I visited my radiology  group in NYC this week because I received a letter from them explaining that they totally updated their machinery with the state of the art, 3-D mammography units, also known as 3-D tomosynthesis. 

The letter said, “Instead of imaging the breast as a whole, 3-D mammography acquires multiple very thin slices throughout your breast in a matter of seconds. As with CAT scans and MRI’s, the thin slices prevent the adjacent tissue from overlapping one another. Studies have shown that 3-D mammography is 30 per cent more accurate in finding breast cancer than 2-D exams, and that it also greatly reduces the number of false positive readings. 

“The FDA requires that 3-D mammography be performed in conjunction with standard 2-D mammography, which makes sense since we need to compare the current study with your prior 2-D images. However, in order to keep the radiation dose down to the low level that it has always been, we have added a very exciting and important technology. It’s called “C-View,” and it synthesizes 2-D images from the 3-D ones, thereby eliminating the need to take a second mammogram.”

I was due for a mammography exam so I decided to try the new 3-D machine. I am pleased to report that you really can’t tell the difference when you take the exam, but the results are quite different. I could really see many more details in the 3-D film. My radiologist showed me how she carefully compares the images of 3-D to 2-D. I was quite impressed. 

I wanted to share this information with you because you should be made aware of all of your options. Every radiology office is updating their machines. Make sure you are getting the very best. 

 
Image: Blewit 

There may be a new trend in crowdsourcing. The digital sites picked up on this over the last few days. Mashable, one of the most famous of them all, did a lead post on how Indiegogo was the platform of choice to raise money for a new men’s sex toy by Blewit. 

If you go to Indiegogo, you will see that Blewit raised $19,000 of their $20,000 goal much faster then anyone could have imagined. I guess sex toys are still more appealing than many other product   categories. No surprise. I know you are dying to see what this sex toy is all about. Click here.

Image: The Verge

If you ever use a helicopter, you will want to know about Uber and Airbus. They have a new trial helicopter service.

First stop, Utah during the Sundance Film Festival, which is taking place this month. Uber will offer car service rides to and from the helipad. More locations coming soon if this one works out.

Uber has been down this road before. The company offered $3,000 helicopter rides from Manhattan to the Hamptons. 

Read more about this development in The Verge.

Thank you  Todd Smith For Sharing

This post should get a lot of attention. It’s about dogs. One of the most talked about products at CES was an interactive educational device for bow wow. Called CleverPet, the product keeps a dog’s mind stimulated and active all day and night. I call this an educational dog sitter.

In order to active, all you have to do is fill the CleverPet dispenser with dog food. Then your pet is ready to start playing games. CleverPet says, “The unit has three touch-sensitive pads that light up in colors inside a dog’s visual spectrum and a microphone to detect barks.”

CleverPet sets a series of challenges for your dog. All Fido has to do is hit the right pad to receive a reward. “The device adjusts the level of difficulty in real time to match the dog’s performance. The games include teaching the dog to detect changes in color, pressing a sequence of lights, and responding to commands pre-recorded in the user’s own voice.”

The best part of CleverPet, in my opinion,  is that it regulates the amount of food your dog eats at one time. I like the idea of eating smaller portions several times during the day. 

So how much would you pay for a product like this? Retail price is approximately $275. Not much for dog lovers.