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PubMed1999

A young man has an idea. What should he do?

There is nothing more frustrating for a young neurosurgeon or neuroscientist than having an idea, and believing that it may work, and not knowing how to proceed. Even to the most persevering of people the process of converting the idea into reality is arduous and frustrating. A great deal of support is required in order to develop the idea and, unfortunately, the current basic medical education and post-graduate programs in most countries neither provide that support or, indeed, the knowledge of how to obtain it. Developing a creative ability is an art and science which needs to be developed through true experience requiring both time and patience. Many young researchers cannot tolerate the frustration and stumble at one of the numerous hurdles of lack of funding, sponsorship, proper guidance, lawyers, relationships with manufacturing companies, cost of registration of patent and insurance. Therefore, many great ideas are lost. It is essential to discover these young researchers and encourage them and provide them with all they need to mature their abilities. Ultimately the patient is the one who is going to gain the most from their inventions or discoveries. This very special need was one of the main concepts that led to the formation of the International Society of Neurosurgical Instrument Inventors, resulting in a forum whereby neurosurgeons with experience of inventing instruments can pool their experiences with young inexperienced neurosurgeons with fresh ideas. In this short paper some of the important obstacles facing any young neurosurgeon who may have a viable idea will be analyzed.

Equipment Design↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Evolution of the general protein import pathway of plastids (review).

The evolutionary process that transformed a cyanobacterial endosymbiont into contemporary plastids involved not only inheritance but also invention. Because gram-negative bacteria lack a system for polypeptide import, the envelope translocon complex of the general protein import pathway was the most important invention of organelle evolution resulting in a pathway to import back into plastids those nuclear-encoded proteins supplemented with a transit peptide. Genome information of cyanobacteria, phylogenetically diverse plastids, and the nuclei of the first red alga, a diatom, and Arabidopsis thaliana allows us to trace back the evolutionary origin of the twelve currently known translocon components and to partly deduce their assembly sequence. Development of the envelope translocon was initiated by recruitment of a cyanobacterial homolog of the protein-import channel Toc75, which belongs to a ubiquitous and essential family of Omp85/D15 outer membrane proteins of gram-negative bacteria that mediate biogenesis of beta-barrel proteins. Likewise, three other translocon subunits (Tic20, Tic22, and Tic55) and several stromal chaperones have been inherited from the ancestral cyanobacterium and modified to take over the novel function of precursor import. Most of the remaining subunits seem to be of eukaryotic origin, recruited from pre-existing nuclear genes. The next subunits that joined the evolving protein import complex likely were Toc34 and Tic110, as indicated by the presence of homologous genes in the red alga Cyanidioschyzon merolae, followed by the stromal processing peptidase, members of the Toc159 receptor family, Toc64, Tic40, and finally some regulatory redox components (Tic62, Tic32), all of which were probably required to increase specificity and efficiency of precursor import.

Active Transport, Cell Nucleus↗
PubMed2004

Genomic patenting and the utility requirement.

This paper analyses the ways in which genomic knowledge is portrayed as useful knowledge in gene patenting in order to fulfil the 'utility'/'industrial applicability' requirement for patentability. It gives examples of utility claims in gene patents and asks whether genomics (as opposed to genetics) changes our ideas about what is useful and what can be patented. It puts forward a provisional classification of different types of utility and argues that merely identifying the physiological function of a gene diverges radically from our commonsense understanding of what it is for an invention to be useful. Furthermore, social, political and ethical issues inevitably arise when discussing the utility requirement, because an invention cannot be useful in isolation from a social context.

DNA↗
PubMed1984

Descartes, consciousness and depersonalization: viewing the history of philosophy from a Strausian perspective.

This paper develops particular Strausian -like themes on the formation and structure of the Cartesian problematic. Particularly, my interest is to link the Cartesian 'invention' of consciousness (or 'the mental') in the philosophy of mind with the issues of representation and 'the problem of the external world' in epistemology. The Cartesian novelty becomes clear by comparing Cartesian scepticism with Greek classical scepticism . I end with some speculative clinical (i.e., psychiatric) suggestions on possible roots of the Cartesian invention.

