EXPERT HAILS RAPIDLY EMERGING MEDTECH ADVANCES

Medical device advances are being introduced with "startling" speed, according to a recent article published in the British Medical Journal.

Key areas to watch in the medical technology sector include molecular medicine and biometrics, nanotechnology, wave technology, and robotics and simulation, C. Donald Combs, associate dean of the Department of Planning and Health Professions at Eastern Virginia Medical School, said in the Dec. 23, 2006, article.

New technologies will include instant remote diagnosis and treatment, customized replacement of body parts, tissue patches for blood vessels and specific organs, and remotely activated drug dispensing, Combs said.

Devices that can sense and transmit heart rates and breathing rates already exist, Combs noted. For example, VivoMetrics' LifeShirt "is a noninvasive, continuous ambulatory monitoring system that collects data on pulmonary, cardiac and other physiological data and correlates them over time," he said. "Future applications will certainly include both wearable and implanted sensors programmed to transmit data on variables such as blood sugar concentrations, risk factor substances linked to cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease and pathogen biomarkers."

The article can be viewed at www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/333/7582/1308 (http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/333/7582/1308).