Issue link: http://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/861948
BY STEVE BARRETT PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT 1 7 M D N E W S .C O M /// M D N E W S G R E AT E R K A N S A S ■ 2 017 TEMPTRAQ BLUE SPARK TECHNOLOGIES has upgraded its wearable, 24-hour, wireless thermometer, TempTraq, with 48- and 72-hour versions. These iterations are geared toward healthcare facilities and other clinical settings, accord - ing to a Medgadget interview of Blue Spark Technologies CEO John Gannon. TempTraq was previously used primarily in homes. The soft, single-use patch continuously monitors patient temperature. Because TempTraq is disposable, it frees caregivers from the need to sterilize a thermom - eter between uses. It also works in tandem with EHRs and hospitals' monitoring systems to enable HIPAA-compliant storage of the temperature data collected. By using the free TempTraq app, users can see both current and historical temperature information in tables or graphs, highlighting fluctuations. Users may also set a temperature at which the patch will send an alert to a mobile device. n SEVO THE DRAGON VIDEO GAME I T I S C O M M O N for children to experience high levels of stress prior to surgery. With that in mind, a group of anesthesiologists, child life specialists, and Stanford University researchers and engineers has been providing children at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford innovative forms of presurgical entertainment to reduce stress. They recently added a video game, Sevo the Dragon, to the offerings available. Patients choose a dragon character as well as a food for their dragon of choice to "cook" on a screen that goes with the child from pre-op to the operating room, anesthesiologist Thomas Caruso, MD, says in a news release from Stanford Children's Health. The creature breathes fire onto the desired edibles as children breathe into their anesthesia masks, creating a distraction that reduces anxiety. n