Consciousness↗
PubMed2000

Twenty-five years of contact lenses: the impact on the cornea and ophthalmic practice.

PURPOSE: The history of contact lenses has occurred in the latter half of the 20th century. In particular, events in the 1970s through the 1980s related to the invention of soft, hydrogel contact lenses have revolutionized the contact lens industry and the eye care attached to it. This article recounts that history from the perspective of market forces, inventions, and discoveries about the physiologic functioning of the cornea. METHODS: The relevant literature is critically reviewed. RESULTS: Discoveries about the oxygen needs of the cornea and consumer pressure for clear, comfortable, around-the-clock vision have resulted in a history of rigid gas permeable and soft lenses that leads to today's contact lens picture. The short-term and long-term effects of chronic hypoxia and the levels of lens oxygen transmissibility necessary to avoid them have been well-described. The advent of the soft lens, followed by the "human experiment" with initial extended-wear modalities, led to the advent of the disposable soft contact lens. CONCLUSIONS: In the past 25 years, the development and wide acceptance of soft contact lenses have revolutionized the management of refractive error and corneal diseases.

Contact Lenses↗
PubMed1998

History of the operating microscope: from magnifying glass to microneurosurgery.

The advent of the microscope in the operating room revolutionized neurosurgery. We traced the origin and evolution of this important invention from the first magnifying lens to its practical application in neurosurgery. The concept of magnification evolved from unexplained observations in ancient times to the invention of the microscope by the late 16th century. In the subsequent 3 centuries, scientists made technical advances that greatly improved the power and utility of the microscope. By the early 20th century, otolaryngologists became the first surgeons to use the microscope in clinical surgery. After World War II, ophthalmologists and vascular and plastic surgeons began using the microscope in the operating room, making further technical improvements. It was a relatively small group of pioneering neurosurgeons in the late 1950s and 1960s who transformed microneurosurgery from a revolutionary and unorthodox "experiment" into the standard of care in much of modern neurosurgery.

Equipment Design↗
PubMed2003

The genesis of neurosurgery and the evolution of the neurosurgical operative environment: part I-prehistory to 2003.

Despite its singular importance, little attention has been given to the neurosurgical operative environment in the scientific and medical literature. This article focuses attention on the development of neurosurgery and the parallel emergence of its operative setting. The operative environment has, to a large extent, defined the "state of the art and science" of neurosurgery, which is now undergoing rapid reinvention. During the course of its initial invention, major milestones in the development of neurosurgery have included the definition of anatomy, consolidation of a scientific basis, and incorporation of the practicalities of anesthesia and antisepsis and later operative technical adjuvants for further refinement of action and minimalism. The progress, previously long and laborious in emergence, is currently undergoing rapid evolution. Throughout its evolution, the discipline has assimilated the most effective tools of modernity into the operative environment, leading eventually to the entity known as the operating room. In the decades leading to the present, progressive minimalization of manipulation and the emergence of more refined operative definition with increasing precision are evident, with concurrent miniaturization of attendant computerized support systems, sensors, robotic interfaces, and imaging devices. These developments over time have led to the invention of neurosurgery and the establishment of the current state-of-the-art neurosurgical operating room as we understand it, and indeed, to a broader definition of the entity itself. To remain current, each neurosurgeon should periodically reconsider his or her personal operative environment and its functional design with reference to modernity of practice as currently defined.

History, 15th Century↗
PubMed2003

The artificial tympanic membrane (1840-1910): from brilliant innovation to quack device.

