50 Incredible Open Lectures on Global Health | Online Nursing Programs.net

I got this note from Amer Johnson today and decided to post the link.
Hi,
We just posted an article, "50 Incredible Open Lectures on Global Health" (http://www.onlinenursingprograms.net/2009/50-incredible-open-lectures-on-global-health/). I thought I'd drop a quick line and let you know in case you thought it was something you're audience would be interested in reading. Thanks!
Amber Johnson


50 Incredible Open Lectures on Global Health | Online Nursing Programs.net: "50 Incredible Open Lectures on Global Health Nov 10th, 2009

Many believe that technology has made the world feel smaller, with a greater sense of community. While this is likely true, there are areas in which the global community is struggling to find solutions for problems. Health care in countries around the world is one such issue. Poverty, lack of education, environmental issues, natural disasters, and terrorism are just a few of the reasons why there are many global health concerns that need addressing. These lectures promise to open your eyes, impart wisdom, and perhaps even inspire you to become involved in creating solutions to global health concerns.

Infectious Diseases

Infectious diseases create a huge impact on the health of people around the world. Find out what is and can be done to help prevent these diseases."

Electronic medical records draw frequent criticisms - washingtonpost.com

Electronic medical records draw frequent criticisms - washingtonpost.com: "Under the stimulus program, hospitals and physicians can claim millions of dollars for IT purchases, and will be penalized if they do not go digital by 2015. Obama has said the changes will save billions and will minimize medication errors.

Helge: Need to follow this.

But health IT's effectiveness is unclear. Researchers at the University of Minnesota found in March that electronic records prevented only two infections a year. A 2005 report in the journal Pediatrics found that deaths at the children's hospital at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center more than doubled in the five months after a computerized order-entry system went online. UPMC said the study had not found that technology caused the rise in mortality and maintained that medication errors were down 60 percent since computers were introduced in 2002.

Helge: More effective health care with IT? That's the question.

Others studies have concluded that health IT saves time and reduces errors. It has been used successfully in organizations such as the Department of Veterans Affairs and Kaiser Permanente."

Health sector about to embrace Web 2.0

A year ago, the health sector in U.S. Was sneaking at the possibility of embracing Web 2.0 tactics like social media and networking.

The future of sharing your health information may become an everyday occurrence.

How much information are we ready to share?

What is the value of information distributed to hundreds of silos?

How about all the stuff that hasn't been digitized yet?

IMESO GmbH Medizinische Online-Dokumentation

I decided to blog about this company in relation to my previous post about OLGA. I'm not sure if this is the company, but I'll continue to search for more background information.

IMESO GmbH Medizinische Online-Dokumentation: "ICUData collects all administrative, medical and custodial data at the intenive care unit. Substantial import mechanisms from various data sources of the clinic, like laboratory, microbiology, X-Ray findings, operation documentation, admission- and discharge-diagnosis, online-anaesthesia logging etc., via HL7, relieves the documentation for the intensive care staff. Statistics can be generated for clinical, administrative and scientific questions."

OLGA Online Guideline Assist

OLGA computer optimized patient care has been in use at the Uniklinik Giessen, Germany, since 2007. The development started at the Frauenhofer Institute and is intended to support the therapy (standard operating procedures) of patients in intensive care units.

One of the objectives is to decrease the bed-time of patients.

I've to look for more information about OLGA and the idea of the program installed into digital assistants.

One hour later: here is more information about OLGA:

Rising cost pressure due to the implementation of the DRG-System and quality assurance lead to an increased use of therapy standards and standard operating procedures (SOPs) in intensive care medicine. The intention of the German Scientific Society supported project "OLGA" (Online Guideline Assist) is to develop a prototype of a knowledge based system supporting physicians of an intensive care unit in recognizing the indication for and selecting a specific guideline or SOP. While the response of the prototype on user entries can be displayed as a signal on the used workstation itself, the location and time for a reminder of scheduled or missed procedures or reactions to imported information is a difficult issue. One possible approach to this task is the display of non acknowledged reminders or recommendations while logging on to a system. The objective of this study is to analyse user behaviour of the physicians working on the surgical intensive care unit to decide whether the login authentication is a sufficient trigger for clinical reminding.

Here is another reference.

