COMPUTERS IN MEDICINE — PRESENT AND FUTURE

Computers have made wide inroads into the practice of medicine, sometimes insidiously and sometimes obviously. The insidious approach has been the use of computers and computer chips in machines to do specific jobs such as controlling automated biochemical analysers, or producing digital images from computerised tomographic and magnetic resonance imaging scanners. The use of pre‐programmed logic and calculation makes a repetitive or mechanical task possible and easier, although the computer itself is not immediately apparent. This will inevitably continue and the fall in price of storage devices makes the storage of large amounts of data, including images, a more attractive possibility. A few hospitals already have ‘filmless’ x‐ray departments, and images can be called up electronically and reviewed in outpatient departments or theatres when required. In contrast, the use of computers with screens and keyboards is apparent principally in clerical tasks.