For two decades the European Commission has contributed to the improvement of healthcare by supporting the research and development of new technologies that can change the way we get health treatment. With i2010, the Commission's strategic framework to create a European Information Society for growth and jobs, the focus is now on meeting the health care needs of our ageing population.

Smart fabrics and intelligent textiles - material that incorporates cunning molecules or clever electronics - is thriving and European research efforts are tackling some of the sector's toughest challenges. Clothes that monitor your heart, measure the chemical composition of your body fluids or keep track of you and your local environment promise to revolutionise healthcare and emergency response, but they present tough research challenges, too.

Biosystems technology, the by-product of biology and microsystems components interfacing, addresses modern biotechnology and medicine concerns in developed countries. For its part, the EU-funded project Boost Biosystems seeks to fuel cooperation between academia and industry in the cross-disciplinary field of biosystems technologies in the ScanBalt BioRegion, the life science metacluster in the Baltic Sea region.

Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE:PHG, AEX:PHI) has announced a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for a five-year research collaboration with King’s College London. Under the multi-million Euro agreement, Philips and King's College London's Division of Imaging Sciences will develop new medical imaging research projects with a particular focus on cardiology and cardiac electrophysiology.

A new £5 million research programme which is intended to lead to an increase in service quality and patient safety through better ways of planning and providing health services was announced today by Public Health Minister Dawn Primarolo.

A consultation that will help formulate the UK's negotiating position to ensure the right legislative framework is developed around the new Patient Mobility EU Directive was launched today. The proposed Directive seeks to codify existing European case law to make clear the rules that will apply when EU nationals want to receive treatment in a Member State which is not their 'home' country.

Health Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou launches today the 'Europe for Patients' campaign in Brussels. The campaign highlights the different health policy initiatives the Commission intends to adopt in the coming 6-9 months. All these initiatives are bound by a common goal - better healthcare for all in Europe.