Objective  While developing the patient data management system ICUData in close cooperation with the software company (IMESO GmbH, Hüttenberg, Germany), a therapeutic guideline assistance system for empiric antimicrobial therapy in ICU (called “Antibiotic Wizard”) could be introduced and integrated into the existing software. After its introduction into clinical routine, the first version was to be tested, checked for usability and compared to other software products with the help of the IsoMetrics ^s inventory (based on the EN ISO 9241-10 for computer-assisted workflows). 

I'm not sure if they refer to the same thing: OLGA. Need to continue checking.

mPRO - Mobile Patient Reported Outcomes - Gather high quality patient reported data in a timely and efficient manner with tools from Vodafone Global Enterprise

I search for Mobile Patient Data collection examples. I think there could be a multitude of applications where mobile devices could help the collection of data and sure that the updating of patient records are almost real-time.

mPRO - Mobile Patient Reported Outcomes - Gather high quality patient reported data in a timely and efficient manner with tools from Vodafone Global Enterprise: "Many drugs, biologics and medical devices in the pharmaceutical discovery and development pipeline hold the promise of reducing the impact of health problems in everyday life. The development process, however, is a complex and challenging one.

To introduce new treatments, regulators, sponsors, payors and patients need to fully understand their safety and value. The collection of accurate patient reported data in the development process is essential.

Missing and invented data has a significant impact on the study’s ability to detect treatment related differences. Estimates suggest it can be necessary to recruit four times as many people for a study where you have 50 per cent of data missing, to achieve the same statistical power as a study with no missing data.

Vodafone mobile Patient Reported Outcomes (mPRO) uses web and mobile technology to improve the collection and management of patient reported data."

SpringerLink - Book Chapter - Mobile Medical Data

Here is about "adding and editing patient demographical data, medical prescription, medical images and graphs". Getting closer to what I'm looking for.

SpringerLink - Book Chapter: "The primary aim of this study is to look into the feasibility of developing a mobile patient data management system using ASP .Net technology. It was envisioned that medical personnel, by using any WAP-enabled devices, will not be restricted to a specified location in order to retrieve, add, or edit patient data. The current system has achieved its main objectives of adding and editing patient demographical data, medical prescription, medical images and graphs. The system has been designed to be backward and forward compatible; ensuring unlimited module expansion in the future."

UpCode - Ignite Your Imagination - UpCode Ltd.

I received and email fromUpCode today and plan to learn more about this company active in the fields of:

- Mobile technology
- RFID = Radio Frequency Identification
- NFC = Near Field Communication
- Mobile software solutions
- Upcode is a NFC in itself

Their video explains all about it. Upcode, yes!

UpCode - Ignite Your Imagination - UpCode Ltd.: "UpCode Ltd.

Advanced mobile solutions for professional and personal needs, consumer applications and enterprise solutions.

UpCode Ltd. is developing the system technology (MAI)™, Mobile Access & Interaction, in all its aspects including multi-functionality and different reading/scanning technologies, including RFID type of NFC technology.

All rights (international copyright) belong to UpCode Ltd/ UPC Consulting Ltd. IPR on request. All mobile software and solutions are developed inhouse by UpCode ltd.

Helge: I hope to be able to present the company!

We operate on international scale from our headquarters in Finland (Vaasa and Helsinki) Shanghai, Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires, Los Angeles, Rwanda and London. UpCode has official representatives also around the world."

They seem to be active in the following countries:

o Africa
o The Netherlands
o Hungary
o Iran
o Korea
o Argentina
o Asia
o Austria
o Brazil
o China
o Finland
o Germany
o Latin America
o Middle East
o Sweden
o Switzerland
o Turkey
o UK
o USA
o Russia

That's an impressive list for a company I didn't know about before.

The power of Twitter – brain surgeons and students tweeting real time during operation | Healthy Conversations

I got this information through Eric Brody's Twitter message.

"We've been ahead of time with some tweets concerning CTS, but never got down to the actucal surgical procedure.

The power of Twitter – brain surgeons and students tweeting real time during operation | Healthy Conversations: "Healthy Conversations: Creating New Energy For Health + Healthy Lifestyle Brands | The power of Twitter – brain surgeons and students tweeting real time during operation

Tremendous example of the power of Twitter. Watch this abc news report of surgeons tweeting real time with medical students and residents as they perform brain surgery at Henry Ford Hospital."

Eric Brody, the President of Trajectory: "We re-energize businesses by helping clients see and create new opportunities to accelerate growth. Before Trajectory, I was EVP Management Board member at Interbrand, the world's most influential brand consultancy. I've also held senior level marketing positions at Faberge, L'Oreal and Beiersdorf."

