Medical Translation Insight

Let's start the new year with a reaffirmation: Translation is hard, very hard....


[Via Save The Semicolon]


[Via i84.blog.163.com]

I am not sure what the original Chinese says but the Chinglish translation is a happy kind of text, and so all of us here at Medical Translation Insight wish our readers

The grass has the life, you keep "blue", and a happy 2011!

"I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV." Do you have aspirations to become the next distinguished looking older gentleman in a white coat pitching over-the-counter medication in a TV commercial? Have you been studying hard?

Now that The New England Journal of Medicine has brought its popular Image Challenge to the iPhone, you can test your diagnostic skills on the go.

To those not aware, if you go to the NEJM website there is a prominently displayed widget that takes you to an Image Challenge feature. This feature gives you hundreds of diagnostic images accompanied with multiple choice questions and answers. The images range from classic dermatological findings to radiographic imaging.

The online Image Challenge feature is robust with a great user interface and solid question set, enabling you to zoom into images, see how others have answers the questions, and allows you to e-mail out and save images. This free feature on the NEJM website is popular with many healthcare professionals, leading the Journal to make a $2.99 mobile medical app.

The iPhone app seems solid enough, closely miruded any Facebook or Twitter integration. I know, I know - healthcare is behind the times when it comes to social media. But having the ability to share particularly interesting images via Facebook and Twitter would seem to allow the app to quickly gain in popularity.

Anyway, brush up on your diagnostic skills and you, too, could be playing a doctor on TV!

[Hat tip to Medgadget]

Related posts:

• Science journal Nature jumps on iPhone bandwagon
• Want to play doctor?
• When cell phones become medical devices

Speaking of social media: You can follow ForeignExchange on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn.
 
 

We have said it again and again: Clinical research is shifting east, to Asia in general and to China specifically.

So, while nobody needs any further proof, here it is anyway: Just before Christmas, Evado announced [PDF link] that it would develop a Chinese version of its clinical trial software. In partnership with Taiwan-based FUGA Biotechnology, the companies will roll out a Chinese version of Evado in 2011. Localization will also include adaption to Taiwan's regulatory environment.

The motto of nineteenth-century America may have been "Go West, young man!" Twenty-first-century clinical researchers are saying "Go East, young man!"


ForeignExchange Translations provides specialized medical translation services to medical device and pharmaceutical companies - in Chinese and dozens of other languages. Contact us to find out why our clients rave about us!
 
 

LEGO Group recently formulated a new global Language Policy. The company is now looking for a project manager to "establish English as the corporate language and reinforce communication by breaking down language barriers" (Interested in the job? Apply here).

According to the job posting, the purpose of the policy is twofold:

"Firstly, to enable our employees to communicate in English at a level that allows them to actively enter into the collaborative networks and relations that are necessary for them to perform at their very best. Secondly, to ensure a sufficient level of communication in locations and with stakeholder groups, where local languages are a better and necessary alternative."

So, while Google Translate may indicate that it's no longer necessary to speak English to use the web, the use of English as the lingua franca of business is still growing.

But while it is relatively easy to advocate the use of English across a corporation, it's much harder to determine what constitutes "good" (or even just "good enough") English.

In a recent article [original Danish; Google Translate's version of English] in Kommunikations Forum, Jørgen Christian Wind Nielsen makes this very point. He asks what exactly it means to be good in English. Is it the ability to discuss issues with colleagues, make small talk, hold polite conversation, do bookkeeping, or author legal contracts?

Just like with translation quality, appropriate language use lies in the eye of the beholder. "Broken English is the language of the world", as the saying goes...


For medical device and pharmaceutical companies who want to be understood around the world, ForeignExchange Translations provides specialized advertising translation services with measurable quality. Ask us why our clients rave about us!
 
 

Save the Semicolon ran a good little piece recently on the unique frustrations associated with having somebody "improve" on your written work after you.

"One of the most frustrating moments in a tech writer's life can come after the job is long over. Weeks later, you get your hands on the finished product, which looks great, but suddenly you see something that makes you crazy.

The sentence (or label, or punctuation mark) that you polished till it gleamed has been mangled. You wrote it one way, but they published something different."

Substitute "translator" for "tech writer" and you have a situation that every translation professional has experienced.

Many editors feel compelled to make changes to a translator's text. Some in-country reviewers love to demonstrate their own value by making preferential (or even incorrect) "improvements". And even the occasional project manager will feel compelled to improve the text - "hmmm, that doesn't look right; let me change that before I ship the final document to the client".

