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2008 USC Body Computing Conference 2.0
Webcast & Summary
Friday, October 24, 2008
Opening Remarks
Leslie Saxon, MD, Chief, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, USC Keck School of Medicine
Dr. Saxon, as conference host, gives her thoughts on the significance of the conference, and the progress made since last year's inaugural event. During her opening remarks she revealed a surprise to the audience - she was wearing a Corventis wireless networked patch. As the audience looked on, her physiological information was displayed real-time on the overhead projector.
C.L. Max Nikias, PhD, Executive Vice President and Provost, USC
Dr. Nikias shares his perspective on the rapid progress the field of body computing is making, and the leading role USC plays in it.
Panel One - Innovators: Too Early to Market?
Moderator: Leslie Saxon, MD, Chief, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, USC Keck School of Medicine
Panelist: Jay Yadav , MD, Chairman & CEO, CardioMEMS, Inc.
Panelist: Ed Manicka, PhD, President & CEO, Corventis
Panelist: Marshall Stanton, MD, Vice President, Clinical Research, Medtronic, Inc.; Senior Staff Member, Medtronic CRDM
Panelist: Neal Eigler, MD, Senior Vice President, CRMD Technology Incubation, St. Jude Medical
Panelist: Fred Colen, President, Boston Scientific CRM Group and Executive VP of Boston Scientific
Dr. Saxon led a discussion between several key players in the networked device arena, including representatives of devices on the market from established biotech firms, and soon-to-be-released products from startup companies. A St. Jude SAVACOR-implanted ICD patient, present in the audience, was introduced and invited to make a device transmission from his seat. Moments later his heart data was shown on the projector. Demos from CardioMEMS, Medtronic, and Boston Scientific were also performed.
James Mault, a later panelist, brought up a strong challenge to the panel - asking how an already maxed-out medical market could hope to pay for such expensive new technologies. The resounding answer was that these new technologies, by shifting the focus to a more pervasive disease management model, will allow the disease status of heart failure patients to be monitoried continuously, alerting medical professionals when problems begin to crop up and keeping patients healthy, happy and in their homes - out of hospitals and out of doctors offices - thus lowering costs while vastly improving quality of care.
It was clear from the panel's discussion that no, body computing technologies are not too early to market.
Panel Two - Is the Future Now? Or Never? Prospects and Roadblocks
Moderator: Thomas M. Burton, JD, Staff Reporter, The Wall Street Journal
Panelist: Don Jones, JD, Vice President, Business Development, Qualcomm, Inc.
Panelist: Andrew Thompson, President and CEO, Proteus Biomedical
Panelist: Brian Fitzgerald, Deputy Division Director, Division of Electrical and Software Engineering, US Food & Drug Administration
Panelist: Dana Mead, Partner, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
Tom Burton led a discussion around how networked information data could be multipurposed. He also led an exciting discussion of business models for body computing. The regulatory aspects of networked devices were extensively discussed.
Keynote Speaker
Michael Chorost, PhD, Author, Rebuilt: How Becoming Part Computer Made Me More Human
Dr. Chorost gave an illuminating talk on the intersection of technology, medicine, and humanity. A dual cochlear implant recipient, he is a real-life cyborg, and since has become a leading advocate and thinker in the field of body computing. His research and knowledge of the field is vast, and his unique perspective as both an advocate and recipient of the technology is invaluable.
Panel 3 - For the People: How to Make Body Computing Work in the Real World
Moderator: Ed Saxon, Producer, Ed Saxon Productions
Panelist: Tucker Viemeister, Lab Chief, Rockwell Group
Panelist: Maja Mataric', PhD, Director, Center for Robotics & Embedded Systems; Senior Associate Dean for Research, USC Viterbi School of Engineering
Panelist: James Mault, MD, Director, Health Solutions Group, Microsoft, Inc.
Panelist: Garry Neil, MD, Vice President, Corporate Office of Science & Technology, Johnson & Johnson
Ed Saxon led a diverse group of panelists in a discussion of how to best present the powerful and revolutionary capabilities of body computing to the end users: the healthcare provider and the patient.
A key point was that patients have a right to their health information, and efforts like Dr. Mault's HealthVault project are going a long way towards making this a reality. However, the needs of the patient differ greatly depending on the circumstance, and it is important that the healthcare interface that patients interact with cater to those variable needs. For example, Tucker has helped design children's hospitals with the design layots created from the eye level perspective of a child, and Dr. Mataric' has developed specially configured non-threatening robots to interact with autistic children. Dr. Neil spoke about the importance and commitment of large companies like Johnson & Johnson to engage in this space.
