Implantable devices may include a radio-frequency ID chip under the skin that holds a patient's medical records, or a subcutaneous sensor that could continuously monitor blood chemistry. Ingestible devices in capsules will deploy once swallowed to perform tasks in the gastrointestinal system, from delivering treatment to isolating foreign objects.

A monitoring patch on a pregnant woman's belly can detect uterine muscle movement, the better to know when labor is progressing. Later, parents can keep a digital eye on their infant via a baby cam that charts the infant's respiration on the screen and sends an alert if the baby stops breathing. There's even high-tech help for developing preemies: headphones play music calibrated to soothe or stimulate, and scans check brain waves to see whether it's working.