medical

GE Healthcare is developing a Body Sensor Network (BSN) that consists of sensor devices that collect patient-specific data, from body temperature and pulse-oximetry to blood glucose levels and respiratory function. The real-time information will be transmitted to doctors, nurses, caregivers, etc., to enable far more efficient body monitoring from any location, which in turn provides the most current patient information and treatment option evaluations.

The network that would support the wireless sensors monitoring what is going on inside a patient's body will be called the Medical Body Area Network Service, or MBANS for short.

GE's proposal (PDF) requests … Read more

While unmanned air vehicles are putting pilots out of business, a new U.S. Army-funded robot could do the same for rescuers and stevedores.

The humanoid BEAR (Battlefield Extraction-Assist Robot) can locate victims in a mine shaft, battlefield, toxic spill, or earthquake-damaged structure. And then it can lift them up and then carry them over long distances to safety, according to the manufacturer Vecna Robotics. And it does this without risking any more lives (PDF).

The challenge was to enhance search and rescue while reducing the time military, police, and emergency response personnel have to risk their lives each day. … Read more

An ordinary warehouse-style building in a nondescript office park in San Leandro, Calif., is home to some of the most futuristic and cutting-edge medical research in the U.S. It's where the Kaiser Permanente Sidney R. Garfield Health Care Innovation Center is located and testing out new technology, mock hospital environments, and high-tech gadgetry for the health care field.

Walking through mock hospital corridors with eco-friendly floors made from recycled materials are real patients, doctors, and nurses testing out the limits of technology. They're not only examining the impact of the rubber-based floor on their backs, but also … Read more

The drive to digitize medical records could impact every American. What does that mean for your health care and privacy? CNET News reporter Declan McCullagh explains.

That and other headlines of the day on Tuesday's CNET News Daily Podcast.

Today's stories:

Daimler grabs Tesla stake in electric-car push

Videos of Apple's Snow Leopard taken off YouTube

What you need to know about e-health records

IBM launches 'Smart Cube' with app store

Intel to detail 8-core server chip

HP, Microsoft to expand communications partnership

Google testing HR algorithm

Webware 100 Winners

For a mere $39, the Body Check Ball sounds like a dodgy proposition in terms of claiming to calculate your body fat. More so when it states that it can measure your bone density and muscle ratio, all by holding this in your palms. No "Om" chant necessary.

Instead, true to its Japanese origins, the Body Check Ball employs good old technology. A pair of electrodes pass currents from your hand to the ball, which then churns out your health stats onto the LCD panel. Amazingly, this stores up to 10 user profiles and even sports a clock … Read more

An attacker tried to extort $10 million after breaking into a Virginia state Web site used to track prescription drug abuse and allegedly holding the data hostage, according to a posting on the Wikileaks Web site.

The ransom message on the Virginia Prescription Monitoring Program site read:

"I have your [expletive]! In *my* possession, right now, are 8,257,378 patient records and a total of 35,548,087 prescriptions. Also, I made an encrypted backup and deleted the original. Unfortunately for Virginia, their backups seem to have gone missing, too. Uhoh :(For $10 million, I will gladly send … Read more

The most I've paid for an iPhone app is $5.99. This is why I was so excited to get a a promotional code for the $19.99 Human Atlas and install the software on my iPhone 3G right away. The app also works on the iPod Touch.

Human Atlas offers 3D images and videos of 150 common medical treatments and conditions. After a few days of use, I think this is a great application for those who want to learn about their body and conditions ranging from allergies, muscle pain, high blood pressure, stroke, and tendon injuries to diabetes, cancer, HIV/AIDS, and more.

Basically, you will appreciate anything you can learn from this app.

What you won't appreciate, however, is its lacks of features. The Human Atlas app has two parts: 3D image and video. The images don't allow for rotating the body, you're stuck with the front of the object. This makes the images seems less "3D" than they could be. Also, you can't display the images vertically. While it's OK to watch the video with the phone put in the horizontal position, the images could benefit a lot more from the vertical display as you won't have to scroll as much.… Read more

Birthday Calendar Reminder offers people a foolproof way of remembering loved-ones' big celebrations and other important dates. This simple concept is a great way to keep yourself in the loop, but may prove to be redundant for many.

Birthday Calendar Reminder is a no-frills way to watch important dates. An icon is stored in the lower right-hand tray of your display and can be easily accessed. From there, users of popular calendar systems like Microsoft Outlook will recognize a similar day, week, or month option of display. These give the user control over what they see and how far in … Read more

Steve Jobs may be down, but he is by no means out, according to a report Saturday in The Wall Street Journal.

Apple's CEO has been on medical leave since January, but sources tell the Journal that Jobs is still running key parts of the company from his home.

He was, for example, specifically involved in the user interface for the latest version of the iPhone operating system, continues to review products, and is working on future projects, sources told the newspaper. He has made no public appearances this year.

Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook is running day-to-day operations … Read more