Empowered Patient Podcast

Francois Michelon is the CEO of ENDRA Life Sciences and describes the thermoacoustic enhanced ultrasound -TAEUS-technology ENDRA is developing to provide a safe and cost-effective way to measure the fat in the liver and diagnose non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). NAFLD is overtaking hepatitis as the world's leading root cause of the need for liver transplants. Current diagnostic options are using expensive MRI machines or performing a liver biopsy.

Francois says, "There are no blood tests that currently we're aware of that can measure fat in your liver. It's not like cholesterol that floats around in your bloodstream. You have to measure it directly, and it doesn't even deposit uniformly in your liver."

"ENDRA's technology uses a combination of radiofrequency pulses, which are akin to an MRI going in. Those radiofrequency pulses get absorbed differently into tissues. And we've been able to decode the sonic sound waves that come back out of tissues from that absorption of radiofrequency."

"As a result, we can do things that are very different from ultrasound, including measuring fat in the liver, along with other things like showing tissue temperature change to guide thermal ablative surgeries and other things that we have in our roadmap."

@ENDRALifeSci #NAFLD #NASH #LiverDisease #Ultrasound #TAEUS

ENDRAInc.com

Listen to the podcast here

Francois Michelon is the CEO of ENDRA Life Sciences and describes the thermoacoustic enhanced ultrasound -TAEUS-technology ENDRA is developing to provide a safe and cost-effective way to measure the fat in the liver and diagnose non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). NAFLD is overtaking hepatitis as the world's leading root cause of the need for liver transplants. Current diagnostic options are using expensive MRI machines or performing a liver biopsy.

Francois says, "There are no blood tests that currently we're aware of that can measure fat in your liver. It's not like cholesterol that floats around in your bloodstream. You have to measure it directly, and it doesn't even deposit uniformly in your liver."

"ENDRA's technology uses a combination of radiofrequency pulses, which are akin to an MRI going in. Those radiofrequency pulses get absorbed differently into tissues. And we've been able to decode the sonic sound waves that come back out of tissues from that absorption of radiofrequency."

"As a result, we can do things that are very different from ultrasound, including measuring fat in the liver, along with other things like showing tissue temperature change to guide thermal ablative surgeries and other things that we have in our roadmap."

@ENDRALifeSci #NAFLD #NASH #LiverDisease #Ultrasound #TAEUS

ENDRAInc.com

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Amy Fan is Co-Founder of Twentyeight Health a telemedicine startup successfully expanding its model to provide affordable reproductive healthcare to women in underserved communities.

Amy explains, "For example, many people coming from underserved communities, especially ones 30 years old or below, are living in multi-generational households, so privacy can be really difficult to come across. So being able to message your doctor directly is actually a more flexible model for them than, for example, doing a video consultation with the doctor."

"The other piece we focus on is affordability. We are one of the only telehealth companies that accept Medicaid, and unfortunately for individuals with Medicaid, it's very difficult to see a doctor in person. One in three doctors do not accept new Medicaid patients, and 45% of women between 20-30 years old do not have a primary care provider. So when you have those two combined, it ends up being very difficult for someone with Medicaid to see any healthcare professionals."

#WomensHealth #ReproductiveHealthcare #SexualHealthcare #BirthControl #Medicaid #Telehealth #Telemedicine

TwentyeightHealth.com

Listen to the podcast here

Amy Fan is Co-Founder of Twentyeight Health a telemedicine startup successfully expanding its model to provide affordable reproductive healthcare to women in underserved communities.

Amy explains, "For example, many people coming from underserved communities, especially ones 30 years old or below, are living in multi-generational households, so privacy can be really difficult to come across. So being able to message your doctor directly is actually a more flexible model for them than, for example, doing a video consultation with the doctor."

"The other piece we focus on is affordability. We are one of the only telehealth companies that accept Medicaid, and unfortunately for individuals with Medicaid, it's very difficult to see a doctor in person. One in three doctors do not accept new Medicaid patients, and 45% of women between 20-30 years old do not have a primary care provider. So when you have those two combined, it ends up being very difficult for someone with Medicaid to see any healthcare professionals."

#WomensHealth #ReproductiveHealthcare #SexualHealthcare #BirthControl #Medicaid #Telehealth #Telemedicine

TwentyeightHealth.com

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Karen Zaderej is the President, CEO, and Chairman of Axogen Inc. leader in the science of peripheral nerve regeneration and repair. Surgeons have always been challenged to restore feeling in damaged peripheral nerves due to accidents and surgical procedures.

Karen says, "Traditionally, they've removed the nerves that give you sensation for your foot to allow you, for example, to move your hand or have sensation in your fingers. Obviously, there are downsides to that, but moving your hand is probably more important for the patient. So that would have been the gold standard."

"So, you'd have two procedures, one to remove the nerve and another to fix the injury site. Today, what we're doing is providing surgeons an off-the-shelf opportunity to be able to do that same repair of the cut nerve and bridging of the gap, but to do it without taking another nerve from out of your body."

@Axogen #RegenerativeMedicine #NerveDamage #NerveRepair #PeripheralNerves #Nerves

AxogenInc.com

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Karen Zaderej is the President, CEO, and Chairman of Axogen Inc. leader in the science of peripheral nerve regeneration and repair. Surgeons have always been challenged to restore feeling in damaged peripheral nerves due to accidents and surgical procedures.

