Time to rest & recharge!
I'll be back in the New Year with more posts on what's the best & hottest in tech & dental technology, but until 2012 I'm trying to recharge. Hope you have a great holiday season!!!
The life and times of the Chief Dental Editor of Dental Products Report magazine and dentistry's "Technology Evangelist". Follow my thoughts and travels as I practice, write, lecture, tinker, and experiment with technology and technology in dentistry.
Time to rest & recharge!
I'll be back in the New Year with more posts on what's the best & hottest in tech & dental technology, but until 2012 I'm trying to recharge. Hope you have a great holiday season!!!
For the full story, read about the discovery at fareastgizmos.com
If you read this blog... then you are either a geek or someone who wants to know what geeks like me are thinking about! :-)
Not being one to disappoint, I thought I would share with you something that is just chock full of technology, but serves no real purpose other than to tech for tech's sake.
As I've said before, if you are a geek, chances are you have a thing for Lego's. I know *I* do and I know a lot of my geeky friends do too. So, you can imagine my delight when I recently read about a robotic device that can solve the famous Ruik's Cube. However, as they say on those late night infomercials, "But wait... that's not all!" Add to that the fact that the robot is made out of Legos and also uses a Samsung Galaxy S II and you've got the making of a device that has this geek drooling.
The device is called the CubeStormer II and is a hybrid device that uses the Lego Mindstorm NXT kit to provide the robotic arms and processor to operate them. It uses the camera on the Galaxy to view and understand the colors on the cube as well as a specially configured Android App.
The best part? The robot can solve the Rubik's cube puzzle faster than any human. When you put all of these pieces together, you get a device that is thrilling to a geek and hopefully to you as well.
The following is a quote from the processor company that makes the ARM processor that powers the Samsung Galaxy S II regarding how the robot uses the camera on the Galaxy:
"capture images of each face of the Rubik's Cube which it processes to determine the scrambled [colors]. The solution is found using an advanced two-phase algorithm, originally developed for Speedcuber, enhanced to be multi-threaded to make effective use of the smartphone's dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 1.2GHz processor. The software finds an efficient solution to the puzzle which is [optimized] specifically for the capabilities of the four-grip mechanism. The app communicates via Bluetooth with software running on the ARM microprocessors in the LEGO NXT Intelligent Bricks which controls the motors driving the robot. During the physical solve, the app uses OpenGL ES on the phone's ARM Mali-400 MP GPU to display a graphical version of the cube being solved in real time."
Cosmedent is excited to introduce New www.cosmedent.com featuring faster shopping, dental techniques and in depth product information. Visit Cosmedent’s new website to see up to date technique videos, shop quickly and easily 24 hours a day, ask questions on products or dental techniques, share your cases with the Cosmedent community and view upcoming educational courses at Cosmedent’s very own Center for Esthetic Excellence. Technique videos and special offers are frequently updated so visit www.cosmedent.com today. Also feel free to contact a Cosmedent Customer Care Representative for more information at 800-621-6729.
For those of you who are doing routine oral cancer screenings on your patients (and if you are not... you should be), here is some great news! Read on for all the details...
Malvern, PA – (December 8, 2011) – DentalEZ® Group, a supplier of innovative products and services for dental health professionals worldwide, has officially updated its Identafi® website to include a useful section that provides various marketing tools to help clinicians increase oral cancer awareness and promote the benefits of the Identafi oral cancer screening device.
The new clinician section now included on the Identafi website, www.Identafi.net, offers clinicians several easy-to-use patient education and marketing materials targeted to local residents and existing patients who may not know that their dental office offers the advanced oral cancer screening technology device. Dental professionals who offer the Identafi oral cancer screening examination in their practices can now download these FREE useful marketing tools, such as:
Press Release Template – Designed to announce to local media the importance of oral cancer screening and that the practice has begun using Identafi.
Letter to the Editor Template – Encourages publication of the importance of oral
cancer screening.
Patient Letter Template – Creates awareness among current and lapsed patients regarding the importance of oral cancer screening, early detection, and the adoption of advanced
Identafi technology.
Printable Patient Education Pamphlet – This brochure provides patients with information on oral cancer, the importance of the screening exam, and how Identafi works.
Printable Office Poster – Dental professionals can hang the poster in their waiting rooms and operatories to create awareness of the need for annual oral cancer screenings.
Logo – An Identafi logo can be added to professional websites, bringing public awareness to the use of Identafi.
Study Club / Speaker Slides – Preformatted PowerPoint presentation is ideal for use at study clubs or other local speaker events.