Hospitals Reach Deal With Administration - washingtonpost.com

Hospitals Reach Deal With Administration - washingtonpost.com: "Tuesday, July 7, 2009

The nation's hospitals agreed last night to contribute $155 billion over 10 years toward the cost of insuring the 47 million Americans without health coverage, according to two industry sources.

The agreement that three hospital associations reached with White House officials and leaders of the Senate Finance Committee is the latest in a series of side deals that aim to reduce the cost of revamping the nation's health-care system and to neutralize influential industries that have historically opposed such reforms.

With President Obama out of the country, a formal announcement is expected tomorrow from Vice President Biden.

'Getting health-care reform is absolutely critical,' said one hospital negotiator, who was not authorized to speak for attribution about the deal before the official announcement. 'This is our attempt to act in good faith.'"

Healthcare Economics

I'm consulting wikipedia about health care economics. It says:

"Health economics is a branch of economics concerned with issues related to scarcity in the allocation of health and health care. Broadly, health economists study the functioning of the health care system and the private and social causes of health-affecting behaviors such as smoking."

Helge: I think that spirometry could be considered as a tool that can distinguish some of the effects of smoking.

A seminal 1963 article by Kenneth Arrow, often credited with giving rise to the health economics as a discipline, drew conceptual distinctions between health and other goals.

Helge: We've discussed health care economics in relationship to Carpal Tunnel Diagnostics for several years. There is a resistance to change in the system. New technologies are adapted slowly if they are threatening existing money making practices.

Factors that distinguish health economics from other areas include extensive government intervention, intractable uncertainty in several dimensions, asymmetric information, and externalities.

Helge: Government intervention could be a possibility, but there is much more lip-service and talk than real action in this field.

Governments tend to regulate the health care industry heavily and also tend to be the largest payer within the market. Uncertainty is intrinsic to health, both in patient outcomes and financial concerns.

Helge: It takes a long time for policy makers to learn and understand what could be good and cheaper in the long run.

The knowledge gap that exists between a physician and a patient creates a situation of distinct advantage for the physician, which is called asymmetric information. Externalities arise frequently when considering health and health care, notably in the context of infectious disease. For example, making an effort to avoid catching a cold, or practicing safer sex, affects people other than the decision maker.

Helge: The medical experts do have an advantage, they are trusted and they do have a strong voice. New ideas don't grow in a top-down and authoritarian environment.

The scope of health economics is neatly encapsulated by Alan Williams' "plumbing diagram"[3] dividing the discipline into eight distinct topics:

• What influences health? (other than health care)
• What is health and what is its value
• The demand for health care
• The supply of health care
• Micro-economic evaluation at treatment level
• Market equilibrium
• Evaluation at whole system level; and,
• Planning, budgeting and monitoring mechanisms.

Bronte Nursery - Intelligent Daycare

We're looking into social care, health care, education and daycare of children with new eyes. New solutions are needed in Finland and globally to handle both cost and quality of care. In addition to what is said below, we think that technology, architecture, and new communication methods can be applied to handle the rising cost burden and challenge.

Bronte Nursery - Intelligent Daycare: "Bronte Nursery is founded not upon systems, business plans or marketing but upon a concept we call 'Intelligent Daycare'.

'Intelligent Daycare' means observing and responding to children with intelligence, kindness, insight and affection.

Irja commented: They focus on the emotional. There isn't much mention about how to combine technology, architecture, and communication tools the way we've been talking about.

To give an example, very young children have clear needs and strong emotions but they are unable to express them in a way that can be understood. This must be very frustrating – and it is the frustration that makes itself heard, not the need.

To try and soothe frustration without seeing to the need can simply lead to more frustration. Recognising the need and understanding how best to deal with it requires intelligence and care.

Our staff will observe your child's needs – whether these be play, sleep, food, drink, soothing, a clean nappy or a cuddle – and respond sensitively and kindly.

Like adults, children do not want to be stimulated all the time. Sometimes they want to gaze into space, play with their toes, go off into their own world or drift gently into sleep. This is good for their sense of calm, their imagination and their feeling of security.

Helge: A very good observation!

At other times, children feel lively and bright – and then is the time to offer them opportunities for exploration and interaction.

People develop more quickly in their first four years than at any other time in their life.

