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Electronics are set to merge with our bodies to extend our perceptions. Smartphones and watches will give way to the bodyNET1: a network of sensors, screens and smart devices woven into our clothing, worn on our skin and implanted in our bodies (see 'Superhuman powers').

According to the multiparametric data it automatically uploads to your medical profile in our database, it seems to be managing your condition effectively. [...]my 9‐year‐old son, George, interrogates the family genome sequences every time a new algorithm becomes available, and knows all kinds of things about our susceptibilities and strengths. [...]we were able to install on our virtual reality system some new generation movement‐centred gaming programmes. The analyses it carries out will be automatically uploaded into your medical profile in the national database, and will determine whether or not we will recommend you to use an ectoine inhaler, given that your place of work is on a brownfield site recently shown to be emitting low levels of VOCs (Au: volatile organic compounds).

To understand complex sensory-motor behavior related to object perception by echolocating bats, precise measurements are needed for echoes that bats actually listen to during flight. Recordings of echolocation broadcasts were made from flying bats with a miniature light-weight microphone and radio transmitter (Telemike) set at the position of the bat's ears and carried during flights to a landing point on a wall. Telemike recordings confirm that flying horseshoe bats (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum nippon) adjust the frequency of their sonar broadcasts to compensate for echo Doppler shifts. Returning constant frequency echoes were maintained at the bat's reference frequency ±83 Hz during flight, indicating that the bats compensated for frequency changes with an accuracy equivalent to that at rest. The flying bats simultaneously compensate for increases in echo amplitude as target range becomes shorter. Flying bats thus receive echoes with both stabilized frequencies and stabilized amplitudes. Although it is widely understood that Doppler-shift frequency compensation facilitates detection of fluttering insects, approaches to a landing do not involve fluttering objects. Combined frequency and amplitude compensation may instead be for optimization of successive frequency modulated echoes for target range estimation to control approach and landing.

Abstract The aim of this article is to give readers a general overview of the concepts involved in the latest generation of implantable hearing aids. A section on ear biomechanics has also been included to familiarize readers with the basic concepts involved. These devices have been developed over the last 20 years, driven by problems with conventional hearing aids and by advances in the understanding of middle-ear mechanics. The use of technology borrowed from cochlear implants has enabled the first generation of fully implantable aids to be trialled. The author examines the theoretical advantages and disadvantages of implantable hearing aids over conventional aids and then reviews the technology and clinical results of a range of devices that have been trialled.

Until a few years ago, being fitted with an implantable pacemaker or defibrillator meant regular trips to the hospital to check the device and review its activity. But the latest generation of these devices, which send electrical signals to the heart to stop it from beating erratically, can update clinicians without patients leaving the house or even waking up.

Inflammation often plays a key role in the perpetuation of pain. Chronic inflammatory conditions (e.g. osteoarthritis, immune system dysfunction, micro-circulatory disease, painful neuritis, and even heart disease) have increased as baby boomers age. Medicine’s current antiinflammatory choices are NSAIDs and steroids; the value in promoting cure and side effect risks of these medications are unclear and controversial, especially considering individual patient variations. Electricity has continuously been a powerful tool in medicine for thousands of years. All medical professionals are, to some degree, aware of electrotherapy; those who directly use electricity for treatment know of its anti-inflammatory effects. Electronic signal treatment (EST), as an extension of presently available technology, may reasonably have even more anti-inflammatory effects. EST is a digitally produced alternating current sinusoidal electronic signal with associated harmonics to produce theoretically reasonable and/or scientifically documented physiological effects when applied to the human body. These signals are produced by advanced electronics not possible even 10 to 15 years ago. The potential long-lasting anti-inflammatory effects of some electrical currents are based on basic physical and biochemical facts listed in the text below, namely that of stimulating and signaling effective and long-lasting anti-inflammatory effects in nerve and muscle cells. The safety of electrotherapeutic treatments in general and EST in particular has been established through extensive clinical use. The principles of physics have been largely de-emphasized in modern medicine in favor of chemistry. These electrical treatments, a familiar application of physics, thus represent powerful and appropriate elements of physicians’ pain care armamentaria in the clinic and possibly for prescription for use at home to improve overall patient care and maintenance of quality of life via low-risk and potentially curative treatments. Key words: Electroanalgesia, electronic signal treatment (EST), inflammation, anti-inflammatory effects, immune system, neurogenic inflammation, chronic pain, steroids, NSAIDs, oscillo/torsional effect, cAMP, membrane repair and stabilization, pain care/management

Recent advances in electronic nose technology, and successful clinical applications, are facilitating the development of new methods for rapid, bedside diagnosis of disease. There is a real clinical need for such new diagnostic tools in otolaryngology. We present a critical review of recent advances in electronic nose technology and current applications in otolaryngology. The literature reports evidence of accurate diagnosis of common otolaryngological conditions such as sinusitis (acute and chronic), chronic suppurative otitis media, otitis externa and nasal vestibulitis. A significant recent development is the successful identification of biofilm-producing versus non-biofilm-producing pseudomonas and staphylococcus species. Electronic nose technology holds significant potential for enabling rapid, non-invasive, bedside diagnosis of otolaryngological disease.