Information Technology is having an increasing influence on medicine.
This can be readily observed by anybody visiting a hospital or
consulting a doctor, or even by going to the chemist. A range of new
medical instruments, new scanners, new on-line diagnostics as well as
more effective distribution methods all increasingly contain IT elements
that enable new more effective medical tools and services. But there is
also a lot going on "behind the scenes", at the research and development
level, that will greatly influence the medical tools and services of
tomorrow. In this respect, Esprit, the European Commission's IT research
program, has been supporting a range of research and development
projects that are contributing to the opening of new avenues in the
medical field. At the 1997 European IT Conference, a special exhibit has
highlighted Esprit's contributions in the area, including, for example
projects that have succeeded in developing: - a prototype visual
prosthesis linked to the optic nerve (MIVIP) - implantable blood
micro-pumps (IMALP) - new low-power pacemakers and defibrillators
(HIPOCRA T) - new high-quality 3D ultrasound images (NICE) - realistic
computer models of the human musculo-skeletal system (CHARM) CHARM, the
last - but not least - of these, is further elaborated in this book.