Lasers and electro-optics in the health care of the future

Summary form only given. Medical practice is being rapidly redefined by market forces on one side and new technologies on the other. The shift from inpatient to outpatient surgery is a good example of this. Advances in procedural medicine will be built upon the core technologies of high speed computing, robotics, systems engineering, lasers, optics, imaging and biomedical engineering. These technologies cut across traditional disciplines and have the possibilities of making medical care better, safer and less expensive.