At any stage, it takes intelligence to respond to the child's mood and character sensitively, lovingly, and appropriately."

Suunto's Extreme Measures

Suunto is a leading manufacturer of sports instruments for a variety of sports, including

• outdoor,
  
• diving,
• endurance training,
  
• and golf.

Suunto has been emphasizing a consumer driven product definition process, very much like Nokia has done.

Focusing on marketing and R&D
They prioritized problem areas
How to create demand with limited resources.

• Suunto was born in 1936
• Located in Vantaa
• Wrist computers

Innovating well-being

Looking at a health care program focusing on identifying new solutions for improving the health care provision in Finland.

• Loviisa
• Kotka
  
• Porvoo
• Helsinki
• All over the country
  

The demand for new services is now growing very rapidly, as the population get older.

• Growing demand
  
• Limited resources
  
• Need to use capacity more efficiently
  
• How to meet peoples needs
  
• We need to bring together all the key players
  
• Expanding the offerings of the private sector
  
• Implementing research, training, and pilot projects
  
• Promoting a rethink about how health care services are provided and managed

Las Vegas

I'm watching Las Vegas. It's not a program about medical innovations, even though some pretty nasty things happen in an environment where Money has a central role.

President Barack Obama is planning to improve Medicare and transfer USA to a Green society. Both these objectives sound great and Obama is an excellent motivator.

But, is he also a gambler? Experts say that it's not going to be easy. Talk is cheap and execution is difficult.

Both these moves are also going to cost a lot of money. Innovations don't happen, they are made. Bold visions are needed to get the US economy on a new track.

We might need to do some Las Vegas gambling in Finland as well to replace the stagnating Forestry industry.

Finland has numerous small medical innovation manufacturers who might think that Obama's move is a good thing for our medical companies as well.

The problem: how to get there in time.

Robert J. Samuelson - Obama's 'Post-Material' Economy - washingtonpost.com

Robert J. Samuelson - Obama's 'Post-Material' Economy - washingtonpost.com: "President Obama has made no secret of his vision for America's 21st-century economy. We will lead the world in 'green' technologies to stop global warming.

Advancing medical breakthroughs will improve our well-being, control health spending and enable us to expand insurance coverage. These investments in energy and health care, as well as education, will revive the economy and create millions of well-paying new jobs for middle-class Americans.

It's a dazzling rhetorical vista that excites the young and fits the country's mood, which blames 'capitalist greed' for the economic crisis. Obama promises communal goals and a more widely shared prosperity. The trouble is that it may not work as well in practice as it does in Obama's speeches. Still, congressional Democrats press ahead to curb global warming and achieve near-universal health insurance. We should not be stampeded into far-reaching changes that have little to do with today's crisis.


What Obama proposes is a 'post-material economy.' He would de-emphasize the production of ever-more private goods and services, harnessing the economy to achieve broad social goals. In the process, he sets aside the standard logic of economic progress. "

Healthcare Future

29032009251
Originally uploaded by Helge V. Keitel

Soon, a medical device manufacturer can build a blood pressure gauge accessory and associated software application that plugs into your iPhone or iPod touch and tracks your blood pressure over time, comparing it to a network of people with similar age/body/health types to give you a relative Wellness Score and underlying data in real time.

Could it be fashioned into an enabling engine for a Healthy Living Movement or a National Health Monitoring Service (ANALOG: Nielsen for Health)?" - Anand Sharma via Bookmarklet

Medical Technology Distribtion

29032009259
Originally uploaded by Helge V. Keitel

WHEN Facebook signed up its 100 millionth member August 2009, its employees spread out in two parks in Palo Alto, Calif., for a huge barbecue. Sometime this week, this five-year-old start-up, born in a dorm room at Harvard, expects to register its 200 millionth user.

It's a pretty much different story to introduce medical technology innovations to the healthcare community. Highly specialized technology users and buyers don't yet gather on Facebook or use Social Media.

That's still the way traditional wisdom goes. However, the scene is changing quicker than we think. Facebook is a very young phenomenon and so is Ning and many other social media meeting places.

Traditional selling and distribution is very expensive for start-ups and technology innovators. They could benefit from a faster adaption and gathering around social media.

That staggering growth rate — doubling in size in just eight months — suggests Facebook is rapidly becoming the Web’s dominant social ecosystem and an essential personal and business networking tool in much of the wired world.