How do you deal with these frustrations?


ForeignExchange Translations provides specialized software translation and localization services to medical device companies. Contact us to learn more.
 
 

Wishing all our readers, commenters, and blogging friends a merry Christmas, with best wishes for the New Year, from all of us at Medical Translation Insight.



Related posts:

• Happy Holidays from ForeignExchange Translations
• Don't kill anybody with your Thanksgiving turkey
• Seasons greetings in many languages

As we mentioned before, patients with disabilities are receiving more and more attention from regulators. And it's exciting to see that technology companies are keeping pace.

Take, for example, the MobileASL cell phone system developed at the University of Washington that allows deaf people to use sign language when making phone calls. Or Medbridge's point-of-care technology that enables healthcare professionals to communicate with Limited English Proficient and deaf patients.

But it's not just in a healthcare setting that these technologies impact people's lives. A participant in the The University of Washington study recounted

"...that during the study one participant was lost riding a Seattle city bus and the two were able to communicate using MobileASL. The student on the bus described what he was seeing and [the study participant] helped him navigate where he wanted to go."

For a demo of the MobileASL system, take a look at the following video:



[Hat tip to Medgadget]

While you are here, take a look at the following interesting articles:

• Medical terminology in ASL
• Healthcare is going multilingual
• Consumer medical technology not up to the task?

Stay in touch with ForeignExchange on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn.
 
 

Capitalism is about survival of the fittest. If a product, firm, or industry cannot compete, well, then it goes the way of the dinosaur and dodo bird.

For years now, newspapers have been caught in a ferocious downward spiral, making many folks wonder about their long-term ability to survive. Will newspapers be able to adapt to low-cost (or free) competition? Can they compete with new technologies?

Interestingly, the parallels to the days of horse and buggies or the downfall of Polaroid are not just limited to the newspaper business. Christoph Westphal in a recent article in The Boston Global draws an analogy between newspapers and research-based pharmaceutical companies.

He points out that, just like newspapers, the "content" of pharmaceutical companies has also lost pricing power as the industry has witnessed a shift from branded, patent-protected drugs to generic (and much cheaper) drugs.

The challenges faced by pharmaceutical companies are many but one highlighted in the article is the fact that

...many pharmaceutical and biotech companies are finding it difficult to support a large workforce of highly-skilled scientists and doctors in developed countries. Increasingly, the earlier stages of drug discovery are being outsourced to developing countries, in an effort to rein in the unsustainable cost of drug development. Many major pharmaceutical companies are building and growing large global research centers in countries such as China.

Everywhere you look, the words "pharma" and "China" are uttered in the same sentence. (Hey, we did it ourselves two days ago.)

So, does China represent the automobile to the doomed buggy-whip or the opportunity for pharmaceutical companies to find a new lease on live?

[Thanks, Mary, for the tip!]


ForeignExchange Translations provides specialized medical translations for electronic as well as paper-based regulatory submissions. Contact us to find out more.
 
 

Our friends over at Lingoport specialize in internationalizing software. Here at ForeignExchange, we specialize in medical translation and localization. So it only made sense for us to get together and do a Webinar to untangle the alphabet soup of i18n and l10n of medical software.

The whole process of globalization, er... g11n... is too important for medical device companies to overlook or get wrong. There are regulatory, usability and patient safety implications wrapped up in software. And that's not to mention the cost and time factors. Check out the recorded Webinar below to hear what our own Jason Heaton, and Lingoport CEO, Adam Asnes, had to say on the topic.


Internationalizing and Localizing a Medical Software Application from Lingoport on Vimeo.


ForeignExchange's QMS is certified to ISO 9001, ISO 13485, EN 15038 and compliant with ISO 14971. For your next medical translation and software localization assignment, request a detailed proposal from ForeignExchange.
 
 

It's no big surprise that clinical research continues to shift east. We have written before about how the pursue of lower costs, easier access to patients, and fewer hassles is driving clinical research to China and elsewhere in Asia.

But The Wall Street Journal is now reporting that there is a new and different kind of push into Asia: designing drugs for diseases prevalent in the region. In a recent example, Pfizer has said that it will design drugs for diseases prevalent in Asia (e.g., cancers of the liver, head, and neck).

