Improving healthcare and staying healthy is one of the most discussed and important issues in our society. Technology has played and will play an important role in many aspects of the healthcare system, and it offers new and better ways to solve the key health problems of the new century.

This book describes valued contributions of technology for improving hospital and home healthcare, and gives a perspective on how they will influence critical aspects of future medical care. It provides an overview and discussion of trends, presents the state-of-the-art of important research areas, and highlights recent breakthrough results in selected fields, giving an outlook on game-changing developments in the coming decades.

The material is arranged in 6 parts and a total of 31 chapters. The healthcare areas addressed are: General advances and trends in healthcare technology, diagnostic imaging, integration of imaging and therapy, molecular medicine, medical information technology and personal healthcare.

Inhalt
I - TRENDS IN HEALTHCARE.- Advances and Trends in Healthcare Technology.- II - DIAGNOSTIC IMAGING.- Diagnostic Imaging.- Reconstruction Technologies for Medical Imaging Systems.- Detectors for X-ray Imaging and Computed Tomography.- 3D-Rotational X-ray Imaging.- Coronary Magnetic Resonance Angiography.- 4-Dimensional Ultrasonic Imaging.- Clinical Hybrid Imaging: Image Co-registration and Hardware Combination for PET/CT and SPECT/CT.- III - INTEGRATION OF DIAGNOSTIC IMAGING AND THERAPY.- New Technology for Image-Guided Therapy.- Image-Guided Therapy (IGT): New CT and Hybrid Imaging Technologies.- Developments in Cardiac Interventions.- MRI -Guided Focused Ultrasound.- Advances in External Beam Radiation Therapy.- Molecular Imaging Guided Radiotherapy.- IV - MOLECULAR MEDICINE.- Molecular Medicine.- Molecular Imaging Systems.- Biomarkers in Disease Diagnosis and Treatment.- Molecular Agents for Targeted Imaging and Therapy.- Targeted Nanoparticles for Molecular Imaging and Therapy.- Molecular Imaging with Annexin A5.- Proteomics for Diagnostic Applications.- V - MEDICAL INFORMATICS.- Medical Information Technology.- Developments in Clinical Information Technology.- Computer Aided Detection and Quantification.- Medical Decision Support Systems.- Bioinformatics.- VI - PERSONAL HEALTHCARE.- Perspectives in Personal Healthcare.- On-body Sensors for Personal Healthcare.- Automated External Defibrillators for Layperson Use.- Remote Patient Monitoring Solutions.- Diabetic Care.