People may look toward a future that doesn't include having to submit themselves to large, intimidating medical equipment. Siemens has taken a good step toward this future, by unveiling the Acuson P10 ultrasound system. The two-piece P10 ultrasound device that has its own built-in display is small and lightweight enough for doctors to carry it around while doing their rounds. Doctors don't have to lug around heavy lap-top based portable ultrasound, nor will they have to move patients into the ultrasound room.

The device was previewed at World Congress of Ultrasound in Emergency Medicine and Critical Care, where it received rave reviews from Emergency Physicians, Emergency Medical Technicians, and other critical care professionals.

The best thing about Siemen's new medical product is that it can be carried around everywhere, thus making it an essential emergency tool that can be stowed in the bag, ready for use. They also power on instantly, and can be used anywhere as long as there is a trained physician or medical personnel who can use the device properly. The Acuson P10 is scheduled for launch in the fall of 2007.

Peter Hofstee is one of the brilliant minds behind the Cell that powers our PlayStation 3 (PS3) video game consoles. Designs for the technology, which started seven years ago, include multiple uses aside from playing video games. And the fruits of his labor, including those of Microsoft's and IBM Corp.'s, are beginning to be realized today.

Aside from the Folding@Home Project that has received a very warm welcome within the gaming community, the Cell technology is being used quite differently in Rochester, Minnesota. Mayo Clinic researchers are currently using an IBM Cell blade server and the clinic's own software to accelerate the processing of 3D medical images such as magnetic resonance imaging.

Germany Fraunhofer Institute scientists, on the other hand, used several Cell servers to reconstruct a 3D image of a beating human heart from MRI scans. The importance of this is that it allowed doctors to view the organ with special glasses and make virtual incisions in real time.

Also, the University of Washington in Seattle utilized the technology last year by demonstrating how the Cell technology can improve the quality and speed of ultrasound scans. "In the future, you might be operating on somebody and repairing their heart valve while only making minimal incisions and not even having to string a camera inside," commented Hofstee.

Hofstee's own PS3 is one of the 30,000 units newly lined up to participate in the Folding@Home project. Currently, more than 270,000 systems are actively helping, two-thirds of which are PS3 units.

The pristine unborn, still pulsating in its mother's womb - images not too many of us have ever seen, except maybe during our last visit to our high school Biology lab. Given the various leaps we have had into viewing the vast reaches of space, maybe it's about time we took a look into the inner universe of the uterus.

First the first time, a lot of us will be taking our first glimpse of animals before birth, still growing in the wombs of their mothers thanks to a combination of ultrasound scans, micro cameras, and computer images brought together by Jeremy Dear's film team for Pioneer productions.

"The images in the film are a testament to the ingenuity and patience of the production team led by Yavar Abbas and Dr David Barlow, who worked with some of the world's leading vets to obtain these pictures." As Dear said, "Animals were trained to sit still near the scanners and we also inserted cameras into the womb via the elephant's rectum-But it has been worth it. In one sequence we follow an elephant developing. When it is finally born, there is not a dry eye in the house."

The pictures taken from a total of three different animals in different stages of development: An elephant, a golden retriever, and a dolphin. These pictures are going to be featured in the two-hour National Geographic Channel program "Animals In The Womb", which will be expected to air in North America some time next month, and also on Channel 4 in the UK by next year.