Currently, we can see, hear and touch our mobile devices. We can’t yet taste and smell (well, we can’t smell things if they were submitted via our phones…like the fresh new scent of Febreze…). Think about this for a minute. What if one day Oren Eisenberg and Matt Draper invented a way we could harness all five senses through mobile?

Well..we may be getting close with current research. But, let’s start with Haptic Technology. Haptics is a tactile feedback technology which recreates the sense of touch. Now, the technology has taken awhile to get off its feet and has had some challenges…

But, shifting gears – consider the use of this with Orthopaedic Surgeons, Dentists, consumers in convention settings vs mobile phones for now. Allowing folks to touch things that resemble a pimple, rash or other things helps to contextualize the experience. Watch the video for 3:30 minutes and it will give you an idea.

Why it’s hot?

Because I can appreciate the struggle of this technology and hope to break the barriers for all senses one day. Or, be a part of the crowd watching and embracing. Thanks

Pediatric oncologists looking for a mobile solution to make their patients’ chemo sessions a little bit easier might want to check out a new backpack, designed by someone who knows all about the struggle.

Kylie Simmonds, 11, of Naugatuck, Conn., is raising money for a working prototype of her IV Pediatric Backpack for KidsWithCancer, a portable IV machine built into a child’s backpack. The backpack has won several awards, including the Connecticut Innovation Convention’s coveted Patent Award, and is now being reviewed by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Simmonds came up with the idea while struggling with rhabdomysarcoma, a connective tissue cancer, some three years ago (she’s been cancer-free for two years now). She said she didn’t like the traditional chemo dispensing device and IV poles, and sometimes had to have someone push it alongside her when she was too weak to walk and push it herself. She also noted the struggles of other pediatric cancer patients, and thought that it would be much easier to encase everything in a backpack.

Simmonds’ prototype, encased in a pink “Hello Kitty” backpack, can be seen in a video on her CrowdRise page, which her parents set up. She’s hoping to raise $20,000 to begin production of the bags, which will come in different designs (for boys and girls) and colors.

The backpack has caught the attention of a number of clinicians looking to ease the discomfort of chemo and transfusions for their patients.

“I think it’s a wonderful idea,” Birte Wistinghausen, MD, clinical director of the Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at the Mount Sinai Hospital, told Yahoo Health. “The stigma would fall away from seeing an IV pole (and) it would be very useful for pediatric oncology patients in providing them much more mobility and freedom.”

Video: https://www.crowdrise.com/ivpediatricbackpack4kidswithcancer