Portable IT in the research service

Swallow a tag, fasten some electrodes to your body, get a wireless connection and you are a wandering medical laboratory.

One of those who have literally carried computer systems on and in his body is Jo Herstad, currently a student at the University of Oslo. He ran last year's New York City Marathon in the name of research. The purpose was to control the body condition during pressure and intercept potential health problems long before the runner showed external symptoms that something was wrong.

"I had a GPS antenna sewn on my shirt which gave my position, speed and direction," said Herstad.

"Suitable instruments for measuring pulse and step were attached to my body, while inside my stomach there was a thermometer with radio communication. Signals from this equipment were collected in a black box which conveyed them to a small Compaq computer, mounted in my belt. A mobile phone together with a small modem for the computers was also on my body during the race."

The required power came from batteries. Colleagues from the project stood at agreed points along the route to check that everything was all right. The "marathon man" project was directed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT's) Media Lab.