Diagnostic Tools Take Aim fit Terrorism

摘要

The key to arresting the spread of contagious diseases lies in the ability to quickly diagnose the beginnings of an outbreak. The threat of bioterrorism is raising the profile of new technologies that can aid physicians in diagnosing diseases they may never have seen before, from anthrax to smallpox, as well as help them identify and more effectively treat many other illnesses. Two recent developments highlight the growing opportunities for IT to aid health-care professionals. The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) Health System last month signed an $8.5 million contract to develop, in con-junction with the U.S. Air Force Medical Service, a medical teleconsulting system that can link expert pathologists, radiologists, and dermatologists with military facilities around the world that don't have specialists in those fields on-site. And within the last two months, technology startup Sylkworks Inc. has inked pacts with 40 hospitals―bringing its contract total to 60 institutions in six states―to share data for building diagnostic and treatment decision-support tools for emergency room doctors.