Radio Public Service Announcements (PSAs) – Oral cancer awareness PSAs in 15-second, 30-second, or 60-second versions, depending on which format the local radio station prefers.
Oral Cancer Screening Event Press Release – A downloadable press release that can be sent to local media to invite reporters to receive a free oral cancer screening.
Identafi Exam Consent Form – A patient release form to document the patient's consent or denial of the oral cancer screening exam with Identafi.
In addition to the many new features, the website will continue to allow visitors to download technical information, find out more about oral cancer, view training videos and seminars, and easily contact StarDental®’s supportive staff of customer and technical service representatives.
www.Identafi.net is intended to be a regular destination for dental professionals interested in the oral cancer news and the Identafi oral screening device as well as current customers, and patients.
For more information, please visit www.Identafi.net or call 866-DTE-INFO.
About DentalEZ® Group
DentalEZ® Group is committed to advancing the practice of dentistry through innovative products and services. Encompassing six distinct product brands — StarDental®, DentalEZ®, CustomAir®, RAMVAC®, NevinLabs™, and Columbia Dentoform® — DentalEZ® Group manufactures everything in the operatory, from handpieces to chairs to vacuum systems to dental simulation models, creating a complete line of products to elevate the health, comfort, and efficiency of the dental operatory. For more information, please visit www.dentalez.com.
ATLANTA and HUDSON, OHIO – Carestream Dental LLC, a subsidiary of Carestream Health, Inc., and the exclusive manufacturer of KODAK Dental Systems, announced it has entered into a comprehensive data-sharing agreement with Lexicomp, a global provider of drug information and drug data solutions for healthcare professionals.
Through this venture, Lexicomp’s vast, subscription-based database of comprehensive drug information and clinical reference content will be made accessible through Carestream Dental’s SoftDent, PracticeWorks, Windent, and WinOMS CS software.*
“As with many of our products and services, our goal for this partnership is to maximize oral health professionals’ ability to further streamline office management and spend quality time on patient care,” said Patrik Eriksson, president and CEO, Carestream Dental LLC.
“By giving practice professionals the ability to access Lexicomp data and pull it directly into patient records with their existing practice management software, we can improve decision support to ensure patient safety and eliminate several steps in an otherwise lengthy data entry process,” Eriksson said. “This reduces the chance of errors and saves practices valuable time as they check on drug interactions.”
Lexicomp maintains an in-house clinical team comprised of advanced-degreed pharmacists with significant clinical and academic experience. This team performs daily surveillance of announcements by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration plus pharmaceutical manufacturers. This critical information is compiled and made available to heath care systems regarding drug availability, new dosage forms, and revisions to contraindications, warnings, or other changes.
For more information, call (800) 944-6365 or visit www.carestreamdental.com.
For other Carestream news, click here.
To comment on this article, visit community.pennwelldentalgroup.com/.
I've said it many times here, but it just keeps holding true... you just can't have enough storage.
I can still remember way back in the early 90's when I upgraded my 486 desktop computer with a 1Gb hard drive. A "techno snooty" friend of mine snorted and said, "What a waste of money. No one will ever fill up a 1Gb hard drive." Looking back that wasn't too prophetic was it? I didn't think so either. The takeaway? Never ever discount the ability of the human race to create "digital packratting". I mean, we hardly ever delete anything any more simply because we don't have to. Our storage capacities expand faster than our copious amounts of digital data.
That's the reason I was smiling when I read that Intel & Micron have managed to create a 128Gb NAND chip (which is the format used for jump drives and other types of mass solid state storage). The chip, which is about the size of a fingertip, is the largest capacity to date. It is tiny, yet has an amazingly dense amount of memory. Read the press release below for all the details:
New 128Gb Device Ideal for Small Form Factor Tablets, Smartphones, SSDs and High-Performance Compute Devices
News Highlights
SANTA CLARA, Calif. and BOISE, Idaho, Dec. 6, 2011 - Intel Corporation and Micron Technology, Inc., today announced a new benchmark in NAND flash technology - the world's first 20 nanometer (nm), 128 gigabit (Gb), multilevel-cell (MLC) device. The companies also announced mass production of their 64Gb 20nm NAND, which further extends the companies' leadership in NAND process technology.
Developed through Intel and Micron's joint-development venture, IM Flash Technologies (IMFT), the new 20nm monolithic 128Gb device is the first in the industry to enable a terabit (Tb) of data storage in a fingertip-size package by using just eight die. It also provides twice the storage capacity and performance of the companies' existing 20nm 64Gb NAND device. The 128Gb device meets the high-speed ONFI 3.0 specification to achieve speeds of 333 megatransfers per second (MT/s), providing customers with a more cost-effective solid-state storage solution for today's slim, sleek product designs, including tablets, smartphones and high-capacity solid-state drives (SSDs.)
