Yearly Archives: 2012

Israel is represented by the Technion and by the startup AirBase; the total budget of the project is nearly 12 million euros and around 30 research groups and commercial companies from 20 countries are participating in it

CITI-SENSE, a Europe-wide research project financed by FP7, the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for Research, is on its way. The project aims to increase public awareness and involvement in environmental decision making processes, especially where air pollution is concerned, both at the personal level and at the public level. In frame of the project, nine cities (Haifa, Belgrade, Ljubljana, Oslo, Barcelona, Ostrava, Edinburgh, Vienna and Bilbao) were selected in which advanced sensor networks will be deployed for monitoring air pollution and assessing the exposure to air pollutants.

These cities will hold activities designed to enlist public involvement in the data collection process, the environmental significance of these data and the health implications of the findings. The project will take around four years, is budgeted at a total of nearly 12 million euros and around 30 research groups and commercial companies from 20 countries are participating in it.

At the heart of the project is an innovative concept called Citizen Observatory, comprising active participation of the public in data collection, ensuring the accessibility of the information collected to the public, and increasing public involvement in decision making processes.

Israel is represented in the project by two industry leaders: the Division of Environmental, Water and Agriculture Engineering in the Technion Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering – Prof. David Broday who is the project leader and Assistant Professor Barak Fishbain, and the startup company AirBase Systems, which will be among the main suppliers of sensor networks to be deployed in the different cities.

Prof. David Broday, Head of the Technion Center of Excellence in Exposure Sciences and Environmental Health, said that “the research opens new horizons to the spatial and temporal measurement of air pollution at an extremely high resolution at the exact locations and times in which we are exposed to pollutants and can be affected by their damaging properties. The innovative concept of ‘citizen observatory’ offers a partnership between academy, industry, the public and decision makers, while building an aware, understanding and connected community that has the ability to make a difference and reduce personal exposure to air pollution”.

Irad Kuhnreich, founder and CEO of AirBase and graduate of the Technion in Mechanical Engineering, added:  “we believe that CITI-SENSE presents a real opportunity to make the technological leap that the air monitoring industry has yearned for. Involvement, participation and transparency are about to become major milestones in the collection and presentation of environmental information in the 21sth century, and CITI-SENSE is the first to implement this in practice.

The Division of Environmental, Water and Agriculture Engineering in the Technion Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering participates in many and varied studies on environmental issues, from reducing pollutant emissions to the environment to treating land, water, air, marine environment and ecological and agricultural systems. In particular, air quality issues researched at the Division include, among others, atmospheric flow systems and pollutant movement in the Mediterranean Basin, remote sensing of pollutants in the air, air quality in urban regions and in the borders between them and agricultural regions, and air quality inside buildings. The materials currently at the focus of research include air pollutants originating in transportation, pesticides, and inhalable particles. These studies are conducted in the Technion Center of Excellence in Exposure Sciences and Environmental Health

AirBase Systems Ltd. is an Israeli startup that has developed a new technology for measuring air pollution levels. At the heart of AirBase’s technology is a tiny monitoring station comprising air pollution sensors that employ state-of-the-art nanotechnology. This station is designed to operate within spatial monitoring networks and is able to connect independently to the internet (Wi-Fi or GSM). In addition to the major technological achievement, AirBase has also succeeded in dramatically reducing the price of the system, compared to standard monitoring stations.

The first scientific research of its kind in the world to examine the connection between smoking a hookah (narghile) and driving is unveiled at the conference held by Technion’s Transportation Research Institute

Drivers who smoked a hookah demonstrate a high level of risk-taking when driving and non-compliance with red traffic lights. The reason: smoking a single hookah increases carbon monoxide in the blood by an amount equivalent to smoking 100 to 200 cigarettes

Drivers who smoke a single hookah are 33% more involved in traffic accidents and traffic light violations than other drivers. This was shown by the first research of its kind in the world to examine the connection between smoking a hookah and driving, conducted recently in the Technion’s Transportation Research Institute in cooperation with the Rebecca Ziv Medical Center in Safed. The research was unveiled by Dr. Wafa Elias in a conference held by the Technion’s Transportation Research Institute on recent safety research and their application in Israel.

