NEXT MEETING
(noon)_______________________________________________________
Location:
Tallan Cellar Restaurant, Two Union Square, Chattanooga, TN
37402
April 25: "PillCam: A Medical Diagnostic Camera
So Small It's Swallowable" - Bill Garner, Given Imaging, Inc.,
Norcross, GA
Current Science reported in 2000 that this
(PillCam) is "a pill with a view." The capsule is swallowed and it takes
images as it is propelled by the natural contractions of the digestive
tract. A wireless recorder, worn on a belt, receives the images
transmitted by the pill and patients are able to continue their daily activities
during the procedure. Information collected by the recorder is then downloaded
into a workstation and compiled into a complete video of the digestive tract
through the small bowel. The physician then views the video and can create
short video clips or still images to document his findings. Mr. Garner,
Product Training Manager at Given Imaging, Inc., will explain the engineering
challenges that went into the development of this camera capsule and the
software that manages the images. He will also give us a glimpse of the
new applications that Given Imaging is exploring for the future.
Invocation: Jack Wagner
Menu: A
salad and buffet lunch of meat loaf, mashed potatoes with gravy, grilled mixed
vegetables and apple cobbler will be available for $10 per person. If you
plan to eat with us, please reply to jgdriggans@tva.gov or 423-751-7616 to
help us estimate how many meals we should order each
week.
OUR PREVIOUS MEETING
____________________________________________________
April
18: "Nanotechnology In Medicine or Very Tiny Things" - Dr. Robert
Berglund, Chattanooga Heart Institute
Dr. Berglund gave us an
overview of discoveries and writings that led up to the ideas included in
Engines of Creation, a book by K. Eric Drexler. The WWW version
of this book was reprinted and adapted by Russell Whitaker, with permission of
the copyright holder and is found at http://www.foresight.org/EOC/.
Drexler's book, Engines of Creation, covers the foundations of
nanotechnology, what is possible, and what are the dangers of
nanotechnology. Dr. Berglund passed around an overhead transparency film
about the size of a 35 mm slide with tiny markings and told us that it was a
reduced version of the entire text of the Holy Bible--both Old and New
Testaments. Then Dr. Berglund showed us proof that the dark marks are
really words by showing still images from his video camera taken of
this slide through his home microscope at increasing magnifications until
we could see the tiny marks were indeed words from the Bible. Dr. Berglund
showed drawings of small cochlear implants that help people to hear. He
also showed photographs of photon sensing pens that can be placed into the
retina of a person's eye to help them see. He showed a video clip
that explained how DNA is replicated. Nanotechnology is technology based
on the manipulation of individual atoms and molecules to build structures to
complex, atomic specifications. A nanometer (10^ -9 meters) is about the
width of six bonded carbon atoms. Approximately 40,000 carbon atoms are
needed to equal the width of an average human hair. He explained that the
nanobots would be so much smaller than a single blood cell that they could
even travel into capillaries. Red blood cells are ~7,000 nm in diameter,
and ~2000 nm in height. Nanobots are being researched and talked about,
but so far they don't exist. An important element in nanotechnology is
carbon nanotubes being used in nanometre-sized electronics and to strengthen
polymers. He cautioned that nanotubes being manufactured today can pose a
health hazard, because they cause irritation in the lungs when they are
accidentally inhaled. He described a computer chip that is small enough to
be placed just under the skin to monitor heart beats. They are
particularly useful for people who have been known to faint occasionally without
warning. Since their symptoms occur only sporadically, long-term
monitoring of their hearts has been useful to provide insight into the cause of
their problem. Dr. Berglund told us that he expects the first real
benefits from nanotechnology in medicine to be in diagnostic tools rather than
nanobots to repair tissues or remove bacteria or
cancer.
FUTURE MONDAY MEETINGS (noon in the Tallan
Cellar Restaurant unless another location is indicated)
__________
May 2:
TBA
May 9: "Aerodynamic Drag Reduction of
Heavy Vehicles" - Dr. David Whitfield, UTC
SimCenter
(Location: UTC SimCenter Auditorium, 701 M.L.
King Blvd., Chattanooga, TN 37403)
May
16: "New Air Pollution Requirements and Chattanooga's
Response" Errol Reksten, Chattanooga Air Pollution Control
Bureau
May 23: "Fire Protection Integrated
Systems for Mass Notification" Vic Humm, Safety Technology International,
Inc.
May 30: No Meeting - Memorial
Day
June 4 (Saturday): CEC Summer Social --
Pizza in the Park, 10 am to 2 pm
(Location: Chester Frost State
Park, Pavilion #3)
June 6: “Advances in Refining
Coal for Power Production" - Dale Bradshaw, Advanced Coal Technology (ACT)
WHERE WE MEET
_________________________________________________________
We will
usually meet at Tallan Cellar Restaurant in the basement of the Tallan Building
at the corner of M. L. King Blvd. and Carter Street. Lunch at the Cellar
Restaurant is a hot buffet for $10 and the meal is available at 11:30 a.m.
Parking is available free at the Days Inn across Carter Street, but you will
need a note in your windshield that you’re attending the Chattanooga Engineers
Club meeting. You may also park one hour free in the garage behind the
Tallan building if you have your ticket stamped in the Cellar
Restaurant.
QUESTIONS, SUGGESTIONS?
______________________________________________
If you have any
questions or suggestions about program items please contact Judy Driggans at
423-751-7616 or by email at jdriggans@comcast.net. You
can find references to other Chattanooga Engineers Club members at our web site:
www.ChattanoogaEngineersClub.org.