Innovating to what's next...

Take two apps and call me in the morning. Dr.

David Pogue tries out a pair of Google glasses (Google calls it Google Glass) and is impressed by the early prototype.

Check out this in-depth infographic all about Blended Learning. Learn what it is, why it's spreading, and how it works in real and virtual classrooms.

The Medical Device Chronicle, by Srihari Yamanoor: updated automatically with a curated selection of articles, blog posts, videos and photos.

What Would the Ideal Hospital Look Like in 2020? #innovation #healthcare #telehealth #healthit (RT @DuflotValeria: What Would the Ideal Hospital Look Like in 2020?

At Mayo Clinic's Center for Regenerative Medicine, physicians and researchers have a dazzling array of tools at their fingertips: transplants, genomics, computerized data analysis and biomedical engineering.

$1.2 billion to process your Obamacare application by Serco, a company under investigation for overbilling tens of millions.

The Healthcare Review, by Tikki Gee: updated automatically with a curated selection of articles, blog posts, videos and photos. (The Healthcare Review is out!

Forget lab rats. Some researchers are now testing medicines on a silicon chip that could provide a better read on how a drug will work.

Using tiny gold particles and a kind of resin, a team of scientists at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology has discovered how to make a new kind of flexible sensor that one day could be integrated into electronic skin, or e-skin. If scientists learn how to attach e-skin to prosthetic limbs, people with amputations might once again be able to feel changes in their environments. The findings appear in the June issue of ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.

The secret lies in the sensor's ability to detect three kinds of data simultaneously. While current kinds of e-skin detect only touch, the Technion team's invention "can simultaneously sense touch, humidity, and temperature, as real skin can do," says research team leader Professor Hossam Haick. Additionally, the new system "is at least 10 times more sensitive in touch than the currently existing touch-based e-skin systems."

Researchers have long been interested in flexible sensors, but have had trouble adapting them for real-world use. To make its way into mainstream society, a flexible sensor would have to run on low voltage (so it would be compatible with the batteries in today's portable devices), measure a wide range of pressures, and make more than one measurement at a time, including humidity, temperature, pressure, and the presence of chemicals. In addition, these sensors would also have to be able to be made quickly, easily, and cheaply.

According to a new report, Apple has been bringing on board experts in sensors that monitor the human body. Here’s how that could play into the company’s “iWatch” effort.

The future of wearable tech: where does Apple fit?

The wearable technology market is expected to grow immensely in popularity in the next few years: one firm estimates the 500,000 smartwatches that have shipped so far this year will explode to 5 million units by the end of 2014.

The optimism built into the numbers comes from the long-held assumption that Apple will do its own smartwatch. But lots of big consumer electronics companies will help bring the devices into the mainstream: that may include Microsoft, Motorola and Samsung, in addition to entries from smaller, niche companies like Pebble.

But wearable computing includes far more than watches. There’s Google Glass, of course, and simple fitness-tracking, wrist-worn devices like Nike’s, and products from Jawbone, Fitbit and others. Clothing with sensors in them will be part of the mix too, like Heapsylon’s smart socks that infuse material with sensors that track body processes and movements.

The frequency of reports about the progress of Apple’s wearable device project have picked up in recent months. The company has registered the “iWatch” trademark in several countries, and is said to still be hiring hardware engineers to work on it.

But will it be an actual watch? Based on the kinds of people Apple is hiring, the device may have a health or fitness component to it that will take advantage of the company’s vast third-party app platform and its expertise in mobile hardware. It will probably tell time, and it may be worn on the wrist — Cook has said he finds that area “interesting.” Still, “watch” is a little too simplistic considering the kind of sensors it’ll likely have inside it.

Mobile devices are enhancing patient and doctor communication in ways that improve overall health outcomes.