On Sat, 21 Mar 2015 07:52:02 -0700, Joerg <news@analogconsultants.com> wrote:>On 2015-03-20 4:51 PM, krw@zzz.com wrote: >> On Fri, 20 Mar 2015 10:34:18 -0700, Joerg <news@analogconsultants.com> >> wrote: >> >>> On 2015-03-20 9:35 AM, Tom Swift wrote: >>>> Joerg <news@analogconsultants.com> wrote: >>>> >>>>> On 2015-03-19 5:38 PM, Tom Swift wrote: >>>> >>>>>> Cool! That signal appears to be much more complex. Good thing you're >>>>>> doing it and not me! >>>> >>>>> Let's hope you and I never need the equipment that this is for but >>>>> it'll be good it's there, just in case. >>>> >>>> You must be at the point now where you walk into a Doctor's office or >>>> operating room, look around and say to yourself. "I designed that, and >>>> that, and that...." >>>> >>> >>> Not anymore, I moved largely away from med tech. This is the only major >>> med project I am involved in right now and for the foreseeable future. >>> Much of that market got jinxed by Obamacare and I saw it coming, so >>> branched out into industrial electronics and stuff. >>> >>> >>>> Pretty good insurance in case you ever get sick. They're fixing you with >>>> your own stuff! >>>> >>>> You should post a list of all the instruments you have designed so we can >>>> be sure they use nothing else when they want to cut us open:) >>>> >>> >>> When it comes to intravascular ultrasound, yes, then I'd like to be >>> diagnosed with one of our machines if that is ever necessary. Because it >>> is the only fully electronic system on the planet and I sure would not >>> like them to snake a catheter with a spinning shaft up into my coronary >>> blood vessels. Not that it's inherently too unsafe but it kind of scares >>> me. Plus IMHO our image quality is better and more consistent. >> >> Just the idea of a catheter snaking around inside scares me. Not much >> choice, though. Fortunately, my doc uses the wrist as the entry point >> (when possible). Don't know anything about spinning stuff, though. >> > >This is for the more serious stuff such as snaking up ultrasound >catheters or stents riding on balloon catheter tips. They go in through >a cut in the femoral artery where they place a temporary lockable port, >just during the procedure.More serious than a triple bypass? ;-) He does angioplasty and stents through the wrist. Don't know about ultrasound. If at all possible he doesn't use the femoral artery. That has a lot of complications that the wrist doesn't have. It's a straight run from the right wrist (or elbow) to the heart.>Get a ton of exercise, don't smoke, don't eat bad stuff and you might >never need this done. But for some people the conditions are heredetary, >not much they can do about it. A friend of ours just got a whole new >heart valve delivered and installed with such a procedure. They didn't >have to crack his chest for open heart surgery, a procedure he might not >have survived due to other medical conditions.Pretty much a genes thing. My brother had a couple of stents a week before I had the catheterization/ He, too, should have had a triple bypass but they blew it so he'll have to wait a year for the surgery. Another brother died of sudden death syndrome. He was the one who was anal about all the exercise and diet stuff. He swam two miles three times a week and did a couple of hours at the gym 7 days. Didn't help. I got the whole zipper deal. In addition to the three cabbages, I got a maze. ;-) All in all, it beats cancer, which other than a little skin cancer (my mother, in her 90s), no one in my family on either side has had.
