Presidential address. Man, medicine and electronics¿an awakening frontier

Information technology and microelectronics have introduced a new dimension in the conception and design of electronics in health care whereby techniques have spun off from other fields such as defence research. In this Address examples in diagnostic imaging, cancer theraphy and neural stimulation are reviewed, illustrating the extent to which the electronics of the body itself is the new research frontier. Equipment reaching the manufacturing stage is highlighted and emerging cost and ethical issues identified together with the more general problems often common to the engineering profession.