"As portable devices get smaller and sleeker, and server demands increase, our customers look to Micron for innovative new storage technologies and system solutions that meet these challenges," said Glen Hawk, vice president of Micron's NAND Solutions Group. "Our collaboration with Intel continues to deliver leading NAND technologies and expertise that are critical to building those systems."
The companies also revealed that the key to their success with 20nm process technology is due to an innovative new cell structure that enables more aggressive cell scaling than conventional architectures. Their 20nm NAND uses a planar cell structure - the first in the industry - to overcome the inherent difficulties that accompany advanced process technology, enabling performance and reliability on par with the previous generation. The planar cell structure successfully breaks the scaling constraints of the standard NAND floating gate cell by integrating the first Hi-K/metal gate stack on NAND production.
"It is gratifying to see the continued NAND leadership from the Intel-Micron joint development with yet more firsts as our manufacturing teams deliver these high-density, low-cost, compute-quality 20nm NAND devices," said Rob Crooke, Intel vice president and general manager of Intel's Non-Volatile Memory Solutions Group. "Through the utilization of planar cell structure and Hi-K/Metal gate stack, IMFT continues to advance the technological capabilities of our NAND flash memory solutions to enable exciting new products, services and form factors."
The demand for high-capacity NAND flash devices is driven by three interconnected market trends: data storage growth, the shift to the cloud and the proliferation of portable devices. As digital content continues to grow, users expect that data to be available across a multitude of devices, all synchronized via the cloud. To effectively stream data, servers require high-performance, high-capacity storage that NAND delivers, and storage in mobile devices has consistently grown with increased access to data. High-definition video is one example of an application that requires high-capacity storage, since attempting to stream this type of data can create a poor user experience. These developments create great opportunities for high-performance, small-footprint storage, both in the mobile devices that consume the content and the storage servers that deliver it.
Intel and Micron noted that the December production ramp of their 20nm 64Gb NAND flash product will enable a rapid transition to the 128Gb device in 2012. Samples of the 128Gb device will be available in January, closely followed by mass production in the first half of 2012. Achievement of this milestone will further enable greater densities and overall fab output, while also helping the companies' development teams cultivate the expertise required to design complex storage solutions and refine future technologies.
Brentwood, TN – December 2, 2011 – OralDNA® Labs Inc. (OralDNA.com), leaders in advancing wellness in dentistry through salivary diagnostics, and a subsidiary of Quest Diagnostics® (NYSE: DGX), recently enhanced its MyPerioPath® patient lab report with the addition of an expanded section called “MyPerioProgress.”
The MyPerioPath® salivary diagnostic test identifies the type and concentration of specific
perio-pathogenic bacteria that are known to cause periodontal disease and helps support clinicians with better risk assessment and personalized treatment options for more predictable patient outcomes.
The MyPerioProgress section is a new, third page that is automatically generated for patients who have taken the MyPerioPath® test more than once. It provides a series of graphs that enable dental clinicians to compare current MyPerioPath® test results with previous results. This comparison can provide valuable insight into the progress of the patient’s current course of periodontal disease treatment.
According to MyPerioPath® test user Dr. Doug Thompson, of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, “MyPerioProgress provides periodontal disease treatment benchmarks that enable me to closely monitor patient progress over time and modify the treatment, if needed. It is also a great tool for explaining the course of treatment to the patient and for increasing patient acceptance and compliance.”
The following is a partial list of important observations that are illustrated with MyPerioProgress:
By monitoring the above findings, MyPerioProgress will be an added resource to help dental clinicians assess if their patients are trending towards health or continued disease. According to OralDNA Labs general manager Ken Clarke. “MyPerioProgress was designed to help clinicians determine with increased accuracy whether or not the desired end point of therapy has been reached. This determination is achieved by evaluating the clinical signs and symptoms of periodontal disease, and by factoring the risk for disease progression from oral bacteria."
