Page 38 - Plastics News July 2019

FeAtures

facility’s residents have become much less likely to be
hospitalized for aspiration pneumonia.” “We want to
build a society where seniors enjoy food and live healthy,”
Plimes’ Nitasaka said.

Remote control wheelchairs
Another technology from Tsukuba has been developed to
reduce the workload of caregivers at nursing homes, who
must push elderly residents in wheelchairs to their dining
rooms for every meal or to the living room for recreation.
Developed by a research team overseen by media
artist Yoichi Ochiai of the Digital Nature Group at the
University of Tsukuba, the system, dubbed Telewheelchair,
allows helpers to remotely control the wheelchair via a is safe and effective requires “cost and time” if one truly
head-mounted display. Caregivers can also monitor the wants to receive the coveted credential.
surroundings through video footage transmitted wirelessly
from an omnidirectional camera on the back of the Raising funds can pose another stumbling block.
wheelchair. The system is still in the experimental stage. According to Fujii, the long time it usually takes medical
companies to commercialize their products, compared
To mitigate the risk of accidents being caused by to their information technology counterparts, can scare
transmission delays, the wheelchair stops when it detects off investors. For nursing care devices, he said, the
an approaching person. With the use of augmented reality discouraging factor for investors could be the “relatively
markers, caregivers can operate multiple wheelchairs slow pace of market growth.” Convincing nursing homes,
simultaneously, lining them up toward the same which tend to lack financial leeway, to buy new products is
destination. also a challenge. Still, Fujii said high-quality manufacturing
Challenges ahead and the ability to turn concepts into products are among
the technological advantages Japan has against its
However unique their technologies are, many companies international competitors in the medical and nursing
face legal barriers and financing problems, said Norimasa care sectors. But devising a concept is a different skill in
Fujii, a senior researcher at Mitsubishi Research Institute itself. For instance, Fujii pointed out that products with
Inc.’s health care and wellness division. For instance, excessively high specifications, which can jack up prices,
Plimes is struggling to obtain permission to sell its may not be what consumers want. “They need to enhance
product as “medical equipment” under Japanese law — their product concept designing capability, which is a
a designation that has a strong public appeal. Fujii said common problem among Japanese businesses as a whole,”
amassing the data needed to prove an innovative product Fujii said.

A Path To Recycling Medical Plastic Waste From Down Under

Norbert Sparrow
Correct separation of medical waste is paramount to the success of any recycling initiative, and it requires
constant vigilance,

o one would argue that recycling plastic waste to make waste appropriately? And are the quantities sufficient
Nnew products isn't a good idea, but when it comes to to make recycling cost effective? The PVC Recycling in
medical plastic waste, even environmental evangelists Hospitals program, developed by the Vinyl Council of
can get skittish. What have those materials been exposed Australia and sponsored by medical device OEM Baxter
to? Is it reasonable to expect medical personnel, who Healthcare, provides one pathway to effective recycling of
deal with life-or-death issues on a constant basis, to sort the most widely used plastic in healthcare settings, PVC,

Plastics News July 2019 38