And it is not just China that is attracting the attention of major drug makers. Korea, for example, is getting attention as pharmaceutical companies realize the advantages of conducting clinical trials in Korea for Asia-focused drugs. Brett Moffat's Instablog had this to say earlier this year:

Obviously, as being part of Asia, Koreans are a closer biological make-up to neighboring populations, but according to Gause, the key factor is body size, a crucial part of drug dosage testing. With Asian people in general less robust than their European and North American counterparts.

Additionally, Korea represents a perfect test-bed for diseases more prevalent in Asia than elsewhere, in particular stomach and liver cancer.

For medical translation providers, this may generate additional demand for into-English work as well as open opportunities for translating between Asian languages, e.g., Korean-to-Japanese.

Looking for more on this topic? Take a look at the following:

• Global clinical research is unethical. Or a business necessity, depending on who's asked.
• From Emerging to Emerged: Clinical Development in Asia Pacific
• Insurance for international clinical trials

ForeignExchange provides specialized medical translations for clinical trial applications, protocols, informed consents, patient diaries, INDs, patient recruitment, and health economic research - in Chinese and dozens of other languages. Contact us for more information about our clinical translation services.
 
 

Many people view translators and others working in the translation and localization field as dull, bookish kind of folk. But not so!

Every year at ForeignExchange's company meeting, we prove to the world (well, that may be overstating it; it's mostly just our team and a few invited clients... but I digress) that having fun, lots of fun, comes quite easily to these medical translation professionals.

This point was driven home when I rediscovered the following video, shot at our 2008 company meeting in Vail, Colorado:



Make sure to view the video through to its shocking conclusion!

And for more sordid details and videos about ForeignExchange, take a look at:

• Our recap of the 2010 company meeting
• Details of our 2009 company meeting
• ForeignExchange's YouTube channel

We know how to have fun, and we provide expert medical translations of regulatory, clinical, and marketing content to medical device and pharmaceutical companies.
 
 

'Tis the season for conducting customer satisfaction surveys. There are many good reasons for the growing popularity of these surveys, what with increased competition for translation buyers, attempts to counter-act shrinking translation budgets, and efforts to build stronger client relationships.

In fact, many translation companies equate high customer satisfaction with guaranteed future revenue from their client base. Unfortunately, that view is often wrong.

Why? Because it doesn't reflect how translation purchase decisions are made in the real world. Sure, on an individual project or two or 20, an individual medical device or pharmaceutical customer will go with the translator that has provided good service before.

But medical device and pharmaceutical companies are complex beasts. Over a longer period of time, there are many, many groups and people who will influence the decision of which translation supplier to work with.

MarketingProfs put it this way:

"In the B2C arena, the user is usually the decision maker. I'm thirsty; I buy and drink a Coke. If I like the experience, I choose to buy another. In B2C, customer satisfaction is a very effective tool for repeat business.

But it's not that easy in the B2B world, where there may be hundreds of users, dozens of influencers, and a single decision maker (with whom many suppliers have little or no relationship)."

And the same article cites Bloomberg Businessweek:

"60% of defecting customers describe themselves as 'very satisfied' just before they leave."

Yikes!

This doesn't mean that customer satisfaction is unimportant, mind you. (At ForeignExchange, it always amazes me how much business we gain because of competitors providing consistently bad service.) But it means that to maximize overall customer satisfaction and minimize the likelihood of a customer leaving you for a competitor, you need to look beyond an annual survey.

MarketingProfs included a graphic representation of how Oracle ensures customer service through different channels and audiences:



The moral? Go ahead and send out your customer satisfaction surveys. But don't just focus on users (i.e., your project contact). Instead, involve people from up and down your clients' organizations in dialogue, idea exchanges, and different forums.



ForeignExchange Translations provides specialized medical translation services to pharmaceutical and medical device companies. Contact us to learn more.
 
 

Earlier this year, we inaugurated our Multilingual Compliance Learning series in the Twin Cities. This was followed by a second event in Redwood City. These get-togethers were so successful that we are expanding our Multilingual Compliance Learning program in 2011.

To support these efforts, we are looking to hire a full-time Business Development & Marketing Coordinator.

If you know anybody who is looking for a new challenge in 2011, please point them our way. ForeignExchange offers one of the best teams in the industry plus:

• competitive base salary;
• incentive-driven compensation;
• attractive benefits, including medical, dental, and 401(k);
• a professional, high-energy work environment;
• an anything-goes dress code;
• a strong voice in building our successful company!