Sutter Medical Center Castro Valley

I got this link from Facebook today. President Obama says, "There is a need to extend health care coverage to millions of uninsured people across the country, while reducing cost and improving quality."

Sutter Medical Center Castro Valley: "By George Bischalaney, President & CEO, Eden Medical Center

Last week, the Obama Administration kicked off its efforts to address one the President’s stated priorities, health care reform. What does that mean, and what will be the result? I wish I really knew.

According to the President’s advisers—and Obama himself during the campaign—there is a need to extend health care coverage to millions of uninsured people across the country, while reducing cost and improving quality. Truly admirable goals with which very few could disagree.

Early discussion of President Obama’s plan calls for creating a savings of $634 billion over the next ten years to help fund reform. A recent article referred to this as a “down payment” on the overall expected costs. About half of this amount is targeted to come from reduced payments to Medicare and Medicaid (known as Medi-Cal in California) providers. On the surface, this is a disquieting concept.

Not too long ago, Eden Medical Center was recognized as one of lowest cost hospital providers in California. It should be no surprise that our costs have risen over the past few years. We have invested heavily in new equipment, both in medical technology and information technology, in order to continue to bring state-of-the-art services to our communities, and to provide our physic...

Read more in the blog.

There is anohter thing that I need to take a look at.

We have launched a Social Media outreach program, using the Web to keep you informed about our progress in building the new Sutter Medical Center Castro Valley, a Sutter Health affiliate, which will eventually replace Eden Medical Center. We want to provide you with a forum to interact with us so we can address your questions and concerns.

Our blog will serve as your Internet "headquarters," where you can find updated information, plus you'll find links to other popular online social networks (see below), where we have started groups and online communities for further discussion about the new medical center.

We hope you'll subscribe by email or RSS feed. Please go to the "Subscribe by Email" box or the orange RSS icon above. The blog will be updated frequently.

We look forward to hearing from you and starting a conversation! Please feel free to comment at the bottom of any of the posts. We will respond.

Electronic Medical Record Systems

Electronic medical record systems are being touted as the wave of the future in health care and communication, but only 17 percent of U.S. doctors have embraced the technology, a new survey finds, according to Business Week. When you use a good definition of what a record system is, very few physicians appear to have one.

The definition of a fully functional electronic medical record system includes a patient's

1. complete medical records,
   
2. medication lists,
   
3. problems, and clinical notes from past visits.
   

The doctor can also order prescriptions, laboratory tests and radiology tests electronically. In addition, the doctor can review

1. lab results and view X-rays,
   
2. MRIs or other scans on the computer

There are also warnings about inappropriate prescriptions or abnormal lab results. And the systems remind the doctor when lab or screening tests are needed.

For the survey, DesRoches and her colleagues surveyed 2,758 doctors nationwide about their use of electronic medical record systems. The researchers found that 4 percent reported having a fully functional system. An additional 13 percent said they had a basic system.

The survey also found that primary care doctors and doctors with large practices or those in hospitals or medical centers were more likely to have electronic medical record systems. In addition, doctors in the western region of the United States were more likely to have such systems.

Both Medicare and private insurance companies are pushing doctors to adopt electronic medical record systems as a way of monitoring quality of care, which will be a basis for reimbursement levels, DesRoches noted.

Source: Business Week

Read more about the topic at American Medical News.

Innokas Medical - company

There was a coincidence today that took me from Medanets Oy to Innokas Medical. I'll explain this thread in more detail during the coming weeks. Below is official information about the company from their webpage.

Innokas Medical - company: "Company profile. Innokas Medical is a Finnish contract R&D and manufacturing company that specialises in healthcare technology. The company was established in 1994 by Mr. Jouni Ihme. Innokas Medical's business idea is to provide Contract Design and Manufacturing services for medical and in-vitro customers.

Innokas Medical's headquarters are located in Kempele, near the technology city Oulu. Innokas also has a site in Helsinki and an office in Kuusamo.

Innokas Medical has a stable owner base that gives the company a good financial position in this period of robust growth. As a contract partner of significant international companies, Innokas Medical has established a strong position in the field of medical technology in Finland. The company's customers include renowned world-class companies in medical technology, which operate in the global markets and whose products make them market leaders in their field.

The most important cornerstone of Innokas Medical's operation is the unconditional quality of our products and services and our commitment to the industry and to fulfilling its special requirements."