Voltage-variable capacitor doesn't work in LTSpice
Started by ●March 16, 2015
Reply by ●March 21, 20152015-03-21
Reply by ●March 21, 20152015-03-21
Joerg <news@analogconsultants.com> wrote:> On 2015-03-20 3:05 PM, Tom Swift wrote:>> Just out of curiosity, why would Obamacare affect the med tech >> business? There would still be a need for equipment, and as far as I >> can tell, the equipment cost would not change. What happened to ruin >> the business?> Several things, the most important ones being: > > 1. A new 2.3% medical device tax, as Keith said. This gets creamed off > the top from gross revenue, not from profits. So a start-up that > naturally won't be able to make profits for the first few years will > have to fork over an additional tax. More established companies that > run only a slim profit got that wiped out. > > 2. Culling of services and fees. In order to finance this gigantic > welfare expansion the president and his people thought it smart to > simply cut reimbursements and such. If a doctor can barely break even, > how do they think he or she will do if they cut down another 21% or > whatever? > > Anyhow, this has predictably resulted in a souring of the investment > climate and it has become much tougher to find funding for a medical > device start-up. While I participate in the development of an idea > that did manage to get funded I also found in my other consulting work > that the pocket books in med devices for R&D and thus also for > consulting work are now a lot tighter. They are not in fields such as > oil, gas, industrial and so on. Therefore, that's where my work mainly > headed.Thanks for taking the time to post, Joerg. That is a very alarming picture, and I'm glad you got out in time.
Reply by ●March 21, 20152015-03-21
On 2015-03-21 8:48 AM, krw@zzz.com wrote:> On Sat, 21 Mar 2015 07:52:02 -0700, Joerg <news@analogconsultants.com> > wrote: > >> On 2015-03-20 4:51 PM, krw@zzz.com wrote: >>> On Fri, 20 Mar 2015 10:34:18 -0700, Joerg <news@analogconsultants.com> >>> wrote: >>> >>>> On 2015-03-20 9:35 AM, Tom Swift wrote: >>>>> Joerg <news@analogconsultants.com> wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> On 2015-03-19 5:38 PM, Tom Swift wrote: >>>>> >>>>>>> Cool! That signal appears to be much more complex. Good thing you're >>>>>>> doing it and not me! >>>>> >>>>>> Let's hope you and I never need the equipment that this is for but >>>>>> it'll be good it's there, just in case. >>>>> >>>>> You must be at the point now where you walk into a Doctor's office or >>>>> operating room, look around and say to yourself. "I designed that, and >>>>> that, and that...." >>>>> >>>> >>>> Not anymore, I moved largely away from med tech. This is the only major >>>> med project I am involved in right now and for the foreseeable future. >>>> Much of that market got jinxed by Obamacare and I saw it coming, so >>>> branched out into industrial electronics and stuff. >>>> >>>> >>>>> Pretty good insurance in case you ever get sick. They're fixing you with >>>>> your own stuff! >>>>> >>>>> You should post a list of all the instruments you have designed so we can >>>>> be sure they use nothing else when they want to cut us open:) >>>>> >>>> >>>> When it comes to intravascular ultrasound, yes, then I'd like to be >>>> diagnosed with one of our machines if that is ever necessary. Because it >>>> is the only fully electronic system on the planet and I sure would not >>>> like them to snake a catheter with a spinning shaft up into my coronary >>>> blood vessels. Not that it's inherently too unsafe but it kind of scares >>>> me. Plus IMHO our image quality is better and more consistent. >>> >>> Just the idea of a catheter snaking around inside scares me. Not much >>> choice, though. Fortunately, my doc uses the wrist as the entry point >>> (when possible). Don't know anything about spinning stuff, though. >>> >> >> This is for the more serious stuff such as snaking up ultrasound >> catheters or stents riding on balloon catheter tips. They go in through >> a cut in the femoral artery where they place a temporary lockable port, >> just during the procedure. > > More serious than a triple bypass? ;-) He does angioplasty and stents > through the wrist. Don't know about ultrasound. If at all possible > he doesn't use the femoral artery. That has a lot of complications > that the wrist doesn't have. It's a straight run from the right wrist > (or elbow) to the heart. >Bigger stuff usually only fits through the femoralis. It's pretty routine. One of the cardiologists said that he feels like a glorified plumber.