Karen says, "Traditionally, they've removed the nerves that give you sensation for your foot to allow you, for example, to move your hand or have sensation in your fingers. Obviously, there are downsides to that, but moving your hand is probably more important for the patient. So that would have been the gold standard."

"So, you'd have two procedures, one to remove the nerve and another to fix the injury site. Today, what we're doing is providing surgeons an off-the-shelf opportunity to be able to do that same repair of the cut nerve and bridging of the gap, but to do it without taking another nerve from out of your body."

@Axogen #RegenerativeMedicine #NerveDamage #NerveRepair #PeripheralNerves #Nerves

AxogenInc.com

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Dr. Mike Dulin is currently the Chief Medical Officer for Gray Matter Analytics and a professor at UNC Charlotte in the Department of Public Health Sciences where he directs the Academy for Population Health Innovation. He emphasizes that almost 80% of health outcomes are driven by social determinants. In addition to the traditional environmental determinants including access to food, transportation, a safe place to exercise, and health care, the strength of the patient's social network needs to be considered as well.

Mike explains, "Perhaps most importantly, and one area that we don't consider a lot is the social network. But often, your behaviors are driven by your social network, your peers, your friends, your family members. Their behaviors are really important in terms of shaping and determining yours. We've even found things like depression and mood can run through a social network. Well, other important factors like smoking and exercise and a healthy diet are also determined by your social network."

"The other component that I think is extremely important for us to remember as healthcare providers is that the data and the collection of the data can also cause stigma. People often may be embarrassed about not having access to certain services or unwilling to share it, or feel like it's not something that they can share directly with their physician."

@GrayMatterData #SDOH #SocialDeterminantsofHealth #HealthcareAnalytics #PersonalizedMedicine

GrayMatterAnalytics.com

Listen to the podcast here

Dr. Mike Dulin is currently the Chief Medical Officer for Gray Matter Analytics and a professor at UNC Charlotte in the Department of Public Health Sciences where he directs the Academy for Population Health Innovation. He emphasizes that almost 80% of health outcomes are driven by social determinants. In addition to the traditional environmental determinants including access to food, transportation, a safe place to exercise, and health care, the strength of the patient's social network needs to be considered as well.

Mike explains, "Perhaps most importantly, and one area that we don't consider a lot is the social network. But often, your behaviors are driven by your social network, your peers, your friends, your family members. Their behaviors are really important in terms of shaping and determining yours. We've even found things like depression and mood can run through a social network. Well, other important factors like smoking and exercise and a healthy diet are also determined by your social network."

"The other component that I think is extremely important for us to remember as healthcare providers is that the data and the collection of the data can also cause stigma. People often may be embarrassed about not having access to certain services or unwilling to share it, or feel like it's not something that they can share directly with their physician."

@GrayMatterData #SDOH #SocialDeterminantsofHealth #HealthcareAnalytics #PersonalizedMedicine

GrayMatterAnalytics.com

Download the transcript here

Dr. Nicole Wulf is a clinical pharmacist at FDB and has recently published a study of the current evidence regarding iodine containing compounds and iodine allergy cross-reactivity. Overall they found that there was a lack of evidence that iodine is an allergen and can cause hypersensitivity reactions particularly from contrast media used in imaging.

Nicole explains, "In my job, I'm always looking for ways in which we can improve the allergy alerts for clinicians. This is one thing that I have some questions about, and it made a lot of sense because iodine is part of the thyroid hormone in the body. So to me, it didn't make any sense for us to continue to let people spread the myth that iodine could be an allergen."

"I started pulling the literature and looking at it. It made a lot of sense that this was something that we needed to stop telling people that iodine was an allergen and that we shouldn't be putting it on patient profiles anymore because it was affecting patient care. People might not get the imaging studies they need or not the prescribed amiodarone, even though it's the best choice to treat their rhythm abnormalities."

"Some of the goal was definitely to educate clinicians to stop asking patients, are you allergic to iodine. Or when you're doing an imaging study, stop asking, are you allergic to seafood or shellfish, because they are totally unrelated. The seafood and shellfish reaction is the result of an allergy to a protein, not the iodine."

@FDB_US #ClinicalResearch #IodineAllergy #ImagingTests #MedSafety #PtSafety

FDBHealth.com

Download the transcript here

Dr. Nicole Wulf is a clinical pharmacist at FDB and has recently published a study of the current evidence regarding iodine containing compounds and iodine allergy cross-reactivity. Overall they found that there was a lack of evidence that iodine is an allergen and can cause hypersensitivity reactions particularly from contrast media used in imaging.

Nicole explains, "In my job, I'm always looking for ways in which we can improve the allergy alerts for clinicians. This is one thing that I have some questions about, and it made a lot of sense because iodine is part of the thyroid hormone in the body. So to me, it didn't make any sense for us to continue to let people spread the myth that iodine could be an allergen."

"I started pulling the literature and looking at it. It made a lot of sense that this was something that we needed to stop telling people that iodine was an allergen and that we shouldn't be putting it on patient profiles anymore because it was affecting patient care. People might not get the imaging studies they need or not the prescribed amiodarone, even though it's the best choice to treat their rhythm abnormalities."

"Some of the goal was definitely to educate clinicians to stop asking patients, are you allergic to iodine. Or when you're doing an imaging study, stop asking, are you allergic to seafood or shellfish, because they are totally unrelated. The seafood and shellfish reaction is the result of an allergy to a protein, not the iodine."

@FDB_US #ClinicalResearch #IodineAllergy #ImagingTests #MedSafety #PtSafety

FDBHealth.com

Listen to the podcast here