MEDICAL ELECTRONICS.

Medical interest in the human heart intensified last year, and electronic equipment makers, pressing to keep up, reported new developments in at least five areas. Advances in cardiac imaging occurred in computed tomography, ultrasound, and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Pacemakers and heart-assist systems also progressed. Other equipment - including implantable, programmable pumps to meter insulin to diabetics and external, closed-up drug infusors for critical care - inched toward application in an exciting year of progress. Associated developments are reported, along with the role played by the U. S. Food and Drug Administration.