Running shoes, ski bindings and foot prostheses all have one thing in common: They must be tested thoroughly. This is now done by a robot-based 3-D test rig which simulates human movements, thus enabling any kind of load test to be carried out under realistic conditions.

As approximately 1.9 million elderly people in Europe experience a form of dementia. A pan-European research project is seeking to help them 'navigate their day' and improve their quality of life.

The recently launched CogKnow project, funded under the EU's Sixth Framework Programme (FP6), aims to help people to remember, maintain social contact, perform daily life activities and enhance their feelings of safety.

Health-e-Child: an integrated e-healthcare platform for European paediatrics

Healthcare processes and models will progressively require coordinated European e-health solutions in order to cope with demographic changes, current demands, future crises and growth in expectations.

Currently, the European Microsoft Innovation Center (EMIC) is starting the project EMERGE, supporting elderly people with innovative emergency monitoring and prevention.

Delayed calls of emergency medical services - in case of physical or mental disorders resulting from strokes or falls, for example - lead to increased hospitalization and movement of elderly people into nursing homes.

A groundbreaking computerised simulator currently being tested at hospitals in France will enable trained and trainee orthopaedic surgeons to sharpen their skills without having to actually do so on patients during "live" operations.

Developed by an interdisciplinary team of experts through a project called Technology Enhanced Learning for Orthopaedic Surgery (TELEOS), the simulator softens the boundaries between theory and practice, taking vocational training into a new dimension.

Public and private investment in information and communication technology (ICT) is bearing fruit, finds the Commission's annual progress report on i2010 – the digitally-led strategy for growth and jobs. Technology is fuelling innovation and productivity, and there are signs of fundamental change in markets and user behaviour, as Europe moves towards a knowledge-based economy.

Computer-based therapy for milder, but more common mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety should be made available to any patients in England who could benefit from it from April, Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt said today.