The conference organizers, Head of the Transportation Research Institute Prof. Shlomo Bekhor and the Chief Scientist of the National Road Safety Authority Dr. Shay Soffer, emphasized that the passive safety of vehicles was exhausted and most of the attention is now given to active safety. “Even in the more popular cars in the market today it is easy to find 6 airbags, a safety cage and systems such as ABS (anti-lock braking system) and ESP (electronic stability control)”, said soffer. “We are entering an era in which active systems are developed that warn the driver about lane departure and safety distance and provide traction control. For this reason, scientific researchers are an isle of excellence which helps us save lives. Traffic accidents are a global epidemic. Our war against them in Israel has had a significant impact. The number of fatalities from the beginning of the year until today is 100 fatalities lower than this number in the same period last year.

The research, which examined the effect of smoking a hookah on driving, continues other researches that pointed to damage such as the high amount of nicotine that the smoker inhales when smoking a hookah, because of the high amount of smoke inhaled in each suction. “There is a myth according to which hookah smoke, which passes through water, is filtered and is therefore less dangerous. But this is not true. On the contrary – the water cools the smoke and allow it to penetrate deeper into the lungs, thus increasing the damage caused while smoking”, explained Dr. Elias, “One hour of smoking a hookah is equivalent to smoking 100 to 200 ordinary cigarettes”.

The study included 100 men and women aged 18 to 60 years, 70% of whom are hookah smokers while 30% were the control group. All participants had similar characteristics, such as where they live, their driving experience and whether they are cigarette smokers. The trial received the Helsinki Committee’s approval for clinical trials on human subjects. It began with every participant smoking for half an hour one head of apple-flavored hookah tobacco. After smoking, the trial participants drove a simulator that simulated a 10 km drive, during which the driver experienced 10 different driving-related events throughout which his reaction was measured, such as traffic lights, crossing cars, pedestrians crossing the road, dogs crossing the road, a dirt mound in the lane, etc.

The hookah smoking group demonstrated a higher tendency to take risks when driving immediately after smoking a hookah. The involvement of this group in traffic accidents was 40% higher than that of the drivers in the control group. Even half an hour after smoking the hookah, simulator driving results showed two disturbing findings: these drivers had a 31% higher tendency to cross the road centerline (failure to keep from crossing the centerline) than the drivers in the control group. Another characteristic was a 33% increase in the total time during which the driver was not inside the driving lane and crossed the center- and sidelines of the lane. These two measures, crossing the centerline and failure to remain inside the lane, indicate that driving stability is negatively affected after smoking a hookah. As a result, driving becomes less stable and more dangerous.

“Smoking the hookah raised the heart rate of hookah smokers from 80 to 95 beats per minute”, said Dr. Elias. “The increase in their heart rate resulted from a lack of oxygen and an increase in carbon monoxide levels in the blood up to five times more than in a cigarette. This is called hypoxia, which causes slurred speech, slow movements, dizziness, slight tremor, lack of self-control, a feeling of euphoria, decreased sight, decreased ability to identify colors, etc. High levels of carbon monoxide could result in brain damage and loss of consciousness.

“The heartbeat and carbon monoxide levels remained high even half an hour after smoking a hookah. These findings are highly significant, based on studies that show that carbon monoxide remains in the blood for 4 to 6 hours. Drivers who smoke a hookah take more risks when driving. Smoking a hookah reduces caution and stability when driving. The study examined, among others, also the social tendencies of its participants. Most hookah smokers do not smoke cigarettes. Most of them think that this is an unhealthy habit. Most of them do not drink alcohol, either”.

Dr. Elias noted in her lecture that use of the hookah, which began in the Middle East, has increased in the Arab sector such that even women smoking a hookah is widely accepted. Hookah smoking is currently a popular practice in many countries, yet research literature worldwide does not include any research that examines the impact of smoking on driving. “My Jewish students told me that use of the hookah has become common also among their friends, and a proof of this is the hookahs sold in almost every kiosk”, she said.

According to a new mice model research, sleep can reactivate fearful memories and alleviate them. This finding could lead to the development of more effective treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The finding was presented at Neuroscience 2012, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience and the most extensive source of neuroscience and brain health news.

The research, conducted by Dr. Asya Rolls and Megha Makam of the research groups headed by Profs. Heller and de Lecea of Stanford University, finds that when a frightening memory is connected with smell, this trigger (the smell) can be used to reactivate the memory during sleep without actually interrupting the sleep. The researchers found that if the reactivation is repeated, the frightening memory is strengthened; but if the recreation is accompanied by a treatment that blocks the creation of proteins in the basolateral amygdala, the area of the brain associated with fear, the frightening memory is weakened.