Motivated individuals who are ready to make a difference can email a compelling cover letter and CV/resume to us at ma-careers ~at~ fxtrans dot com.


ForeignExchange Translations provides specialized medical translations for electronic as well as paper-based regulatory submissions. Contact us to find out how we support the world's leading medical device and pharmaceutical companies.
 
 

Medical device companies aren't the only ones looking to improve their packaging and labeling.

Regulations are forcing drug companies to incorporate ever more detailed information, in an increasing number of languages, and in larger type sizes - driving innovative packaging solutions to avoid larger printed sheets.

Multi-page labels are becoming more and more common. The expanded-content labels can also serve as a platform for promotions and security features.

But room for more text isn't everything. Design and flexibility still account for a lot in pharmaceutical packaging. For instance, Bayer recently selected Burgopak Slider for Levitra, praising the fact that the design is "pocket-friendly, discreet and gives the product a playful edge over its competitors".

When compared with more traditional packaging options, the new package certainly does look a lot better!

[Thanks, Mary, for the tip!]


ForeignExchange Translations provides specialized medical translations for bio-harmaceutical DFUs, packaging, and product labels.
 
 

As 2010 draws to a close, we look back at another year of terrific audio conferences produced. The top event in November, eLabeling for Medical Devices in the EU, was a huge hit, and will likely feature in our "top of 2010" list. It exemplifies the type of valuable and timely topics that we produce every week.

Here are all of our top audio conferences for November:

1. eLabeling for Medical Devices in the EU
2. Hydrophilic Coating Options for Medical Devices
3. Quality Monitoring and Reporting with Statistical Trending Analysis
4. Preparing for FDA GCP Inspections – Essentials for Sponsors and Clinical Sites
5. 505(b)(2) Submissions: Eligibility, Strategies & Preparation

If you have a suggestion for a topic you would like us to produce, send us a note!

Interested in other popular educational events? Take a look at the top events for October, September, and August.


For a detailed proposal on your next clinical, regulatory, or marketing medical translation assignment, contact ForeignExchange Translations.
 

Medical translators, device and pharmaceutical companies, and in-country reviewers all agree: Terminology management is critical to medical translations. Unfortunately, few clients or medical translation providers are willing to foot the bill for a professional terminology management system.

We have reported previously on approaches to building robust, low-cost terminology management systems. But while spreadsheets are well suited for glossaries (they're wide-spread, low-cost, easy to use), they require the same, if not more, robust approach to terminology management as a dedicated system.

Five principles of terminology management in the current issue of tcworld recommends the following five principles for organizing terminology in a spreadsheet:

1. concept orientation
2. elementary nature
3. granularity
4. autonomy of terms
5. few mandatory fields

Anybody involved in medical translation should read this article!

After you have had a chance to digest the tcworld article, take a look at the following too:

• Why Terminology Management Plays a Critical Role in International Launches
• Deutscher Terminologie-Tag (German terminology association)
• Terminology management at Medtronic

ForeignExchange supports clients' medical translation needs with comprehensive terminology management services and technology. Contact us to find out more!
 
 

I recently came across Linguistic Search Solutions' website. The firm offers identity search solutions that take into account "variations in names caused by different transcription standards, or the phonetic similarities specific to each language". Pretty interesting stuff.

Poking around their site, I found the following map of world languages (click to go to a larger version):



In contrast to many other maps that try to communicate language groups around the world, this one offers a clear view, with easily discernible gradations and differences in color. Nicely done.

While you are thinking about languages around the world, you might want to take a look at the following:

• Ethnologue maintains an amazing wealth of information on 6,909 living languages
• Learn how to say "thank you" in over 465 languages
• Mark Rosenfelder has compiled the numbers 1 to 10 in over 5000 languages
• How to reliably identify languages and countries

ForeignExchange Translations provides specialized medical translation and software localization services to pharmaceutical and medical device companies. Contact us to learn more.
 
 

Chanukah is drawing to a close, and Christmas is just a few days away. We are thankful for all of your interest and contributions.

Wishing you Holidays that are filled with joy and light!


For expert medical translations of regulatory, clinical, and marketing content, request a detailed proposal from ForeignExchange Translations.
 
 

Come this time of year, many pharmaceutical and medical device companies are finalizing their budgets for the next 12 months. Mostly, these efforts are now complete but if your group hasn't yet completed a translation budget, here are three resources that will be helpful.