>> Get a ton of exercise, don't smoke, don't eat bad stuff and you might >> never need this done. But for some people the conditions are heredetary, >> not much they can do about it. A friend of ours just got a whole new >> heart valve delivered and installed with such a procedure. They didn't >> have to crack his chest for open heart surgery, a procedure he might not >> have survived due to other medical conditions. > > Pretty much a genes thing. My brother had a couple of stents a week > before I had the catheterization/ He, too, should have had a triple > bypass but they blew it so he'll have to wait a year for the surgery. > Another brother died of sudden death syndrome. He was the one who was > anal about all the exercise and diet stuff. He swam two miles three > times a week and did a couple of hours at the gym 7 days. Didn't help. >But it still does other things. I bet he feels really good after exercise. When I came home from a 36mi hard mountain bike ride yesterday night I felt like a Viking warrior on a horse.> I got the whole zipper deal. In addition to the three cabbages, I got > a maze. ;-) All in all, it beats cancer, which other than a little > skin cancer (my mother, in her 90s), no one in my family on either > side has had. >Alzheimer's can be much worse. Many of these people know full well that they are losing their brains but it can be agonzingly slow. Some know exactly want they want to communicate but can't get it out. For years. -- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/
Reply by ●March 21, 20152015-03-21
On 2015-03-21 9:37 AM, Tom Swift wrote:> Joerg <news@analogconsultants.com> wrote: > >> On 2015-03-20 3:05 PM, Tom Swift wrote: > >>> Just out of curiosity, why would Obamacare affect the med tech >>> business? There would still be a need for equipment, and as far as I >>> can tell, the equipment cost would not change. What happened to ruin >>> the business? > >> Several things, the most important ones being: >> >> 1. A new 2.3% medical device tax, as Keith said. This gets creamed off >> the top from gross revenue, not from profits. So a start-up that >> naturally won't be able to make profits for the first few years will >> have to fork over an additional tax. More established companies that >> run only a slim profit got that wiped out. >> >> 2. Culling of services and fees. In order to finance this gigantic >> welfare expansion the president and his people thought it smart to >> simply cut reimbursements and such. If a doctor can barely break even, >> how do they think he or she will do if they cut down another 21% or >> whatever? >> >> Anyhow, this has predictably resulted in a souring of the investment >> climate and it has become much tougher to find funding for a medical >> device start-up. While I participate in the development of an idea >> that did manage to get funded I also found in my other consulting work >> that the pocket books in med devices for R&D and thus also for >> consulting work are now a lot tighter. They are not in fields such as >> oil, gas, industrial and so on. Therefore, that's where my work mainly >> headed. > > Thanks for taking the time to post, Joerg. That is a very alarming > picture, and I'm glad you got out in time. >I hope some day we'll get real healthcare reform but that cannot come from the current administration. Obamacare completely missed the boat. For example, there are no provisions in that law to open the chargemaster to patients and everyone else and also to cut ambulance chasers out of the deal. The chargemaster secrecy alone is huge. Case in point: Eye exam was needed. So we inquired and at one out-of-network doctor the procedure with prescription would have cost about $70. Called the HMO to see what they charge. To out great surprise since we have a high-deductible plan they said that it's no charge at all, like preventative care. So we went. _Then_ we got a statement for $163. I called. "Oh, sorry, you were given wrong information but it's your responsibility to check the coverage". Which we can't because most of it isn't disclosed. This is despicable and a serious cancer in US health care. -- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/
Reply by ●March 21, 20152015-03-21
