Chipping away at disease prevention
Intel’s research into digital entertainment has spawned a global effort to
  use the microchip to power new approaches to population wellness
From: Government Health IT - 11/2006 - page 18
By: Brian Robinson

Ask Eric Dishman, general manager and global director of Intel's Health
Research and Innovation Group, why Intel is involved in health care and he'll
talk about the need to create an ecosystem for technology research. 

...

Demographic necessities
Much of the research Intel is promoting is focused on the needs of an aging
population.  

...

Intel has developed a context-aware medication prompting (CAMP) system, for
example, that can tell whether a person has been close to the caddy they keep
their daily medicines in, and it will prompt the person when it is time to
take medication. The system sends alerts to TVs and wristwatches.  

That is a solution to the problem of people using alarms as prompts but
mistakenly turning the alarm off if they think they have already taken their
medications. The CAMP system won’t bug them if they’ve already taken the
medication, Dishman said. 

...

Micro solutions 

As much as Intel's research is aimed at technologies that have a direct
influence on the diseases and ailments of an aging population, it's also
examining some of the peripheral issues that have a major impact on
well-being. 

For example, one development is a presence lamp that can be installed in the
home of a person in the early stages Alzheimer's disease. The lamp
automatically turns on when a remote caregiver is available.  

It comforts people to know someone is available if they need help, and it
encourages social interaction for people living alone. 

For the cost of technology that's just a few dollars in addition to what is
already available in a standard PC, the effect of such a lamp "is really
magical," said Eric Dishman, general manager and global director of Intel's
Health Research and Innovation Group. 

Another revelation is that what works for the elderly can work for others.
The test and monitoring technology aimed at patients with Alzheimer's and
Parkinson's disease, for example, also seems to be helpful for children with
autism. 

Because of that, Intel is now starting to shift the emphasis of its research
to also address the needs of other age groups, Dishman said. 

Read the entire article at:
http://www.governmenthealthit.com/article96730-11-13-06-Print

Links:
Eric Dishman
http://www.intel.com/technology/techresearch/people/bios/dishman_e.htm

Live Chat Interview with Eric Dishman of Intel
http://www.whcoa.net/whcoa/blog/comments?blog.id=TechBlog&message.id=10

Intel's Medicine Man
http://www.technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?id=16616&ch=biztech