This editor’s WOW of the day:  a brain scanner that fits inside a backpack, can operate on the battlefield in desert heat, processes huge amounts of electro-physiological data and can send its readings anywhere.   It’s being developed by Sensorium Inc. and is in testing by… Read more….and a backpack sized brain scanner

Since we’ve been keeping tabs on Proteus Biomedical — lately, its major investment from Novartis (13 Jan), —The Economist now digs and finds some more entrants.  Philips is now promoting an ‘intelligent pill’ and a US startup called MicroCHIPS is developing implants that hold… Read moreMore on microchips and pills

“Healthcare is a mobile profession – nurses visit patient rooms, doctors move among examining rooms and from office to hospital, EMTs race to the scene, home health aides travel to homes. So it’s no wonder that healthcare is embracing mobile… Read moreHealthcare is a mobile profession

SidekickStudios style themselves as a social innovation company. The mission is to solve social problems using the internet. “We’re not a consultancy; we make things. We don’t do the tried and tested; we like making angels in virgin snow. We’re… Read moreIntroducing FRED

The Nintendo Wii Balance Board could be a far cheaper alternative than professional diagnostic tests for clinicians to prevent falls in the elderly and those with neurological conditions such as stroke and Parkinson’s disease. New Australian study.

Police in Hamilton, Canada, are recommending that a GPS-device based safety project designed to provide protection to abused women be discontinued because of concerns it gives them a false sense of security. Full story.

It’s hard to believe this is the first person in Ireland whose early stroke management was managed remotely, but maybe there’s some journalistic licence here. What is interesting is the tripartite arrangement between the hospitals. Irish Times story.

“Wouldn’t it be cool if your could recharge your portable devices in 90 seconds?” asks the headline on this ZDNet article. Yes, but the implications for telecare and telehealth devices are wider. Pointer to the future.

All of us are watching the coverage of relief efforts in Haiti with an uneasy mixture of admiration (at the worldwide effort), horror (at the human tragedy and death) and frustration (where are the mobile hospitals, why aren’t medical supplies… Read moreTechies band together to assist Haiti relief

Published today, the National Evaluation of Partnerships for Older People Projects: final report puts the seal on one of the UK Department of Health’s exceedingly rare policy success stories. (That the Government’s funding for the POPP projects was ring fenced – also exceedingly rare – is just a coincidence, of course.) According to a report in Healthcare Republic, the principles of the POPP projects will now be rolled out as national policy. That is unless, of course, the Government after the forthcoming general election decides otherwise.

Before we get to the links, and what the evaluation means for telecare, here’s a little background…