Telemedicine can help increase accessibility to healthcare for patients living in remote geographical areas, allow patients with chronic diseases to be monitored at home and involve patients in the management of their own healthcare.

The EU ERA-NET initiative EuroNanoMed will support eight transnational research projects with EUR 17 million based on the result of its first call for proposals, which was launched in May 2009 to promote collaborative and interdisciplinary research into nanomedicine - the application of nanotechnology to health.

The iawards ceremony at the Science Museum saw the teams behind this year's best British innovations. Topping the honours list was Horizon Discovery Ltd, a technology start-up company which scooped the iaward of the Year for its hi-tech, 'X-MAN Model Cancer Patient'; a product that identifies patients most likely to respond to particular cancer treatments.

Advances in healthcare have been boosted by the constant improvement of medical imaging technologies - for example, in terms of sensitivity and resolution. Magnetic Resonance (MR) imaging, Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and Computed Tomography are now widely used in the diagnosis and staging of many different diseases, including cardiovascular diseases and cancer.

A powerful new biosensor developed by European researchers will help identify cells in the immune system that actively suppress tumour growth, then put them to use. Enlisting the patient's own immune system would be like sending reinforcements for resistance fighters.

Helped by more than EUR 7 million of Sixth Framework Programme (FP6) and Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) funding, the EUROPRACTICE IC3 and EUROPRACTICE IC4 projects have produced state-of-the-art micromechanical and microelectronic technologies that are being used in universities and industry worldwide to create microchip applications for uses ranging from space technology to medical diagnostics.

A web browser that can understand technical terms in life sciences and automatically find additional resources and services has been developed by European researchers. It could lead to a new generation of intelligent search engines. The life sciences community has built numerous databases - such as for gene sequencing and information about diseases - that are available to researchers as 'grid' services.