Runner-up Winner: Grant (Texas, USA)

E-Medical card. Eliminate waiting time at the doctors office by adding chip in medical cards that could be scanned when the doctor comes into the examining room. You could secure it using existing technology (i.e.,fingerprint technology). Once scanned, it would immediately pull up your medical history. It would be scanned at the end of the visit for billing. These devices could securely to send diagnostic info, x-rays, test results, etc. to specialists. Imagine what this could do in the medical field!

• View Grant's Video

E-Medical Card: Q&A with Grant

What inspired your entry?
Sometimes in medicine it’s difficult to get a consultation request fulfilled in a timely manner because doctors are unavailable.  This is particularly true in rural areas.  The idea behind my entry was to be able to give patients access to medical attention more easily in cases where doctors can’t physically be there.

Which technologies do you use today?
I use a PC, a mobile phone, and a PDA in my personal life.  As a radiation oncology resident physician, I’m using all sorts of high-end software to create sophisticated radiation treatment plans using 3D models of the body and, therefore, more focused and specific with our treatment.

Which technologies do you think you’ll be using in the future?
I think handheld devices will morph to become more like a PC that does everything.  These devices, which will probably access a wireless network via satellite, will have streaming video and video conferencing abilities, and you’ll be able to plug them into a dock on your desk that gives you a big screen to work on more complex tasks and multimedia.

More voice recognition technology will also be coming … including automated navigation in cars.

I would love to see large companies like Cisco collaborating with organizations like mine, the University of Texas Medical Branch, to try prototypes of new technologies.  I think Cisco would get a lot of useful data, and I know the UTMB hospital system would be eager to do technology research together.

What will you do with your prize money?

I’ll use it to help pay off the expenses for my radiation oncology board exams.