With the right mix of advanced sensor technology, wireless communications and IT, diagnosing patients on the go--and monitoring patients with chronic diseases--is about to get a whole lot easier. That was the message coming out of TEDMED last week, where experts such as Eric Topol, cardiologist, director of the San Diego-based Scripps Translational Science Institute, and CMO of the West Wireless Health Institute, were predicting a wave of innovation that is expected to render obsolete numerous standard medical tools and instruments.

Referencing the Vscan, a handheld ultrasound device that GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt unveiled on Oct. 20, Topol declared that in 2016, "doctors will not be walking around with stethoscopes around their necks," according to a San Diego News Network report. It was one of several key innovations Topol believes will change the face of healthcare as we know it. Such advances in wireless medical devices should make health care more available and affordable by keeping people out of the hospital, he says.

Other breakthrough technologies Topol highlighted include a "smart band-aid" that can be stuck to a patient's chest to collect a range of physiological data, and a wireless cap that can transmit data of electrical activity produced by neurons in the brain to a data storage device. Of course, the mobile phone's impact on health care was recognized as a game-changer as well.

For another glimpse at the latest and greatest wireless health technologies, be sure to check out the HIMSS Virtual Conference today and tomorrow at HealthcareGoesMobile.com, where you can see the latest videos and case studies on mobile point-of-care technologies and chat with professionals from around the country who are interested in learning more about healthcare IT. I look forward to seeing you there.