NEW TECHNOLOGY GOING NEW PLACES: If you think iPods are just for music and cell phones are just for chatting, then think again. Many of the gadgets we use every day have more than one use ... and some of those uses could save lives!

HEART HELP ON THE LINE: Emergency workers responding to a chest pain call can now help get things going in the emergency room long before they get to the hospital. If heart attack treatment is done within an hour, long-term effects are far less likely. Getting the heart attack team scrambling as soon as possible could save lives. Now, a new system is being tested at the Christ Hospital Heart Center in Cincinnati. A paramedic can take an ECG of a patient in the ambulance. This is then sent to the ER wirelessly with a cell phone so the in-hospital personnel can be best equipped to get ready for the patient. The new use for cell phones is especially important in the middle of the night and on weekends, when cardiac surgeons may not be at the hospital. Getting the ECG results to the hospital sooner gives doctors more lead time to get to the hospital and get ready to administer treatments like an angioplasty.

INFORMATION IN YOUR PALM: Another study at UAB is looking at the importance of having doctors use personal digital assistants (PDAs) to assist them in gathering information. The PDAs have a variety of information on them, including drug interaction databases, medical calculators and specific disease research. Some of the information, according to Health Informatics Researcher Eta Berner, Ed.D., is freely available on the Internet. Others, such as risk assessment tools to look at stroke, obesity, strep and smoking cessation, were developed at UAB. A study from researchers in Germany shows the use of personal digital assistants (PDAs) is on the rise and could change how health care is delivered. The use of PDAs is quickly increasing among physicians and other health care professionals. The devices are being used for medical student education, physician training, clinical practice and research. Research reveals more than half of all doctors younger than age 35 in developed countries used a PDA in 2003.

THE VIDEO iPOD: It's news and education on the go and on-demand. Patients worldwide can now access instruction videos on the Web about different diseases. They can download information about heart disease, vascular disease, dietary modifications and management of blood pressure. Grayson Wheatly, M.D., from the Arizona Heart Institute in Phoenix, created the iPod for the Heart program and says, "It breaks down both surgical and medical information at a very understandable level." Through a centralized Web site, http://www.cvmd.org, patients, health care professionals, hospital administrators and scientists will gain unrestricted access to the highest quality, multi-media educational materials relating to cardiovascular medicine and surgery. Patients can either download audio and video information into their iPod or read and watch the information on their computers.