Pretty interesting technology column from Robert Mittman over at iHealthbeat. This one focuses on the growing internal interaction between man and machine known as cyborgs. Given that I live in a state run by a guy who imitated a machine better than the previous governor imitated a human, and that anyone with any implanted medical device in some definitions qualifies, I guess we should be paying attention. I particularly like the story of the two batty college professors attempting to live as cyborgs–somehow you get the impression that they weren’t the cool kids in the back of the school bus. But the forecast is that the implantable devices and wearable exoskeletons are going to have a big impact in the next five to ten years.

Meanwhile, in a related field the Health Technology Center had a report out last week on the impact of sensors in the future. The report says:

In the next five to ten years smart sensors should be able to do such things as automatically activate an implanted insulin pump, release heart medications or regulate the heart rate by real-time monitoring of blood pressure and oxygen saturation, according to the report. The study also examines three other categories of sensor technology: biometric monitoring, point-of-care testing and environmental monitoring.

Showing that all of this stuff is related to the scribblings of obscure (and not so obscure) forecasters, here’s Paul Saffo’s excellent essay on Sensors from 1997.