Panel 4 - Widening Perspectives: Summarizing the Body Computing Revolution
Moderator: Geoffrey Moore, Partner, Mohr Davidow Ventures; Author, Dealing With Darwin and Crossing the Chasm
Panelist: Leslie Saxon, MD, Chief, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, USC Keck School of Medicine
Panelist: David Cassak, Managing Partner, Windhover Information, Inc.; Editor, IN VIVO, Startup
Panelist: Morley Winograd, Executive Director, Center for Telecom Management, USC Marshall School of Business
Geoffrey Moore led a final panel that summarized both the day of the conference and the current status of body computing as a whole. It was a quick-fire panel, with Geoffrey frequently calling on previous panelists from their seats in the audience.
2008 USC Body Computing Slam
Thursday, October 23, 2008
MC: Leslie Saxon, MD, Chief, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, USC Keck School of Medicine
Judge: Francis Pereira, PhD, Director, Industry Research, Institute for Communications Technology and Management, USC
Judge: John Lalonde, Vice President, Latitude Research & Development, Boston Scientific CRM
Judge: Donald Jones, Vice President, Business Development, Qualcomm, Inc.
Judge: Jonathan Lash, PhD, Director, Alfred E. Mann Institute for Biomedical Engineering at USC
Judge: Neil Eigler, MD, Senior Vice President, CRMD Technology Incubation, St. Jude Medical
Presenter: Tucker Viemeister, Lab Chief, Rockwell Group - "title"
Tucker presented his recent sensory immersion project he'd worked on for the Venice Architecture Biennial - The Hall of Fragment - as a potential form of therapy for patients, or even as a respite for weary travelers.
Presenter: Hosseim Hashemi, PhD, Professor, USC Viterbi School of Engineering - "The Cognitive Medical Environment"
Dr. Hashemi presented on the collaborative vision of several prominent USC faculty in driving towards a future where continuous, real-time monitoring of various physiological functions is a reality.
Presenters: Matthew Weber, Jessica Gould, PhD Candidates, USC Annenberg School of Communication - "A Mobile Videosharing Network for Young Adult Cancer Survivors"
Matthew and Jessica presented work they are conducting with Dr. Margaret McLaughlin to create a cellphone-based social network for cancer patients transitioning from childhood to adulthood and leaving their care environment. The social network project aims to foster a robust, caring community for young adult cancer survivors to enter using relatively cheap, simple-to-use cell phones as the medium for communication. Eventually, other patient populations could also be linked this way. Matthew and Jessica were named as the Honorable Mention Most Outstanding Body Computing Slam Presenting Group.
Presenter: Chris Kasabach, Co-Founder, Director, BodyMedia, Inc. - "title"
Mr. Kasabach presented on his company, BodyMedia, which produces wearable wireless devices for health and fitness monitoring. BodyMedia has had products on the market for years, and is a major player in the wearable device sector.
Presenters: Marientina Gotsis, Media Lab Manager, USC School of Cinematic Arts; Maryalice Jordan-Marsh, PhD, Professor, USC School of Social Work - "Beyond Exergaming"
Ms. Gotsis and Dr. Jordan-Marsh represented an interdisciplinary collaboration at USC working on health-centered video games. They envision a virtual world where players accumulate 'energy points' which can be exchanged to purchase accessories in a virtual world - health meets Tamagotchi.
Presenter: Samir Chatterjee, PhD, Director, Network Convergence Lab; Professor, Claremont Graduate College - "Sequencing the Human Lifestyle"
Atomic and molecular structures have been categorized, DNA has been sequenced, next up is the human lifestyle, says Dr. Chatterjee. As obesity rates skyrocket and wireless technology grows more prevalent, he is working to integrate the two. He has attached accelerometers, GPS receivers, etc. to patients, and linked them to their cell phones so that when they walk to an elevator, they get a text message telling them to take the stairs. When they enter a pizza joint, they get a text message reminding them to order salad. It's all part of using persuasive messages to understand and influence behavior.
Presenters: Eric Wade, PhD, Post-doctorate student, USC Viterbi School of Engineering; David Feil-Seifer, PhD Candidate, USC Viterbi School of Engineering - "Socially Assistive Robots for Monitoring, Rehabilitation, and Training"
Dr. Wade and Mr. Feil-Seifer presented their work with Dr. Maja Mataric' to develop specially-programmed and designed robots for patient populations requiring personalized, trained one-on-one care - such as autisic, Alzheimers, and stroke patients. As of today, their robots have proven effective at giving companionship and motivation to patients while monitoring them. In the future there is hope for a true synergy between human-provided and technology-assisted care, as the patient population increases faster than the care provider population. Dr. Wade and Mr. Feil-Seifer won the first annual Most Outstanding Body Slammer Award.
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