OBJECTIVE: To present the rich and checkered history of the artificial eardrum, a widely used device in the 19th century, and to illustrate the behavior of otologists in response to the introduction of a promising new technology. DATA SOURCES: Over 40 published books and articles spanning the years 1821 to 1909 in English, German, and French. DEVICE DESCRIPTIONS: A wide variety of devices were used to improve hearing and, purportedly, to reduce aural discharge. The most popular devices were made of gutta percha attached to a silver wire stem (Toynbee) and cotton balls with extraction cords (Yearsley). Other membranes included India rubber, lint, tin or silver foil, and even the vitelline membrane of an egg. Adhesion to the drum remnant was with saliva, water, petroleum jelly (Vaseline), or glycerin. Some were applied by the physician, whereas others were inserted daily by the patient, much as contact lenses are today. CONCLUSIONS: In several cases, the method of positioning an object over the drum remnant was actually invented by clever patients and then later adopted by practitioners. Once introduced, great optimism was generated about the "miraculous" value of this deafness cure. Petty jealousy among early inventors led to very public (and unprofessional) quarrels over the primacy of invention and bickering about whose device was superior. Over the subsequent decades, as more experience demonstrated the device's limited value, enthusiasm waned until otologists largely abandoned these devices around the turn of the last century. In the first two decades of the 20th century, artificial eardrums reached their peak of fame among the public when they were enthusiastically (and dishonestly) marketed by numerous quacks through newspaper advertisements as a universal cure for all forms of deafness. Only with the coming of the Food and Drug Administration did advertisements for US dollars 5 mail-order, medicated eardrums disappear from popular newspapers and magazines.

Advertising↗
PubMed2002

Systematic technology transfer from biology to engineering.

Solutions to problems move only very slowly between different disciplines. Transfer can be greatly speeded up with suitable abstraction and classification of problems. Russian researchers working on the TRIZ (Teoriya Resheniya Izobretatelskikh Zadatch) method for inventive problem solving have identified systematic means of transferring knowledge between different scientific and engineering disciplines. With over 1500 person years of effort behind it, TRIZ represents the biggest study of human creativity ever conducted, whose aim has been to establish a system into which all known solutions can be placed, classified in terms of function. At present, the functional classification structure covers nearly 3 000 000 of the world's successful patents and large proportions of the known physical, chemical and mathematical knowledge-base. Additional tools are the identification of factors which prevent the attainment of new technology, leading directly to a system of inventive principles which will resolve the impasse, a series of evolutionary trends of development, and to a system of methods for effecting change in a system (Su-fields). As yet, the database contains little biological knowledge despite early recognition by the instigator of TRIZ (Genrich Altshuller) that one day it should. This is illustrated by natural systems evolved for thermal stability and the maintenance of cleanliness.

Biomedical Engineering↗
PubMed2001

Application of tilt sensors in human-computer mouse interface for people with disabilities.

This study describes the motivation and the design considerations of an economical head-operated computer mouse. In addition, it focuses on the invention of a head-operated computer mouse that employs two tilt sensors placed in the headset to determine head position and to function as simple head-operated computer mouse. One tilt sensor detects the lateral head-motion to drive the left/right displacement of the mouse. The other one detects the head's vertical motion to move up and down with respect to the displacement of the mouse. A touch switch device was designed to contact gently with operator's cheek. Operator may puff his cheek to trigger the device to perform single click, double clicks, and drag commands. This system was invented to assist people with disabilities to live an independent professional life.

Communication Devices for People with Disabilities↗
PubMed1990

Non-suture anastomosis: the historical development.

A wide range of devices for uniting the bowel has been invented. These are ligatures, prostheses, adhesives and staples. Denans' rings and Henroz' articulated rings were described in 1826, and Murphy's anastomosis button in 1892. Modern stapling began with Hültl in 1908 and Petz in 1924. Sophisticated stapling instruments were invented in Moscow by Androsov and others between 1950 and 1960. These were modified by Ravitch to produce, in 1967, a safe, disposable, presterilized, preloaded, interchangeable cartridge in a light instrument. The value of stapling is now beyond dispute.

Anastomosis, Surgical↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Promoting transfer: effects of self-explanation and direct instruction.

