IT aids cardiac patient prognosis

The use of phone and Internet between patients and healthcare providers is an effective way to reduce risk factors for coronary heart disease and the risk of further events after a heart attack, according to research published in the June issue of the European Journal of Cardiovascular Prevention & Rehabilitation, reports Science Daily.

The study's senior investigator, Professor Ben Freedman from the Department of Cardiology at Concord Repatriation General Hospital, Sydney, Australia, says the provision of 'telehealth' models could help increase the uptake of coronary prevention activities by those without access to cardiac rehabilitation, and "narrow the gap between evidence and practice".

Says the study's lead author Lis Neubeck from Concord Repatriation General Hospital: "We aimed to determine if, in a world increasingly dominated by electronic technology, interventions for preventing recurrent coronary disease could be delivered in innovative ways to enable more people to access effective secondary prevention.”

Whether it is a battery for the latest laptop, energy storage for a hybrid electric vehicle, or backup power for a remote telecommunications site, everyone wants a battery that has the highest energy density, best safety factor, and longest life in term of discharge cycles and ease of maintenance while still being environmentally friendly, writes PR-Inside.

These are the drivers behind rechargeable battery research around the world today. Rechargeable batteries, also known as storage batteries, are a continuing strong market, with worldwide sales of $36 billion in 2008. The rechargeable battery market will rise to $51 billion by 2013.

Lithium-ion is the battery chemistry of choice for future generations of portable electronics and hybrid and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. In 2008, lithium-ion battery research had more funding than all other battery technologies combined.

For some, there's inspiration to be found in unremarkable daily minutia. A team of researchers who studied stickers peeling from windows say what they've observed could lead to a new way to precisely control the fabrication of stretchable electronics, according to ZDNet.

A study published in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences this week offers a new approach to designing stretchable circuits that would enable electronic devices to be embedded into clothing, bendable displays, surgical gloves, and other flexible materials.

The wiring in the circuits would be less prone to damage as the material twists and deforms, solving an engineering challenge that has mired the development of flexible electronics.