Global Health and Healthcare Innovtions

There is an amazing body of work out there about global health. Books, websites, blogs, podcasts, videos – you can learn about any global health topic if you do a little digging. I write about health, wellness and welfare issues in English, Swedish and English.

I'm start to write a new collection of blog posts about global health and medical technology success stories. Hoping this becomes a blog you choose tom come back to when changing the world and adoption of innovation seems hopeless or fruitless.

1. Innovation doesn't come easy
2. It takes time to get acceptance
3. Disruptive innovations are a threat to outdated methods
4. Cost-saving and better quality are possible with innovative methods
   

I need to teach myself about health topics, or brush up on something I haven’t thought about in a while.

Any topic I need to know more about is here on the Internet. I can spend hours browsing, checking out about, pulmonary function measurement, carpal tunnel syndrome diagnostic methods, epidemiology, or the future of global health.

Industry News | Healthcare Finance News

How will the economic downturn affect the healthcare and wellness sector? Here is an article from USA. I got the information through Twitter and Jonena Relth.

• Name: Jonena Relth
• Location: Southern CA
• Web: Jonena L. Relth
  
• Bio: CEO, Leadership Evangelist, Performance Consultant, Employee Engagement & Empowerment, Health 2.0

I've been askin Twitter for some times, how many persons are representing the medical, wellness, andhealthcare sector. There seems to be more than I initially expected.

Read more from the Industry News | Healthcare Finance News: "CHICAGO – Despite announcements by hospitals and clinics across the country of budget and job cuts, the overall healthcare employment outlook is still promising, according to an industry forecast.

Seventeen percent of large healthcare employers who responded to CareerBuilder.com's annual healthcare hiring survey indicated that they plan to increase the number of full-time employees in 2009.

Last year, the industry grew by 372,000 jobs.

'Our survey shows that the industry is adding headcount with a steady hiring pace,' said Allison Nawoj, spokeswoman for CareerBuilder.com, an online job site.

Half of those surveyed reported having positions that have remained open because of the inability to find qualified skilled workers, she said.

An upcoming CareerBuilder.com survey will show that nearly 30 percent of survey respondents across all industries will be hiring for information technology positions.

With healthcare poised for growth in 2009 in many nonclinical departments, jobseekers in other industries should consider how they can transfer their skills in management, accounting and other areas, Nawoj said."

Global Collaboration with CTS specialists

Finding the right people to talk with isn't an easy task. We're already 6,7 billion inhabitants on the globe. What should I do to find, country by country, all the specialists that are interested about:

1. Carpal tunnel syndrome diagnostic methods
2. Occupational health specialists with special interest in CTS
3. Doctors and General Practitioners specialized in CTS diagnosis
4. Enterprises and Insurance companies with special interest in CTS

I've been working with a new strategy where the blog has the role of giving background and personal branding. My goal is to get into a dialog with healthcare specialists around the globe that can advice me about how to penetrate new national and regional markets.

I can assure you, this isn't easy but it's not impossible. It takes a lot of networking and collaboration in forums, networks and communities.

The world population is the total number of living humans on Earth at a given time. As of January 2009, the world's population is estimated to be about 6.7 billion.^[1] According to population projections, this figure continues to grow; the 2008 rate of growth has almost halved since its peak of 2.2% per year, which was reached in 1963. World births have levelled off at about 134 million per year since the mid 1990's, and are expected to remain constant. However, deaths are only around 56 million per year, and are expected to increase to 90 million by the year 2050. Since births outnumber deaths, the world's population is expected to reach nearly 9 billion by the year 2042.^[2][3] Please see World population estimates for more figures.

More direct contacts every day

Hello, I'm getting more direct contacts with doctors and healthcare professionals every day. Blogs are great for "one to many" communication but the interaction takes place in medical communities. Nevertheless, I need to have a blog or home page to tell about what I'm doing on a daily basis.

According to international epidemiological studies, the incidence of carpal tunnel syndrome is 3%in men and 5% in women. We also know that up to 15% of the population suffer from CTS-like symptoms such as numbness, tingling, pain, weakness or clumsiness in the hand!

Over 80,000 people suffer from these symptoms in Helsinki region alone. Every year, 190 women and 90 men / 100,000 inhabitants are diagnosed with CTS which is which is 3 ‰ (per mille) of the population. The numbers for London are 10 to 15 times the Helsinki figure!