PTSD is characterized by intense, highly emotional memories that are awakened by specific social and environmental triggers. In extinction therapy, the patient repeatedly recreates the memory in non-threatening surroundings, such as a clinic; however, the treatment is sometimes identified with the clinic to the extent that it ceases to be effective, and the patient experiences the traumatic trigger elsewhere, such as while out on the street.

“Sleep is not linked to a specific location, and thus changes that occur in traumatic memories during sleep could weaken the fear response regardless of where the memory awakens,” Prof. Heller explains. “This fact could provide a significant solution to the limitations of existing PTSD treatments”.

In their experiments, researchers created conditioning that paired certain smells and an electrical shock in mice while they were awake. This smell, or control smell, was released in the mice’s cages while they were asleep in the presence of a protein synthesis inhibitor. The activation of the conditioning smell during sleep resulted in a substantial reduction in the fear response in later tests, while the mice were awake. Most important, the decrease in the fear response was general, and was not connected to a specific location.

“This is where the significant potential of the treatment of traumas during sleep actually lies. While we sleep, our brain works differently, some of our protective systems are not activated, which, in principle, allows us to access associations which might not be accessible to treatment while we are awake,” says Dr. Rolls, now a member of the Technion’s Rappaport Faculty of Medicine. “Moreover, many treatments terminate prematurely because the patient finds it difficult to deal with the repeated mention of the traumatic memories. Therefore, treatment during sleep could be an easier alternative to dealing with such memories. Of course, there is still quite a distance between these preliminary experiments and actually treating people, but it is a start”.

Donated the money granted with the award, which is considered “the Nobel Prize of computing and technology”, to the Technion; the first Israeli to win the award was Prof. Jacob Ziv of the Technion, who won it for his development of the Lempel-Ziv algorithm; GPS developer Bradford Parkinson won the award alongside Dov Moran

In the festive ceremony, which was held in the beginning of the week at the Deutsche Museum in Munich, Dov Moran said: “I am proud to represent here my friends in the Israeli hi-tech. The disk-on-key (commonly known as the USB flash drive) was born as a result of a problem. My computer stopped working before an important presentation and I promised myself never to be in a situation where I do not have a copy in my pocket. And this is how this invention came to be. But it is important to understand that things do not advance on their own accord. Anyone can invent. All you need is to open your eyes and see what people need. But the road from understanding the need to the creation of a product is long and strewn with difficulties. It requires the necessary knowledge, which I received from the Technion, and the ability to survive this constant battle of the “birth” of a product. Worth it? Definitely!”

Above: Dov Moran at the awarding ceremony. Photo: Technion Spokesman, courtesy of the Rhein Foundation

The first International Conference on the Design of the 21^st Century Hospital was held last week in the Technion’s Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning. The conference was attended by leading lecturers in Israel and worldwide who presented trends and directions in hospital construction in the 21^st century, and addressed questions on the structure of healthcare facilities in the next century and how to educate the next generation of architects and doctors to answer the needs of future medicine.

The conference, which was organized by Prof. Noemi Bitterman, Head of Industrial Design, together with the Faculty Dean, Prof. Yehuda Kalay, was attended by Prof. Eliezer Shalev, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, the deans of the other faculties, Technion President Prof. Peretz Lavie, Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav, Director General of the Ministry of Health Prof. Roni Gamzu, and Prof. Shlomo Mor-Yosef, who served as the Director General of Hadassah Hospitals and currently serves as Director General of the National Insurance Institute.

Prof. Bitterman said that the conference was designed to break the barriers between academic researchers who tend to focus each on their own field, and to initiate a new, fruitful dialogue. “The reactions and the informal conversations during coffee breaks show that the goal was achieved. This is fascinating, since we have here a crossing of different fields, each with its own terminology, culture and way of thinking. Of course, it is important that the discussion focus on doctors and patients. When ‘talking architecture’, it is important to always remember that they are the ‘clients’ and it is them that we need to serve. Just as the study programs we developed here in the Technion do, such conferences advance this thinking and this essential dialogue”, said Prof. Bitterman.