About OralDNA® Labs Inc. (OralDNA.com)
OralDNA® Labs Inc., a subsidiary of Quest Diagnostics® (NYSE: DGX), is a leader in advancing wellness in dentistry through salivary diagnostics. The company’s goal is to help the dental profession achieve better clinical outcomes by providing reliable, definitive, and cost-
effective clinical tests that drive the detection and prognosis of disease at an earlier, more
treatable stage. Innovative salivary diagnostic tests from OralDNA® Labs are fundamental
elements of a patient’s wellness plan. OralDNA® currently offers three DNA-Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests for periodontal disease and oral HPV:
About Quest Diagnostics®
Quest Diagnostics® is the world's leading provider of diagnostic testing, information, and services that patients and clinicians need to make better healthcare decisions. The company offers the broadest access to diagnostic testing services through its network of laboratories and patient service centers, and provides interpretive consultation through its extensive medical and scientific staff. Quest Diagnostics® is a pioneer in developing innovative new diagnostic tests and advanced healthcare information technology solutions that help improve patient care. Additional company information is available at QuestDiagnostics.com.
The buzz around the industry is that Motorola is readying its next tablet for market. The Xoom, was launched last year and, despite the fact that I happen to have one and like the WiFi version, the market wasn't overly enthused and sales stalled at around a half million units.
However, now comes word that the company is about to deploy a device that *may* be called "Xyboard" in both 8" and 10" models. The 8 will be sold as a consumer version while the 10 will be focused on business users.
It looks like the devices will have 1.2GHz processors and 1GB of RAM. They are also redesigning the look of the device and it will have more of an appearance of Motorola's new phones than of a tablet.
I'm hoping Motorola pulls this off. Competition is good and can only make everyone's devcies better in the long run...
This week it has come to light that software called Carrier IQ is present on HTC and Samsung phones on the AT&T and Sprint network.
All the companies stated that the purpose of the software is to help diagnose problems with network performance. The uproar has ensued because the software could be used by carriers and device manufacturers to track all kinds of info on smartphones. It can be used to collect almost any kind of data from smartphones that have the software installed.
Look for major fallout over this, in my opinion. No one wants to have even the chance of their data being used without their knowledge.
Charlotte, NC (November 30, 2011)– Sirona Dental Systems, LLC announced today that Dental Services Group™ (DSG), a network of 25 North American laboratories, is now providing CEREC® and CEREC® AC Connect users with an attractive rebate and placement program.
Both new and existing CEREC AC Connect users who choose to use Dental Services Group for any laboratory needs will earn a generous rebate to help cover the cost of their CEREC AC Connect digital impression system. Rebates are issued in the form of laboratory credits, and are applied to the user’s DSG lab invoice. Rebates range in size based on monthly DSG lab bills, and can cover all financing costs, service contracts, and providesavings on restorations at the highest level. The program is based on incremental business done with DSG.
In addition, DSG created a Placement Program for dental professionals interested in having a CEREC AC Connect placed in their practice with no up-front costs. Interested parties simply commit to a certain amount of incremental annual lab work with DSG, and DSG will cover the cost of the scanner.
"Our goal at DSG is to provide services that help make our lab customers successful,” according to Buddy Pickle, Dental Services Group CEO. “Providing CEREC milling capabilities and including the CEREC AC Connect in our rebate and placement programs are services we offer to help achieve that goal."
“We are very excited about DSG’s digital impression program for CEREC and CEREC AC Connect users,” remarked Norbert Ulmer, Director of Laboratory CAD/CAM for Sirona. “We consider DSG to be an active driver in expanding the usage of digital impression technology. By providing these attractive incentives, DSG is striving to elevate dental care and introduce efficiencies to the entire restorative process. The programs are substantial steps towards making digital impressions a reality for all, and, in turn, will benefit patients, dentists, and ultimately the entire dental community.”
For more information, please contact your DSG representative, call Sirona at 855-465-2248, or visit www.inLab.com.
About Sirona Dental Systems, LLC
Recognized as a leading global manufacturer of technologically advanced, high-quality dental equipment, Sirona has served equipment dealers and dentists worldwide for more than 125 years. Sirona develops, manufactures, and markets a complete line of dental products, including CAD/CAM restoration equipment (CEREC® and inLab®); digital and film-based intraoral, panoramic, and cephalometric X-ray imaging systems; dental treatment centers; and handpieces. Visit www.sirona.com for more information about Sirona and its products.
About Dental Services Group™
Dental Services Group™ is a network of quality-focused, local labs throughout North America. Partnering with one of DSG’s 25 laboratories provides the personal relationship and care of a local laboratory—combined with the technical expertise and full suite of offerings of a national laboratory. While the foundation of their business is providing high-quality restorations and dental appliances, DSG labs go a step beyond by offering ways to support and grow dental practices. Their vision is to provide relevant services and solutions that will help make practitioners more successful. Learn more at www.dentalservices.net.