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Another Cool Example of Biomimicry in Healthcare Innovation

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Biomimicry comes from bio- and mimesis, literally “to imitate life”. Biomimicry is a structured look at how the natural world has solved problems or created opportunities and attempting to apply those strategies to design, engineering, invention, health and wellness, and more.

Often thought of as a “new” discipline, technically, it is actually quite ancient. Much of how we learn comes from mimicking. And indeed, many developments throughout medical history have come from mimicking nature – the natural world within ourselves and outside of our own species.

Can Games Help Cure Disease?

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Can games help us prevent or cure disease? Improve patient compliance? Make a safer health environment? Or improve medical education?

In this TED MED talk, Steve Cole from HopeLab discusses cancer therapy and the game Remission. Watch this video and explore the role of play and games in health innovation.

Metaphorically Speaking

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Healthcare has its own lexicon, its own jargon, and its own set of metaphors. This language we use, the words we choose, the manner in which we forge them into sentences, and the metaphors we use to sculpt ideas can all have a profound impact on innovation in the healthcare space… for better or for worse.

Watch this James Geary video from the TED talks:

MedStar Inventor Forums – A First Hand Account

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A diverse crowd filled the True Auditorium at Washington Hospital Center on June 14, 2011. Associates in scrubs, suits, lab coats, and street clothes, representing every part of the MedStar family voluntarily stayed late at work or came in on a day off to catch the inaugural MedStar Inventor Forum. The buzz in the room before the presentation began was energizing; clearly, despite the crowd’s differences, everyone shared a common interest — invention that advances health — and a common trait —the ability to think differently.

Biomimicry and Innovation – The Anticrobial Secrets of Shark Skin

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Sometimes, in order to find the best solutions, we need to look no further than nature itself. Researchers from a variety of disciplines have tapped into this idea and are busy at work studying sharks.

Mimicking sharks seems only natural when you consider the marvel of their design. With a hydrodynamic shape, water moves smoothly over the

Innovation in Learning – Changing Education Paradigms

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When something has been around for decades and remains virtually unchanged, one of two things holds true…

(a) It is so well-designed, it is not in need of change, or

(b) It is in need of change and is therefore, ripe for innovation.

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