Next week I have the first of two procedures to remove the cataracts that have finally started affecting my vision. It’s a pretty simple “surgery” that takes about 15 minutes (don’t even have to take my shoes off!)
My ophthalmologist has recommended light adjustable lenses (LALs) which will require a series (three?) UV light adjustments a few weeks following the second surgery. More expensive and more visits but the best option for getting back to near 20-20 vision. Continue reading
“NVIDIA recently announced a suite of physical AI tools designed to let developers train surgical and service robots inside virtual hospital environments before they ever touch a patient. The centerpiece is a developer blueprint called Rheo which generates physically accurate simulations of hospital settings — modeling medical device interactions, human movements and logistics — so that robotic systems can be safely developed and tested in digital twins.” More »
Last October I had a robotic colectomy during which my surgeon used the Da Vinci Robotic Surgical System. No AI was involved but using AI tools to train surgical robots sounds like a good idea.
How good are these AI tools? A prototype (GR00T-H) has demonstrated the ability to execute a complete, end-to-end suture in the SutureBot benchmark, highlighting robust long-horizon dexterity.
All pharmaceutical companies seem to come up with bizarre made up names for their drugs. I asked Google’s Gemini to explain why this is so.
Gemini: Drug naming is a collision of three high-stakes worlds: trademark law, regulatory safety, and marketing psychology. The “bizarre” names you see are rarely the result of a creative whim; they are what’s left after a thousand more sensible names have been rejected. Here is why they sound like they were generated by a broken algorithm:
Yesterday I received an “Explanation of Benefits” from the company that provides my supplemental insurance to cover what Medicare does not. This is the first summary of some of the billing for my abdominal surgery. I’m sure there will be more to come.
This adventure started on September 23 and included doctor visits, blood tests, CT scans, scopes, surgery and all the rest. Total amount billed through November 25: $109,346.68. Total amount paid by my supplemental insurance: $303.31. My financial responsibility: $2,624.57. (This is the amount the provider may bill me after everything is paid.) I thought it would be more.
Not sure how much Medicare will pay before all is said and done. But without that coverage, I would have been on the hook for $100K+.
Watch on YouTube (3:30)
Colorectal surgery for a non-malignant growth-when performed electively in a stable patient-has a survival rate exceeding 99%, making it one of the safest major abdominal operations in modern practice. It was a very long month.
In a recent blog post Seth Godin linked to a company that’s using colonoscopy awareness in its marketing. (“Wear your ass on your sleeve. Every purchase helps fund colonoscopies for the underinsured.”) From their mission statement.
Colonoscopies prevent colon cancer, they don’t just diagnose them early. This makes them the best cancer screening EVER, hands down. Unlike other diagnostic screening tests, a colonoscopy can also remove polyps in the colon that can grow into fatal tumors. Super inspiring, right? But many people are wary of the procedure because of how it’s been talked about for 50 years: “invasive”, “hassle”, “awful”. And maybe that was true in the past, but today, it’s more like a spa appointment than a scary hospital visit: it’s essentially a fast, a cleanse, and a nap!
You can request laxative pills instead of the dreaded “colonoscopy cocktail.” Fasting can include gummy bears, and the end flush is often calm, comfortable, and non-dramatic. So given the choice between a mildly unpleasant doctor’s visit or a potentially fatal diagnosis, we will back that ass up every time!
I’ve had two colonoscopies in the last two weeks (one was a sigmoidoscopy) and the prep wasn’t pleasant but a small price to pay for a life-saving procedure. The GI doc removed a small polyp (non-malignant) and biopsied a small mass (also non-malignant). A week from tomorrow I’ll have surgery to remove that bad boy before he has a chance to turn badder. Stay tuned.
The upcoming Apple AirPods, particularly the anticipated AirPods Pro 3, are expected to bring a major expansion in health features, turning them into more than just audio devices. Here’s what to expect based on the latest information and insider reports:
In short: AirPods Pro 3 are set to introduce heart rate and temperature monitoring, enhanced hearing health tools, real-time translation, and the groundwork for even more advanced health sensing in future models. These additions could make AirPods a central device for daily wellness and medical monitoring, blurring the lines between headphones and health wearables.
I don’t care for the term “Robot Doctor” but blame that on the person who writes headlines for the New York Times. The following are excerpts from an op-ed piece (PDF) by Dr. Pranav Rajpurkar (see comment below) and Dr. Eric Topol of that asserts “a growing body of research suggests that A.I. is outperforming doctors, even when they use it as a tool.”
A recent M.I.T.-Harvard study examined how radiologists diagnose potential diseases from chest X-rays. The study found that when radiologists were shown A.I. predictions about the likelihood of disease, they often undervalued the A.I. input compared to their own judgment. The doctors stuck to their initial impressions even when the A.I. was correct, which led them to make less accurate diagnoses. Another trial yielded a similar result: When A.I. worked independently to diagnose patients, it achieved 92 percent accuracy, while physicians using A.I. assistance were only 76 percent accurate — barely better than the 74 percent they achieved without A.I.
The solution, we believe, is a deliberate division of labor. Instead of forcing both human doctors and A.I. to review every case side by side and trying to turn A.I. into a kind of shadow physician, a more effective approach is to let A.I. operate independently on suitable tasks so that physicians can focus their expertise where it matters most.
I’ll be 77 in a couple of months so I think I’m entitled to think about death, if only in passing. (Get it? “Passing?”) Today I asked ChatGPT what is the life-expectancy of a healthy 77 year old male living in the United States?
The life expectancy of a healthy 77-year-old male living in the United States can vary depending on factors such as overall health, lifestyle, genetics, and access to healthcare. On average a 77-year-old male in good health today can expect to live another 10 to 13 years, reaching an age of 87 to 90. If you’re particularly healthy, maintain good habits (e.g., regular exercise, a healthy diet, avoiding smoking, and managing stress), you might live even longer. The Social Security Administration’s actuarial data suggests that a male aged 77 has a remaining life expectancy of approximately 10.4 years, but this is just an average and doesn’t account for the benefits of excellent health or medical advancements.
