of the harmful particles that emerge out from such smoke emissions can be removed with the help of air purifiers.

Keeps You Safe from Your Beloved Pets

You may think how can your healthy pet cause health issues to you. Well, many of those furry animals release airborne dander and similar allergens into the environment that can have a negative impact on your lungs over a long period of time. By using air purifiers, you can negate the impact of these airborne allergens coming out from your pet!

The above-listed are few of the benefits offered by an air purifying device. Most importantly, you can consider themselves as a must for a healthier lifestyle in home and office environments. BPL Medical Technologies has a wide range of compact and effective air purifiers, and you can browse through a variety of them here.

0

How Can You Contribute to Make the Air Around Cleaner?

We all are alive as long as we breathe. Are you aware of the quality of air that you breathe? Is it good, average, bad, worse or worst? Considering the various ways in which human beings have started polluting the environment, most of us are breathing air that is not good!

And this impacts the health of your lungs and could be the source for many complications or diseases that can happen to you in the future. It is therefore essential that you start taking small steps towards reducing air pollution, which in turn will make the air around cleaner. Let us have a look at some of these steps in this post.

Important Measures to Keep the Air Clean

Reduce Usage of Your Car

Just because you own a car doesn’t mean you take it along with you wherever you go. Stop taking the car daily to your office and instead opt for car-pooling or use public transport occasionally. For extremely short distances, walk around or cycle your way to the destination.

Make Your Car More Efficient

Whenever you use your car, make sure it utilizes less fuel by switching off the engine at signals, as well as ensuring the tyres are properly inflated. Additionally, get your car serviced regularly so that it remains efficient and utilizes less fuel.

Reduce Consumption of Energy

Electricity and gas pollute the air significantly. So, it makes sense to use them sparingly only when required. For example, keep your air conditioner ON to cool your room for an hour or so before you go to bed instead of keeping it ON the whole night. Try to maintain the temperature of the air conditioner around 24 degrees and avoid lower temperatures.

Use that washing machine or dishwasher at home only when you have full load. Avoid burning of wood for any purpose, and make limited usage of heaters during winter by switching it ON only in the rooms where you sit (instead of turning ON the heaters in all rooms).

Plant More Trees

Develop the habit of having few plants at your home, in your building, and in your surrounding areas. Start taking initiatives of planting more trees in a group at periodic intervals. Educate your kids to do the same so that the message gets spread to many people. As plants inhale carbon dioxide and exhale oxygen, they help to make the air clean.

These are some simple tips to make the air cleaner. There is another way to ensure that you breathe cleaner air at home, office, and wherever you go – by making use of air purifiers. BPL Medical Technologies offers a wide range of compact air purifiers and you can choose the one ideal for your requirements by having a look at them here.

0

Glasgow ECG Interpretation Algorithm

ECG Interpretation Algorithms

Ever since a ECG machine was developed, there have been a number of modifications and advancements that has helped technology evolve. In 1970s,  initial attempts at developing  the first ECG interpretation algorithm were put in. Since the accuracy of those algorithms were not up to the mark, several databases were built by various institutions to 9compare ECGs and check for accuracy. The methods for interpretation might include not limited to:

  1. Time-frequency methods
  2. Neural networks
  3. Comparison with templates

Continue reading “Glasgow ECG Interpretation Algorithm” →

0

12 channel ECG & Electrode placement

12-channel ECG lead placement

ECG – Electrocardiographs

Did you know that ECG as a concept originated in 1901? They coined a term Electrocardiograph as Electro meant Electrical Activity, Kardio meant Heart and Graph meant to write. Briefly put, a ECG measures the electrical activity of the heart and traces it as a graph helping the physician understand how your heart works. From then (machines with analog electronics), to now(with analog-to-digital converters), Electrocardiographs have evolved and come a long way. Continue reading “12 channel ECG & Electrode placement” →

5

A deep dive into BPL-Alpinion’s Intra-oral transducer

IO3-12, the latest innovation in the field of Ultrasonography is BPL-Alpinion’s sophisticated intra-oral transducer. Designed with a footprint as small as the size of a toothbrush, the transducer performs trans-oral sonography with ease. With its small footprint and easy grip, clinicians can easily manoeuvre and view intra- oral structures such as salivary duct dilatations and can also check the position of stone real time during Sialo lithotomy. Continue reading “A deep dive into BPL-Alpinion’s Intra-oral transducer” →

0

Automated External Defibrillator – A must have in all public places

“A stitch in time saves nine” says an adage and when it comes to last minute efforts in saving lives, every second counts. Public access defibrillators (PAD) or Automated External Defibrillators (AED) as they are called, are defibrillators used to revive a person of cardiac arrest. These devices come with automated voice controls and easy operations for everyone to be able to use it in times of need. Continue reading “Automated External Defibrillator – A must have in all public places” →

0

Create a website or blog at WordPress.com

Up ↑