Nifty gadgets that actually improve medical care are coming online. Here are 
some promising devices and the companies that make them:

DEVICE             COMPANY           FUNCTION

Vital signs        Agilent           Wireless device to take
monitor                              daily measurements of blood
                                     pressure and heart rhythm,
                                     and zap the information over
                                     the Net to the doctor

Alere scale        Alere Medical     When this scale spots an
                                     irregularity, such as weight
                                     increase indicating fluid
                                     retention, it sends a message
                                     to a computer manned by nurses

Health Buddy       Health Hero       This toaster-sized device uploads
                   Network           daily information about a patient's
                                     illness, such as spikes in blood
                                     sugar, to the physician's PC

Life Shirt         Vivometrics       This shirt comes with enough sensors
                                     to track 40 bodily measurements 24
                                     hours a day. A handheld device can
                                     download the data over the Web

Chronicle          Medtronic         This device will automatically
pacemaker                            communicate with doctors via the
                                     Net if the heart develops an
                                     abnormal rhythm

DATA: COMPANY REPORTS