Narrator: This is Science Today. A new mobile patient information system invented at UCLA revolutionizes critical patient care when immediate response time and accurate, comprehensive information can mean life or death. Dr. Neil Martin, head of neurosurgery at the UCLA School of Medicine, came up with the idea that led to the system called Global Care Quest, which allows wireless access to the patient's medical record. Martin says it's a whole new level of telecommunication for medicine.

Martin: Want me to take a look at the scan? OK. Now we can not only talk to the people on-site, but we can review the entire medical record including waveforms for EKG, including every image in the hospital's radiology system.

Narrator: Currently, over a thousand doctors at UCLA use this potentially life-saving technology.

Martin: Rather than my having to travel to the hospital to review the data, it's immediately transmitted to me. The wheels start rolling immediately for the appropriate care for the patient.

Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.

C. A New Method for Checking Liquid Explosives

Narrator: This is Science Today. A chemist at the University of California , Davis has come up with a way to check for liquid explosives – a method that could help counter terrorism experts working to protect air security. Matt Augustine built a machine using magnetic resonance that could scan bottles of wine for spoilage without opening them. This same technique could be used for checking passengers' items for explosives.

Augustine: They involve simple capacitors and a coil of wire. One takes the liquid sample, inserts it here into the probe assembly. This probe assembly is inserted into a ground sheath. The entire unit is then inserted into the magnet at which point we obtain the molecular fingerprint for the compounds in the liquid sample.

Narrator: The project has attracted the attention of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Augustine: Because of the obvious ability that it has to look inside of a sealed consumables container and determine whether or not you have flammable versus non-flammable liquids.

Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.

D. Leveraging Technological Advances in Human Disease for Agricultural Studies

Narrator: This is Science Today. Researchers studying agriculture at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory are able to capitalize on a lot of the technological developments used there for human diseases and biothreat risks. Lab veterinarian Pam Hullinger says they were able to leverage such technology to develop a rapid diagnostic test for foot and mouth disease and six other livestock diseases.

Hullinger: We probably wouldn't have had the money to do the whole development process had we had to do it from start to finish. But we can capitalize on the front 75 to 80% of the technological advances that's been made and then just work to develop the specific assays that we need in those systems. It really helps agriculture out.

Narrator: Their rapid diagnostic test could potentially save billions of dollars in direct costs for every hour's delay in diagnosing foot and mouth disease.

Hullinger: Some estimates here are that the diagnosis of one case here in the United States would cost us probably about ten to 16 billion dollars, just in loss of trade and initial cost to get that under control, irregardless of how big it spread.

Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.

E. January is National Glaucoma Awareness Month

Narrator: January is National Glaucoma Awareness Month. This is Science Today. Glaucoma is a sight-threatening condition in which the optic nerve is damaged and affects about 3 million Americans. Dr. Robert Weinreb of the University of California , San Diego says pressure builds in the eye because fluid cannot drain properly.

Weinreb: In the case of glaucoma, for some reason, the drain gets blocked and the fluid is entering the eye but cannot leave the eye at the same rate that it's entering. And this causes the fluid pressure to increase in the eye...very much like if you stop up a drain in the sink in your kitchen, the fluid level is going to rise.

Narrator: If the internal pressure is not alleviated, it can damage the nerve fibers in the optic nerve and cause vision loss.

Weinreb: Initially, our treatment consists of a series of eye drops that reduce the amount of fluid flowing into the eye or open up the drain.

Narrator: The key to preventing glaucoma is early detection and Weinreb recommends those at risk have an annual exam. For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.