October 2007 - Surgical Serenity Solutions

Will Alice Win the Vogt Award this Year?

Yesterday I dropped off my 30-page application for the 2007 Vogt Award. You may remember that I applied last year for my invention and made it to the finals only to find out that I needed FDA approval for anything used in surgery. Soooo, I’ve spent a lot of time this year getting the FDA to approve. I’m sure you know about my invention, right? I hold a preliminary patent and am getting the final patent now. The invention is ______________. Actually I can’t give you the precise information because my lawyer says that until I get the final patent it would not be smart to tell people. Suffice it to say that it has to do with delivering music to the patient during surgery for the purpose of reducing the amount of anesthesia required.

Once you hear all the details, you are going to LOVE it, I’m seriously hoping that it will revolutionize the field of surgery.
Please keep your fingers crossed that I get the award this year because that will help pay for creating the prototype, legal expenses and a little marketing! You can also go to my blogs listed below and catch up on all that I’ve been doing in the huge field of music medicine. You might especially want to read the “Surgery with Music” blog, listed below. Music without words means leaving behind the mind.
And leaving behind the mind is meditation. Meditation returns you to the source. And the source of all is sound. — Kabir
Healing Music Enterprises 2518 Frankfort Ave. Louisville, KY 40206 502-419-1698

Have you heard about the cyberknife?

Have you heard about the cyberknife? The name certainly cauht my attention but the really exciting thing for me is that the patients use only music to relax before the treatment, i.e. no anesthesia! The following article came from the Star-Telegram.com.

“The sharpest knives don’t even cut,” proclaims a billboard near downtown Fort Worth promoting CyberKnife, a high-tech device that delivers radiation therapy with sub-millimeter precision. Its robotic tracking system keeps a targeted tumor in its crosshair focus while zapping the tumor with 150 to 300 high-energy X-ray beams.
We asked Dr. Peter LaNasa, medical director of the Harris Methodist CyberKnife Center in the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders in Fort Worth, to tell us more:
Is it actually a knife? No, it is called the CyberKnife because it can be used to treat tumors with surgical precision, including tumors considered “inoperable” because of their location or because the patient can’t tolerate traditional surgery — for example, a lung cancer patient with severe emphysema.
What kinds of cancer is it used for? The CyberKnife can be used for brain, spine, head and neck, lung, liver, pancreas, prostate, bone and other localized tumors. It is not used for tumors that cannot be tracked precisely (tongue) or tumors in organs particularly sensitive to radiosurgery (bowel).
Is there any discomfort? No. Patients lie quietly on an open table and listen to music for 45 to 60 minutes. No anesthesia is used. All treatments are performed as outpatient, and Medicare and most insurance plans cover the costs.
Are there other CyberKnife centers in this area? There are two in Dallas, one in Tyler, one here, one in Austin and one in San Antonio, but not another going west until you get to Arizona.
None in Louisville, KY, I’m assuming!