On 2015-03-21 8:22 AM, John Larkin wrote:> On Sat, 21 Mar 2015 07:35:48 -0700, Joerg <news@analogconsultants.com> > wrote: > >> On 2015-03-20 11:31 AM, John Larkin wrote: >>> On Thu, 19 Mar 2015 16:57:15 -0700, Joerg <news@analogconsultants.com> >>> wrote: >>> >>>> On 2015-03-19 2:55 PM, John Larkin wrote: >>>>> On Thu, 19 Mar 2015 13:30:47 -0700, Joerg <news@analogconsultants.com> >>>>> wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> On 2015-03-19 8:37 AM, John Larkin wrote: >>>> >>>> [...] >>>> >>>>>> >>>>>>> I you make an instantaneous change in C, LT Spice conserves charge, so >>>>>>> doesn't conserve energy. Spice doesn't need to conserve energy. >>>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> SPICE has weirdnesses. When I tried to massage the stimulus pulse for >>>>>> the cap values using LC the capacitor action flatlined. The stimulus >>>>>> itself looks ok, it's just that the formula in the cap seems to choke. >>>>>> So I had to restrict it to RC. Beats me why but for now it's good enough. >>>>>> >>>>>> Thanks again for all the hints. I got it to run and produce a useful WAV >>>>>> output for the software engineer. 60 cardiac cycles. Ba-bump .. ba-bump >>>>>> .. ba-bump .. ba-bump .. ba-bump ............... *BEEEEEEEEEP* .... just >>>>>> kidding ... >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> This is fun: >>>>> >>>>> https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/53724080/Circuits/Current_Sources/Isink_NAN.asc >>>>> >>>>> LTS doesn't mind zero value resistors or caps, but it doesn't like L=0 >>>>> in this circuit. >>>>> >>>> >>>> But it works if you give the inductor 1 femtohenry. Nothing in the world >>>> could ever have such a low inductance. >>> >>> Weird, but that little current sink, with L=0, runs at home but gets >>> NAN crashes when I run it at work. Must be some different Spice >>> setting. >>> >> >> Lesson learned: Go home when you want to solve a really tough problem. >> No kidding, I solved one (a difficult safety feature that I am sure the >> Federales will insist on) yesterday on a 36mi mountain bike ride. Then >> around mile 30 a large rock got kicked up by the front wheel and hit me >> in the right shin at a delta-V of 15-20mph. It still hurts. > > I get all my best ideas in the shower. Luckily, our water heater has > an 80 gallon tank. >Oh, oh, the guys in Sacramento will come down on you now. Drought legislation is in the making. We already started early last year to cut the water consumption during showers to a minimum. Like not running the water while soaping up. -- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/
Reply by ●March 21, 20152015-03-21
On Sat, 21 Mar 2015 12:38:13 -0700, Joerg <news@analogconsultants.com> wrote:>On 2015-03-21 9:37 AM, Tom Swift wrote: >> Joerg <news@analogconsultants.com> wrote: >> >>> On 2015-03-20 3:05 PM, Tom Swift wrote: >> >>>> Just out of curiosity, why would Obamacare affect the med tech >>>> business? There would still be a need for equipment, and as far as I >>>> can tell, the equipment cost would not change. What happened to ruin >>>> the business? >> >>> Several things, the most important ones being: >>> >>> 1. A new 2.3% medical device tax, as Keith said. This gets creamed off >>> the top from gross revenue, not from profits. So a start-up that >>> naturally won't be able to make profits for the first few years will >>> have to fork over an additional tax. More established companies that >>> run only a slim profit got that wiped out. >>> >>> 2. Culling of services and fees. In order to finance this gigantic >>> welfare expansion the president and his people thought it smart to >>> simply cut reimbursements and such. If a doctor can barely break even, >>> how do they think he or she will do if they cut down another 21% or >>> whatever? >>> >>> Anyhow, this has predictably resulted in a souring of the investment >>> climate and it has become much tougher to find funding for a medical >>> device start-up. While I participate in the development of an idea >>> that did manage to get funded I also found in my other consulting work >>> that the pocket books in med devices for R&D and thus also for >>> consulting work are now a lot tighter. They are not in fields such as >>> oil, gas, industrial and so on. Therefore, that's where my work mainly >>> headed. >> >> Thanks for taking the time to post, Joerg. That is a very alarming >> picture, and I'm glad you got out in time. >> > >I hope some day we'll get real healthcare reform but that cannot come >from the current administration. Obamacare completely missed the boat. >For example, there are no provisions in that law to open the >chargemaster to patients and everyone else and also to cut ambulance >chasers out of the deal.Obamacare sold out to all the big stakeholders, to get it to pass. I suspect that it was actually designed to fail.