Best Inventions 2005: Healthy Options

Drugs Over Easy Inventor: Deborah Adler Availability: Now, at Target pharmacies To Learn More: designforall.target.com From the mass retailer that put Philippe Starck styles in dorm rooms comes another evolution of design, this time for the medicine cabinet. Called ClearRx, Target's new prescription-drug packaging systemoriginally conceived by a student at the School of Visual Arts in New York Cityturns the traditional amber-colored cylinder on its head. ClearRx bottles are not only upside down but also flattened out, so patients can read labels without rotating the package. Colored ringssay, blue for Mom, green for Dadhelp prevent mix-ups, and labels display crucial data, such as drug and dosage, clearly at the top. On the flip side are warnings and a pullout card with medical info. It makes health care almost fun. Next Product: Clear Water Revival >>

Clear Water Revival Inventor: Vestergaard Frandsen Group Availability: Early 2006; $3 and up To Learn More: lifestraw.com The price of a caffe latteabout $3really can save a life. The LifeStraw, a beefed-up drinking straw designed by the Swiss-based company Vestergaard Frandsen, uses seven types of filters, including mesh, active carbon and iodine, to make 185 gal. of water clean enough to drink. It can prevent waterborne illnesses, such as typhoid and diarrhea, that kill at least 2 million people every year in the developing world. It can also create safe drinking water for victims of hurricanes, earthquakes or other disasters. And finally, it makes a handy accoutrement for the weekend warrior's back-country hike. Next Product: Can You Hear Me Now? >>

Can You Hear Me Now? Inventor: Randall Roberts Availability: Now, at audiologists' offices; up to $299 To Learn More: starkey.com & elihearing.com This device makes it easier for hearing-aid users to go cellular. The tiny ELI plugs into the bottom of most behind-the-ear hearing aids, essentially turning them into wireless cell-phone headsets and eliminating the static that often occurs when hearing aids and mobile phones interact. A miniature microphone transmits the wearer's voice back to the phone. And for people who use in-the-ear hearing aids, there's another version of ELI that hangs on a cord around the neck. Next Product: Patchwork >>

Patchwork Inventor: Ellis Developments Ltd. Availability: Now, in England only To Learn More: ellisdev.co.uk It may look like a delicate doily, but the Bioimplantable Device is a rugged internal bandage that helps patients recover swiftly from shoulder-joint-replacement surgery. Made of standard polyester surgical thread, the device has an embroidered pattern that gives it strength and flexibility while imitating human tendons. Once implanted between muscles and bones, the device is never removed; it becomes part of the body as cells grow over it. This technology is also being used to replace slipped disks in the neck and to aid in clavicle-replacement surgery. Next Product: Walk Man >>

Walk Man Inventor: Yoshiyuki Sankai, University of Tsukuba Availability: Near future, $14,000$19,000 To Learn More: sanlab.kz.tsukuba.ac.jp Enter ... Mecha-Grandma! Japanese researchers have developed a robotic exoskeleton to help the elderly and disabled walk and even lift heavy objects like the jug of water above. Its called the Hybrid Assistive Limb, or HAL. (The inventor has obviously never seen 2001: A Space Odyssey.) Its brain is a computer (housed in a backpack) that learns to mimic the wearers gait and posture; bioelectric sensors pick up signals transmitted from the brain to the muscles, so it can anticipate movements the moment the wearer thinks of them. A commercial version is in the works. Just dont let it near the pod-bay doors. Next Product: Sporting Life >>