Video Capture Devices

Computers

It is an easy process to get the video out of any camera and into your computer. Here is one of our laptops showing a live blood microscope image. The laptop has a video input card built in and it easily accepts the microscope camera output. The computer can be used for image storage and retrieval and the monitor used as the microscope video display. In our experience, the display on a laptop (even with active matrix displays), do not render an image as well as using a dedicated direct video monitor. We prefer to have a lab monitor as the direct video display and a computer as an optional peripheral if desired to computerize image capture, client records, etc. Whenever computers get involved, the level of complexity and the potential for complications can rise.


Video Photo Printers

Making direct photos is one of the best ways to document microscopic findings. It is easy using computer directed die sublimation photo printers and the pictures can be kept directly in client files if you want this in addition to written reports. Using the native operating system tools on most computers you can easily print, file and catalog your live blood and dry layer images to client folders for future retrieval and for adding to reports or research studies.

Give your patients 2 snapshots of the "messy" things you find in their blood. One is for their wallet and one is for their refrigerator. Also give them a refrigerator magnet with your clinic name & number so they can "post" their picture on the refrigerator. The pictures are a strong visual reminder for where they need to be going with their health. (Your refrigerator magnets are also a potential referral generator for neighbors, family and friends that see the blood picture posted to your patients fridge with your clinic name right above it. )

The Power of the Picture

A recent study involving 210 people, average age 54 found that people who carried images of their damaged arteries in their wallets lost more weight, were more likely to exercise and were more likely to stop smoking than those who saw pictures of their damaged arteries only once. Most of the people were sedentary with poor diets.

The participants went through an ultrasound examination to determine the thickness of the wall in the carotid artery, which supplies blood to the brain. A thickened carotid artery serves as a good predictor of heart attack and stroke risk.

All participants were shown images of their arteries and given instruction on ways to reduce their disease risks, including dieting to lose weight and lower cholesterol, stopping smoking and starting an exercise plan. Half the participants were given photos of their arteries to carry in their wallets and put on their refrigerators. At the end of the six months, researchers analyzed behavioral changes and found the following:

*In the photo group, 60 people who had not been exercising started an exercise program, compared with 34 people in the non-photo group.
*More people had stopped smoking in the photo group (11) than the non-photo group (1).
*The photo group lost more weight, 17.6 pound apiece, compared with 11 pounds for the others.
*The photo group had a more significant drop in cholesterol.

After a year, participants in the photo group had a statistically significant greater reduction in the average thickness of their arteries' walls compared with the non-photo group.   From USA TODAY

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