> >The chargemaster secrecy alone is huge. Case in point: Eye exam was >needed. So we inquired and at one out-of-network doctor the procedure >with prescription would have cost about $70. Called the HMO to see what >they charge. To out great surprise since we have a high-deductible plan >they said that it's no charge at all, like preventative care. So we >went. _Then_ we got a statement for $163. I called. "Oh, sorry, you were >given wrong information but it's your responsibility to check the >coverage". Which we can't because most of it isn't disclosed. This is >despicable and a serious cancer in US health care.Yup. Published price lists should be mandatory. There's no other business that can charge whatever they want after the product is delivered. -- John Larkin Highland Technology, Inc picosecond timing laser drivers and controllers jlarkin att highlandtechnology dott com http://www.highlandtechnology.com
Reply by ●March 21, 20152015-03-21
On Sat, 21 Mar 2015 12:29:37 -0700, Joerg <news@analogconsultants.com> wrote:>On 2015-03-21 8:48 AM, krw@zzz.com wrote: >> On Sat, 21 Mar 2015 07:52:02 -0700, Joerg <news@analogconsultants.com> >> wrote: >> >>> On 2015-03-20 4:51 PM, krw@zzz.com wrote: >>>> On Fri, 20 Mar 2015 10:34:18 -0700, Joerg <news@analogconsultants.com> >>>> wrote: >>>> >>>>> On 2015-03-20 9:35 AM, Tom Swift wrote: >>>>>> Joerg <news@analogconsultants.com> wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>>> On 2015-03-19 5:38 PM, Tom Swift wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>>>> Cool! That signal appears to be much more complex. Good thing you're >>>>>>>> doing it and not me! >>>>>> >>>>>>> Let's hope you and I never need the equipment that this is for but >>>>>>> it'll be good it's there, just in case. >>>>>> >>>>>> You must be at the point now where you walk into a Doctor's office or >>>>>> operating room, look around and say to yourself. "I designed that, and >>>>>> that, and that...." >>>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Not anymore, I moved largely away from med tech. This is the only major >>>>> med project I am involved in right now and for the foreseeable future. >>>>> Much of that market got jinxed by Obamacare and I saw it coming, so >>>>> branched out into industrial electronics and stuff. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>>> Pretty good insurance in case you ever get sick. They're fixing you with >>>>>> your own stuff! >>>>>> >>>>>> You should post a list of all the instruments you have designed so we can >>>>>> be sure they use nothing else when they want to cut us open:) >>>>>> >>>>> >>>>> When it comes to intravascular ultrasound, yes, then I'd like to be >>>>> diagnosed with one of our machines if that is ever necessary. Because it >>>>> is the only fully electronic system on the planet and I sure would not >>>>> like them to snake a catheter with a spinning shaft up into my coronary >>>>> blood vessels. Not that it's inherently too unsafe but it kind of scares >>>>> me. Plus IMHO our image quality is better and more consistent. >>>> >>>> Just the idea of a catheter snaking around inside scares me. Not much >>>> choice, though. Fortunately, my doc uses the wrist as the entry point >>>> (when possible). Don't know anything about spinning stuff, though. >>>> >>> >>> This is for the more serious stuff such as snaking up ultrasound >>> catheters or stents riding on balloon catheter tips. They go in through >>> a cut in the femoral artery where they place a temporary lockable port, >>> just during the procedure. >> >> More serious than a triple bypass? ;-) He does angioplasty and stents >> through the wrist. Don't know about ultrasound. If at all possible >> he doesn't use the femoral artery. That has a lot of complications >> that the wrist doesn't have. It's a straight run from the right wrist >> (or elbow) to the heart. >> > >Bigger stuff usually only fits through the femoralis. It's pretty >routine. One of the cardiologists said that he feels like a glorified >plumber.I can believe that. My cardiologist doesn't do anything past the plumbing. If more is needed he passes it off to the surgeon. He's good but real surgery is not his specialty.