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Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

Cameras Click for Babies in Intensive Care Unit

The equivalent of a nanny cam is now available for babies in the neonatal intensive care unit at Glendale Adventist Medical Center. The hospital will be fitting each crib and incubator in the unit with small cameras called NicView, allowing parents to see their baby at all times through a secure app. Babies in intensive care stay in the hospital between two weeks and three months, usually because they are born premature or have certain conditions. “When you don’t have the baby in your arms, it’s hard to get attached,” said Randy Miller, nurse manager at the NICU at Glendale Adventist. “Sometimes we give them pictures, but this is a way for parents to view the baby live, wherever they are.” The video feed from the camera can be viewed through a data connection on phones, tablets and desktop computers. Parents will be able to share their login information with grandparents or other family members who would like to see the baby. The camera will be on at all times, except during shift changes for nurses, which account for about 30 minutes every 12 hours. However, the nurses will have the choice to turn off the cameras anytime if they feel it’s necessary. The system also allows nurses to send short messages to parents like “I just got a bath,” or “I just got a feeding.” Viewing service will not be an additional charge for parents; the equipment was donated by the hospital’s Employee Giving Club to improve the patient experience. Miller said the cameras have been on her wish list for a while. She believes it will allow the nurses to be more productive. “Parents call in frequently. Some parents come in two to three times a day, which is understandable,” she said. “Now the nurses can go in and send a quick note. This gives the nurse more time to take care of the baby.” Miller said the cameras were installed last year at its sister hospital, White Memorial Medical Center in Boyle Heights, and have proven effective. The NICU cameras for Glendale Adventist Medical Center will be installed in July. Balance & Beyond An in-home personal training service for older adults opened in Camarillo this month to connect certified personal trainers with patients and improve their balance and joint health. Balance & Beyond Co-founder Leslie Folkes said the program is ideal for anyone above 55 years of age, and for those who have balance issues caused by surgery, inactivity or joint pain. “Older adults can get intimidated by the idea of having a personal trainer,” said Folkes. “What we do is work on basic balance and coordination so our clients can move without fear.” Folkes stressed that the trainers are not physical therapists, but can help clients who have gone through physical therapy to move with more confidence. She said that a person’s ability to balance, like a muscle, can deteriorate if they do not practice it. The company encourages couple and group sessions for a more engaging experience. “Just the other day we had a local knitting group participate in a group session,” Folkes said. “They had a great time.” Amgen Clinical Trials Amgen Inc. has released clinical trial data for three drugs in the development pipeline with mixed results. Phase 3 data for Evenity, a treatment for osteoporosis in postmenopausal women, revealed that adverse cardiovascular events were observed in small number of patients, about 2.5 percent of the population treated. Because of this safety signal, the Thousand Oaks biotech announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will not approve the drug this year as originally expected. News of Evenity’s possible delay was diminished by more positive results involving Xgeva, an injectable drug used for prevention of bone fractures. The Phase 3 trial data showed that the drug had significantly lowered the rate of renal complications to 10 percent compared to zoledronic acid at 17 percent. Zoledronic acid is currently used in the field to treat patients with multiple myeloma. Amgen announced that the FDA has now accepted an application to expand on Xgeva’s approved indication of fractures in patients with bone metastases from solid tumors to include patients with multiple myeloma. Multiple myeloma is type of cancer formed by malignant plasma cells, which can lead to tumors in the bone. Lastly, Phase 2 data for Imlygic, a drug for treatment of melanoma, was released. Imlygic is designed to treat skin lesions that cannot be operated on. The results reported were generally positive, showing 38 percent of patients treated achieving the objective. More data on Imlygic will be announced as the drug moves forward in future clinical trials. Staff Reporter Iris Lee can be reached at (818) 316-3130 or [email protected]

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