It’s a big innovation from Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, contained in a very small package: using bubbles to find cancer. These are tiny microbubbles of gas, smaller than a red blood cell, that are injected in minute amounts into a patient’s veins. And when an ultrasound is used to track the bubbles, they ring like a bell, showing where they are! So how does this help find cancer? Well, the bubbles essentially form a roadmap of the body’s small blood vessels. And the way those blood vessels form, will help indicate if cancer is present or not. In a healthy organ, blood vessels resemble a tree-like structure. But when cancer is present, those blood vessels look like a disorganized tangle of lines.
Imaging these microbubbles using ultrasound was the brainchild of Dr. Peter Burns and his team at Sunnybrook Research Institute. It’s a technique that’s now being used to find cancer around the world. And the hope in a bubble doesn’t end there. In the future, the goal is to load these bubbles up with treatment and shatter them with high intensity sound when they reach diseased tissue, just like an opera singer would shatter a glass with his or her thundering voice!
It’s another way of seeing that hope floats, albeit in a very small package. It’s a story better seen, so take a look at my video on this latest Sunnybrook innovation.
It’s getting nasty, folks. In one corner, (big) pharmacy, duking it out with the Ontario government in the other. It’s all over proposed changes to the province’s prescription drug system. But long before this battle got brewing, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre was piloting a broader solution. Call it, thinking inside the box.
Imagine a large green bank machine, but instead of money, this one dispenses medications (about 300 of the most commonly prescribed drugs). It's the latest convenience in a long line of predecessors, including remote controls and cell phones. How did we live without them? Well, we could soon be saying the same thing about PharmaTrust Med Centres. It’s an idea with long legs. As a parent, I know I’ve been stuck driving around looking for a 24-hour pharmacy on more than one occasion. With the current conflict between pharmacies and government, that could become even more difficult. This so-called “virtual pharmacy” is hoping to fill a void, especially in more remote communities.
How it works is pretty simple. After receiving your prescription from your doctor, you scan it into the machine itself. That information is transmitted to a remote pharmacist who pops up onto a television screen in front of you. You pick up the phone connected to the Med Centre and have a discussion with the pharmacist, just like you would in person, to make sure the medication is safe and appropriate. Once that’s determined, you can pay on site using your debit or credit card. And within a few minutes, the machine dispenses your medication, along with prescribing information.
The first one located in a downtown Toronto hospital is currently at Sunnybrook’s Holland Orthopaedic and Arthritic Centre. It’s also been piloted at Sunnybrook’s Bayview campus, with a thumbs-up response. Informal analysis finds most people would use it again, or recommend it to a friend.
PharmaTrust won’t replace your local or hospital pharmacy, especially for patients who would rather speak with an expert in person, but it is another choice. And it’s an innovative one that may be the future.
So how often have you forgotten to eat breakfast? How about packing a lunch? It’s fair to say, many of us can’t even find the time to cook for ourselves everyday. Now imagine trying to feed over one million people every year.
Did You Know? YEARLY FOOD AMOUNTS REPORTED BY THE FOOD SERVICES DIVISION AT SUNNYBROOK HEALTH SCIENCES CENTRE:
That’s what makes Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre’s Food Services Division so amazing. They do it, and make the process look simple. But going behind the scenes, I realized the key to success comes down to good planning and organization.
Food is delivered six days a week to a loading dock, and then immediately sorted into two giant walk-in fridges and one freezer. And then comes the fun part: preparing meals for different patient care units with different dietary requirements. And to say things are on a large scale, is quite simply an understatement. In just one shift, workers will scoop out nearly 600 bowls of cold cereal, make more than 300 sandwiches or prepare nearly six hundred servings of pudding and jello combined. I’ll bet the idea of making yourself some toast for breakfast doesn’t seem so bad now!
Once the meals are ready, they are loaded onto carts and brought up to the patient care units in service elevators. Special “retherm” carts (resembling large metal fridges) help heat hot food on one side of the tray, while keeping items on the other side, like milk, cold. It’s all thanks to a special insulated divider. Then the meal is ready for patients to enjoy.
If you think back to the last time you weren’t feeling well, you will probably remember that your appetite changed, too. And for in patients, it’s a similar scenario. Charles Chow, director of patient food services at Sunnybrook, tells me that comfort foods reign supreme. That includes items like soups, sandwiches and lots of juice. And not surprisingly, desserts are hardly ever left behind by patients. I guess it’s true, that a spoonful of sugar really does help the medicine go down!
And after the meal is over, you can imagine that there is a massive clean up effort. Food trays are loaded back onto carts and brought back to the hospital’s basement, where workers sort and load utensils, plates, bowls and cups into giant conveyor belt style dishwashers that are constantly working to keep up with demand. And Sunnybrook has one of only two specialized cart washers in Canada. Two go in, they spin in high heat, and voila! An extra level of protection in under two minutes.
Have a look at my video for a closer look behind the scenes. You’ll never take hospital food for granted again. And packing tomorrow’s lunch, may seem a little less taxing.
I’ve been through labour, twice. I’ve also lived through a few construction projects at home. In a strange way, the two share a common thread of anticipation, pain and overwhelming satisfaction when all is said and done.
These two worlds are becoming one on top of the main wing of Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. A massive multi-year, and multi-million dollar project will all come to fruition on September 12, 2010, when the brand new Women & Babies Program will officially open its doors at Sunnybrook’s Bayview campus. The square footage alone is awesome (120,000 sq.ft). Someone described it to me this way: taking the size of a community hospital, and plunking it onto our Hospital’s main building. The architectural angle is only one side of this impressive venture. But the heart of this story lies with the more than 4,000 families, who will welcome their new babies in one of the most advanced and patient-friendly labour and delivery units in the country. In fact, families were consulted during the design process, and their needs and wishes are echoed in every detail.
To appreciate the new space, you really have to walk through the old one. For years, Sunnybrook has been a tenant at 76 Grenville Street in downtown Toronto. The old space is a maze of tiny rooms, dim lighting and drab décor. One birthing room is aptly nicknamed “the closet”, because it’s so small, fathers are often forced to step outside during the birthing process to accommodate Hospital staff. That will soon be replaced with a new labour and delivery room with its own nickname: the Presidential suite. The design of this extra-large modern room is mimicked in 20 such others, which are flooded with light from an expanse of windows, and housed with amenities to meet all the needs of patients and staff.
The neonatal intensive care unit is another massive improvement in form and function. Right now, families dealing with the emotional realities of having a preemie are crammed into one small room. There is barely enough square footage to stand, let alone have some private bonding time. In the new neonatal ICU, every family will have their own room, with space for parents to visit and sleep. Families will even have their own separate hallway to enter their baby’s room, so they can feel comfortable coming and going.
And the Women & Babies Program will offer so much more: units for high-risk pregnancies, dedicated surgery suites, family lounge areas with fireplaces and colorful play areas for inpatients to enjoy, a high-risk ambulatory clinic and follow-up clinics. Picture all that in a large, bright space adorned with spa-like colors. It almost makes me want to have another baby! (Ok, not quite…)
Unlike both my pregnancies and home renovation projects, construction on the Women & Babies Program is on time and on budget. So the countdown is on to September 12 when Sunnybrook’s newest addition, could help you welcome yours.
Check out my video for a sneak peek at the current construction, and what the finished project will look like!
is to load these bubbles up with treatment and shatter them with high intensity sound when they reach diseased tissue, just like an opera singer would shatter a glass with his or her thundering voice!