> >>> Get a ton of exercise, don't smoke, don't eat bad stuff and you might >>> never need this done. But for some people the conditions are heredetary, >>> not much they can do about it. A friend of ours just got a whole new >>> heart valve delivered and installed with such a procedure. They didn't >>> have to crack his chest for open heart surgery, a procedure he might not >>> have survived due to other medical conditions. >> >> Pretty much a genes thing. My brother had a couple of stents a week >> before I had the catheterization/ He, too, should have had a triple >> bypass but they blew it so he'll have to wait a year for the surgery. >> Another brother died of sudden death syndrome. He was the one who was >> anal about all the exercise and diet stuff. He swam two miles three >> times a week and did a couple of hours at the gym 7 days. Didn't help. >> > >But it still does other things. I bet he feels really good after >exercise. When I came home from a 36mi hard mountain bike ride yesterday >night I felt like a Viking warrior on a horse.Drugs do the same thing, in the same way. Dopamine, Serotonin, and Endorphins.>> I got the whole zipper deal. In addition to the three cabbages, I got >> a maze. ;-) All in all, it beats cancer, which other than a little >> skin cancer (my mother, in her 90s), no one in my family on either >> side has had. >> > >Alzheimer's can be much worse. Many of these people know full well that >they are losing their brains but it can be agonzingly slow. Some know >exactly want they want to communicate but can't get it out. For years.Agreed.
Reply by ●March 21, 20152015-03-21
On 2015-03-21 3:50 PM, krw@zzz.com wrote:> On Sat, 21 Mar 2015 12:29:37 -0700, Joerg <news@analogconsultants.com> > wrote: > >> On 2015-03-21 8:48 AM, krw@zzz.com wrote: >>> On Sat, 21 Mar 2015 07:52:02 -0700, Joerg <news@analogconsultants.com> >>> wrote: >>>[...]>>>> Get a ton of exercise, don't smoke, don't eat bad stuff and you might >>>> never need this done. But for some people the conditions are heredetary, >>>> not much they can do about it. A friend of ours just got a whole new >>>> heart valve delivered and installed with such a procedure. They didn't >>>> have to crack his chest for open heart surgery, a procedure he might not >>>> have survived due to other medical conditions. >>> >>> Pretty much a genes thing. My brother had a couple of stents a week >>> before I had the catheterization/ He, too, should have had a triple >>> bypass but they blew it so he'll have to wait a year for the surgery. >>> Another brother died of sudden death syndrome. He was the one who was >>> anal about all the exercise and diet stuff. He swam two miles three >>> times a week and did a couple of hours at the gym 7 days. Didn't help. >>> >> >> But it still does other things. I bet he feels really good after >> exercise. When I came home from a 36mi hard mountain bike ride yesterday >> night I felt like a Viking warrior on a horse. > > Drugs do the same thing, in the same way. Dopamine, Serotonin, and > Endorphins. >But with exercise it only happens after reaching a certain endurance level. When I started intense biking 1-1/2 years ago I was huffing and puffing after 15 mile of hills and my only thought was "Get me off of this bike!". Now it's different. [...] -- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/
Reply by ●March 21, 20152015-03-21
Joerg <news@analogconsultants.com> wrote:> The chargemaster secrecy alone is huge. Case in point: Eye exam was > needed. So we inquired and at one out-of-network doctor the procedure > with prescription would have cost about $70. Called the HMO to see what > they charge. To out great surprise since we have a high-deductible plan > they said that it's no charge at all, like preventative care. So we > went. _Then_ we got a statement for $163. I called. "Oh, sorry, you were > given wrong information but it's your responsibility to check the > coverage". Which we can't because most of it isn't disclosed. This is > despicable and a serious cancer in US health care.From the discussion, I understand med tech companies aren't making much money, and are laying off people. Doctors are barely able to scrape by. From Wikipedia, "According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the United States spent more on health care per capita ($8,608), and more on health care as percentage of its GDP (17.2%), than any other nation in 2011." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_care_in_the_United_States So who is making all the money in health care? Is it the hospitals with their obscene chargemaster lists?
Reply by ●March 21, 20152015-03-21