Explaining new ideas to oneself can promote transfer, but how and when such self-explanation is effective is unclear. This study evaluated whether self-explanation leads to lasting improvements in transfer success and whether it is more effective in combination with direct instruction or invention. Third- through fifth-grade children (ages 8-11; n=85) learned about mathematical equivalence under one of four conditions varying in (a) instruction on versus invention of a procedure and (b) self-explanation versus no explanation. Both self-explanation and instruction helped children learn and remember a correct procedure, and self-explanation promoted transfer regardless of instructional condition. Neither manipulation promoted greater improvements on an independent measure of conceptual knowledge. Microgenetic analyses provided insights into potential mechanisms underlying these effects.

Behavior Therapy↗
PubMed2005

Access to essential medicines: a Hobbesian social contract approach.

Medicines that are vital for the saving and preserving of life in conditions of public health emergency or endemic serious disease are known as essential medicines. In many developing world settings such medicines may be unavailable, or unaffordably expensive for the majority of those in need of them. Furthermore, for many serious diseases (such as HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis) these essential medicines are protected by patents that permit the patent-holder to operate a monopoly on their manufacture and supply, and to price these medicines well above marginal cost. Recent international legal doctrine has placed great stress on the need to globalise intellectual property rights protections, and on the rights of intellectual property rights holders to have their property rights enforced. Although international intellectual property rights law does permit compulsory licensing of protected inventions in the interests of public health, the use of this right by sovereign states has proved highly controversial. In this paper I give an argument in support of states' sovereign right to expropriate private intellectual property in conditions of public health emergency. This argument turns on a social contract argument for the legitimacy of states. The argument shows, further, that under some circumstances states are not merely permitted compulsory to license inventions, but are actually obliged to do so, on pain of failure of their legitimacy as sovereign states. The argument draws freely on a loose interpretation of Thomas Hobbes's arguments in his Leviathan, and on an analogy between his state of War and the situation of public health disasters.

Anti-HIV Agents↗
PubMed1996

An alpha hydroxy acid derivative suitable for sensitive skin.

BACKGROUND: Individuals with sensitive skin may not tolerate some products formulated with alpha hydroxy acids (AHAs) due to unacceptable levels of stinging and irritation. OBJECTIVE: To develop a neutral molecule that is well tolerated by individuals with sensitive skin without stinging or irritation, yet retains the beneficial effects of AHAs. METHODS: A neutral amide derivative, methoxypropylgluconamide (MPG), was invented. Formulations containing MPG (15%) were tested by cummulative irritation, repeat insult patch testing, and lactic acid stinging assay. Bilateral comparison clinical and histological studies of xerosis and photoaging assessments were performed. RESULTS: MPG was nonirritating and nonsensitizing. Clinically significant improvements in xerosis and photoaging including uneven pigmentation were seen. Improvement in the morphology of the stratum corneum epidermis and in the amount of glycosaminoglycans in the epidermis and dermis were seen histologically. CONCLUSIONS: A molecule was invented (MPG) that could be formulated in a neutral vehicle to avoid skin irritation and produced improvements in xerosis and photoaging.

Biopsy↗
PubMed1981

With onions and tears: a multidimensional analysis of a counter-ritual.

"Family rituals" and "family myths" are useful concepts for understanding some of the behavior of disturbed families and hence for planning therapeutic interventions. A case of a family of a schizophrenic patient is described in which a "counter-ritual" involving onion-peeling to induce tearing was invented. The intervention addressed the family's inappropriate laughter and denial of sadness and seemed to lead to therapeutic gains for the identified patient and the family. This counter-ritual, as an indirect affect-inducing experience, is analyzed from a variety of perspectives and a partial parallel is drawn to an Iranian cultural ritual. A suggestion is made that more light may be shed on the mechanisms and structures of myths and rituals in families by drawing on studies of myths and rituals in ethnography. "Counter-ritual"is offered as a general concept for a type of active family intervention that involves inventing and employing rituals antithetical to pathological ones engaged in by some families.

