Dr PC will see you now

To help ensure that healthcare providers have access to as much clinical information about a patient as possible, Microsoft is launching Healthvault. Though still in beta testing and only available in the US, Healthvault may also raise the eyebrows of privacy campaigners if the website’s blurb is anything to go by.

“You should be able to use your health information wherever and whenever you want,” says the introduction to Healthvault. “You should be able to share it with whoever you want and decide what they can see and can’t. Healthvault can help you do that.”

As well as their official medical records, Healthvault users can also upload extra information, including any non-prescription drugs and supplements they’re taking, immunisations they’ve had, allergies, phobias, test results, dietary restrictions and so on. Usefully for doctors, users can also upload data from a wide range of devices used to monitor things such as blood sugar levels, heart rate and blood pressure.

The range of devices the website can read is large and growing. By giving healthcare professionals access to the collected data, the idea is that patients can receive the best treatment far faster than at present. They can even lodge their records with a third party in case of emergency.

Healthvault also allows users to share their medical histories with dozens of commercial organisations that have signed up as potential recipients of that data. For example, Applied Informatics uses Healthvault to match patients with their own database of over 25,000 drug trials. With breakthroughs in experimental treatments accelerating, for sufferers of some life-threatening conditions, being able to find and participate in the right clinical trials could bring invaluable hope.

The bionic future
Spinal injuries destroy thousands of lives each year, but exciting new technologies are poised to restore the independence of an increasing number of people. One due for commercial release allows the paralysed to walk again using an external skeleton, or exoskeleton. The word conjures images of Sigourney Weaver fighting an alien inside a bulky cargo stacker, but Israeli company Argo is using the principle in a remarkable way.

Simon Miller is one spinal injury victim that Argo’s Rewalk system may soon help. Paralysed when a car pulled out in front of his motorbike in August 2000, he’d given up hope of a technology that can repair damaged nerves and had all but stopped following the progress of other innovations.

Miller was pleasantly surprised to hear about Rewalk. “It sounds like a great idea,” he told us. “It would make life easier – it would be nice to get into the countryside. I was expecting something really bulky, but this is really subtle. It looks like the user is recovering from an injury rather than being paralysed – that can do a lot for people’s self-esteem.”

“In principle,” said Argo spokesman Uri Attir, “any spinal cord injury victim with lower limb paralysis, who has normal control over his shoulders and hands, might be a candidate for Rewalk. However, there may be exceptions.” Despite his caution, Rewalk goes on sale in Europe in early 2010. The bad news for some potential users is the price. “It will likely not be cheaper than $20,000 to the end user,” Attir said.

At current exchange rates, this should work out to around £13,000. State-of-the-art wheelchairs can cost anything up to £7,000, so the Rewalk may be out of reach for a great many people.

Second sight
Restoring sight is also set to become a reality thanks to Illinois-based S econd Sight Medical Products. The company, spawned from the Artificial Retina Project and funded by the US Department of Energy, is implanting simple chips that compensate for retinas damaged by disease.