Dammit, Jim

This BBC story gives Trekkies everywhere another reason to go into medicine:
US firm Vocera has created a wireless voice communicator just like they use in Star Trek: The Next Generation. Similar to the TV series, all you do to contact someone is press the talk button on the lapel badge, say their name, and you will be put through.

The gadget is proving popular in hospitals to make it easier for nurses to find and get advice from doctors.

The BBC article doesn't say whether this Wifi gizmo makes a chirping sound when pressed -- or whether its users tend to look up or away when speaking through the device. The next version will apparently let users beam directly into patient rooms, substantially improving the efficiency of morning rounds.

On a slightly more serious note, it seems a lot of thinking about future health technology is already hopelessly intertwined with Star Trek. The invention of real hyposprays, like the kind Dr. McCoy uses, was just the beginning.

Finally, I never get the chance to bring this up, but the term "hypospray" actually predates the original Star Trek, going back to WWII mass-inoculation efforts. Sadly, the term hasn't appear on medline in 30 years. Also, the term "biobed" has similarly fallen on hard times.