At Gearlog we tend to focus on mainstream consumer gadgets (oh, and weird ones too). But cutting-edge technology is being incorporated into more than PCs and mobile phones. Take the 3M Littmann Electronic Stethoscope Model 3200 with Zargis Cardioscan: It beams a patient's heartbeat sounds via Bluetooth to a doctor's PC, which uses software to scan them for abnormalities--and might eliminate the need for over 8 million echocardiograms and cardiologist visits a year. [Note that the stethoscope was developed by Bang & Olufson Medicom.--Ed.]

The high-tech stethoscope is the Grand Winner in the Health category in Popular Science magazine's story, "Best of What's New: 2009." 100 innovations in 10 categories are featured, ranging from WolframAlpha to Microsoft's Project Natal to the NASA Keplar Space Telescope to X-Flex Blast Protection System, "the world's toughest wallpaper." Very cool stuff!