1. Budgeting for Translations
ForeignExchange's Jason Heaton has put together an audio conference to provide a detailed look at the variables that impact translation budgeting. It looks at the variables that affect the costs of translations to help understand what drives the costs and covers concrete tips on how to create ballpark budgets for your translation projects and extrapolate for quarterly and annual numbers.

2. Going Global Without Going Broke
John White of VenTAJA Marketing aims to answer the question "How much will it cost to translate our Web site?". His PDF resource gets down to specifics: how a translation proposal is structured and what the different components mean.

3. Localization Budget Calculator from Milengo
Milengo take a higher-level look at budgeting. Based on your industry and the breakdown of your organization's revenue stream, its Localization Budget Calculator will try to estimate the overall size of your translation and localization budget. As with any tool like this, don't expect an exact number but this will get you into the ballpark.

Budgeting is rarely fun. But with these tools, the forecasting of translation spend becomes easier and more accurate.


Translating web pages? Get more details about ForeignExchange's expertise in translating pharmaceutical and medical device web sites.
 
 

Welcome to the season of gaining 10 pounds! With all of the Halloween candy, Thanksgiving turkey and stuffing and pumpkin pie, and Christmas parties and feasts, it's a miracle that business life isn't coming a complete standstill.

Definitely not here at Medical Translation Insight! Come rain, snow, or food-induced coma, we take to the keyboard and share with you what's going on at the intersection of drug & devices, translation, technology, and regulations.

So, eat, drink, and be merry - and check out our most popular articles from the past month:

1. Is translation the least important most important thing? - A recap of ForeignExchange's company meeting and a different kind of look at the translation business
2. Quality matters, or: Is risk a four-letter word? - The risks are very real in medical translation but managing those risks is possible
3. Lessons learned from a clinical study gone bad - A botched clinical trial is another good reminder of the business risks in this field
4. Finally, an alternative to the metric system! - Take a look and have some Friday fun
5. World-class translation management: From vendor selection to in-country review - The most recent iteration of our half-day seminar series took place in the Bay Area (more events coming in Q1!)

Looking for more great stuff to read? Take a look at our top articles for October, September, and August. Happy reading and happy weekend!

This past Monday, Riina Ne'eman's Twitter feed contained the following post:

Seriously? Financial Times: Google to translate European patent claims

FT got the scoop a day before anybody else but within 24 hours, the translation industry was abuzz with opinions regarding the announcement that "EPO and Google have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to improve access to patent translations in multiple languages".

The background for this agreement to use Google's machine translation (MT) technology to translate patents into 29 European languages is, of course, the fact that the European patent system is broken.

As we have written before:

Currently, the closest thing to an EU-wide patent is provided by the European Patent Office, which isn't part of the EU. Once the office issues the patent it breaks up into a bundle of national patents, forcing companies to defend them individually in each country, which can cost as much as half a million euros in a typical case but the translation costs for long and complex cases are potentially enormous.

The Google-EPO deal seems like a huge win-win: As Renato Beninato puts it, "for Google, this is a bonanza that will provide them with a vast database of quality translations of approximately 1.5 million documents". And for the EPO, it's an opportunity to set the agenda and demonstrate to reluctant member countries that the status quo won't last.

But for translation service providers, their worst fears have just been confirmed.

Six months ago, we conducted a poll on which development posed a greater threat to our industry, machine translation or crowdsourcing.

Translation service providers viewed advances in MT as a larger threat than efforts to use crowds of volunteer translators. And now, a quick six months later, translation service providers have to face up to the fact that MT in general and Google Translate specifically is a real threat to their livelihoods.

And the change in tone in the industry is startling. While respondents to our MT-vs-crowdsourcing poll dismissed MT as "rubbish", yesterday's post on the GTS Blog, for instance, strikes a much more cautious note:

Can Google machine translation replace the human translation process? Not likely. A patent is a carefully worded legal document- the wording of the claims can make or break an IP infringement case. Will Google replace the need for national patent filing in the language of each EU member state? That seems more of a political issue than a technical one.

It will be interesting to see where we are in another six months...

Before you leave, take a look at these articles:

• A light-hearted look at what Google Translate really is being used for
• Is Google Translate accurate enough for professional use?
• When is "good enough" good enough?

ForeignExchange translates patents and other IP for medical device and pharmaceutical companies. Ask us for a detailed proposal on your next translation project.