Chip Makers to Personalize Health Care - WSJ
By DONNA FUSCALDO
May 23, 2007
Major chip makers are moving to introduce innovative medical products that could usher in an era of in-home, personalized health care.
Although their products are at different stages of development, semiconductor companies including Intel Corp., Advanced Micro Devices Inc., Texas Instruments Inc. and Qualcomm Corp. are looking to the Internet, wireless technology and chips requiring less power to help spawn new devices. Examples include smart cards containing medical records and powered by radio frequency identification, or RFID, technology; in-home heart monitors that send data to a doctor's computer or cellphone; and wireless-enabled monitors that take vital signs and heart rates.
Chip companies are using social scientists and anthropologists to visit hospitals and patients to gauge the best products for the industry. Intel and AMD, for example, are developing reference design for manufacturers as well as partnering with medical-device companies and institutions to churn out new products.
Qualcomm, which makes wireless chips that power cellphones, is starting a mobile network called Lifecomm that will meld a cellphone with medical devices like a glucose meter.
AMD, MedicAlert Foundation (a nonprofit company known for its medical bracelets) and Siemens AG created an RFID device that alerts medical staff to the medical history of the patient walking in the door.
Texas Instruments is looking for medical start-ups that could benefit from its semiconductors, envisioning chips in hand-held devices for ultra-sound exams, or in-home defibrillators.
Write to Donna Fuscaldo at donna.fuscaldo@dowjones.com1 |