Adult↗
PubMed1966

Zonal centrifuges and other separation systems.

This discussion has included only a partial list of the systems now under development at Oak Ridge as part of the feasibility studies for the Molecular Anatomy Program. It is evident that we are still in the "Robert Goddard" phase of this work. It may not be premature, however, to suggest several conclusions. Biomedical scientists are discouraged on discovering that developmental efforts cost more, by one or two orders of magnitude, than pure research. In part this is because the full cost of development is generally shown, while in pure research some of the costs may be hidden, or the funds supplied by several sources. Regardless of the reason, the fact remains that development is expensive, as is well understood in nuclear physics and space science. The role and mission of the large national laboratories, and the kinds of research that should be done in them, have been discussed by Weinberg (63). The studies described here were in part stimulated by his ideas. We have been unable to find an environment outside a large national laboratory where a program like the Molecular Anatomy Program could be undertaken at the present rate. It appears that programs which attempt to make use of the multidisciplinary approach characteristic of national laboratories should be carefully designed and should evolve experimentally. There is less chance of success when a program is an administrative invention than when it evolves from scientific invention and discovery. It has been pointed out (64) that most program decisions in science are secret decisions in the sense that the scientific community as a whole does not participate in them. If a choice is to be made at some future time between large-scale expenditures for exploring space, for developing new weapons systems, for constructing new accelerators, for designing large reactors, or for systematically developing methods to explore the molecular basis of human disease, then we will need sufficient information to evaluate each alternative fully, and the information should be generally available. It appears desirable, therefore, to allow the Molecular Anatomy Program to proceed to a point where the full range of its contributions and its inherent limitations may be seen. A rational choice may then be made.

Cell Biology↗
PubMed2000

Conservation and novelty in the evolution of cell adhesion and extracellular matrix genes.

New proteins and modules have been invented throughout evolution. Gene "birth dates" in Caenorhabditis elegans range from the origins of cellular life through adaptation to a soil habitat. Possibly half are "metazoan" genes, having arisen sometime between the yeast-metazoan and nematode-chordate separations. These include basement membrane and cell adhesion molecules implicated in tissue organization. By contrast, epithelial surfaces facing the environment have specialized components invented within the nematode lineage. Moreover, interstitial matrices were likely elaborated within the vertebrate lineage. A strategy for concerted evolution of new gene families, as well as conservation of adaptive genes, may underlie the differences between heterochromatin and euchromatin.

Animals↗
PubMed1979

Pierre Adolphe Piorry (1794-1879): pioneer of percussion and pleximetry.

Piorry was born in Poitiers on 31 December 1794. As a medical student he served in the Napoleonic war in Spain. His teachers in medicine included Corvisart, Bayle, Broussais, and Magendie; he qualified in 1816 with an MD thesis: "On the danger of reading medical text books by the laity"! Laënnec's invention of the stethoscope (1816) and De l' Auscultation Médiate (1819) inspired Piorry to make an analogous contribution to the technique of percussion (which had been originally described by Auenbrugger in his Inventum Novum in 1761 and translated from the Latin into French by Corvisart in 1808). This led to Piorry's invention in 1826 of the pleximeter (le plessimétre) to help outline the internal organs (l'organographisme), which he described inDe la Percussion Médiate (1828). Piorry became renowned as a professor of medicine in many of the great Parisian hospitals (Charité, Pitié, and Hôtel Dieux). In 1832 he was appointed to L'Hospice de la Salpétrière, where he held a famous course of clinical lectures. He wrote prolificly on many aspects of medicine and published more than twenty books. He was, in addition, a poet of some distinction, and wrote a remarkable long poem Dieu, L'Ame et la Nature (1853). Piorry held his neologisms-for example, toxin, toxaemia, septicaemia, etc.-are still in use. This, together with the mixed reception that his advocacy of pleximetry received from his medical contemporaries, made him a controversial figure. He died on 29 May 1879.

Auscultation↗