Prof. Yehuda Kalay said that “it takes years to build a hospital, and during its construction medical technologies change. As architects we must always remember that our design has significant implications on medical practice, and we must always think ahead.”

Prof. Shlomo Mor-Yosef presented major trends in contemporary medicine, including molecular imaging, robotic surgery and personalized medicine. He noted that the trouble the Israeli healthcare system is in requires broad, creative thinking. “In our hospitals we deal with a very high occupancy rate, above 97%, and this makes it very difficult for these systems to function”, said Prof. Mor-Yossef.

Dr. Kobi Vortman, Technion alumnus and President of InSightec, presented the technology developed by his company – a method for non-invasive ‘surgery’ using sound waves. It is a “virtual, non-invasive scalpel of sorts, with which medical procedures can be performed on the brain and other organs without invading the body and without the need for hospitalization. It is an example of the successful implementation of patient-personalized medicine.”

Prof. Rafael Beyar, Director General of Rambam Medical Center, presented the new projects at Rambam, among them a secure underground hospital, fortified against conventional warfare as well as against biological and chemical warfare. It is an underground parking garage that can be converted within 72 hours into a 2,000-bed hospital which includes all the necessary equipment.

Technion President Prof. Peretz Lavie said that in 1969 the Technion Senate made an historical decision: to establish in the Technion a faculty of medicine. “The rational, as phrased at the time, was that technology and medicine will walk in the future hand in hand, and that a faculty of medicine in a technological institute is therefore the right step. Today’s conference continues that vision.”

Prof. Jos Stuyfzand, Creative Director at Philips Netherlands, described the innovations in designing the user experience in hospitals, with the patient at the focus. “The healthcare system needs to perceive itself as a service provider. When we are sick we go to the hospital not for its buildings but to be provided with a service. You, the architects, need to think about the hospital with the same view, and not with a ‘purely’ architectural view. The architects must have a broader view of their work and work as part of a multi-profession team. It is very important to ask the patients what they want, rather than just the medical staff”.

Prof. Paul Barach, doctor and researcher of hospital safety and quality, told the conference participants that “medical technology is a wonderful thing. The tragic irony is that in many cases, it could in itself cause severe injury to patients. We must cease to sanctify the technology and focus on the health of the patient. Technology is not a magic solution to all problems, and it must serve the patient rather than be an end in itself.”

Prof. Barach, who resided in the past in Israel and was an undergraduate student at the Technion, currently works at the Utrecht Medical Centre in the Netherlands: “around 5 percent of all hospitalized patients are injured while receiving medical treatment, and 50 thousand patients die in the USA every year as a result of the medical procedure itself”.

Prof. Barach says that minor improvements, such as increasing the light in the room or supervising hand washing by medical staff, could significantly reduce harm to patients, but this requires awareness and research, which in turn mandates public funding. Israel is lacking in serious discussion on this matter, and it is time for such a discussion that will go beyond the standard petty complaints. Prof. Danny Gopher of the Technion and Prof. Yoel Dunchin of Hadassah are doing a great job in this sense, but unfortunately they are the exception to the rule. It is very important to bring the architects to the hospitals and to allow them to experience hospital simulations. For example, when an architect designs a hospital he does not think about hospitals’ activity on weekends, when most of their supporting staff is absent and the mortality rates in them increase by 20%. Proper planning which is aware of this could reduce mortality rates. We must perceive the structure as medication, and consider how its design can contribute as much as possible to patients’ health. “If we could achieve a 99.9% success rate in medical treatments, and only 0.1% of the patients would die as a result of such treatments, would that satisfy us? In a statistical analogy to aviation, based on the present frequency of flights worldwide, this would be one airplane crashing every three days. So this option, which would be inconceivable in aviation, is in fact accepted uncontested in healthcare.”

Prof. Gianfranco Carrara, a hospital architect from Italy, presented hospital design trends in Europe, and the architect Roger Hay of California, USA presented lean technologies. The Israeli experience in this field was presented by 6 leading architects: Prof. Yeuda kalay, Ralli Gavrieli, Ehud Gefen, Arthur Spector, Arad Sharon, and Avi Torjman.

A ceremony was held in honor of the architect Moshe Zarhy, whose healthcare buildings were a milestone in the history of hospitals in Israel.

Above: Moshe Zarhy (on the right) receives a “Hamsa” from Prof. Kalay. Photo: Technion Spokesman