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Health And Technology Collide At CES

LAS VEGAS (CBSNewYork) -- The International Consumer Electronics Show that's wrapping up in Las Vegas is a massive display of robots, cars, toys, TVs and gadgets that can make any technonerd swoon.

But there are some very serious health and medical devices also on display, CBS2's Dr. Max Gomez reported.

At the high end, there is a high-tech $4,000 treadmill that's essentially a fitness studio at home, with a 32-inch high-definition touchscreen that lets you take classes either live or on demand.

There's also a toothbrush with embedded sensors that links to an app, teaching kids how to brush -- and lets Mom make sure they're actually doing it.

High-tech treadmill
A high-tech treadmill by Peloton (Photo courtesy of Peloton)

How about airbags for Grandma? They're in a kind of fanny pack that protects brittle hips in the event of a fall.

But perhaps the most innovative devices are what our tech partner CNET has dubbed "the invisible doctor."

"Sensors -- all the things that measure our blood pressure, our blood surgar, motion -- those are all getting so cheap and easy to create that device manufacturers are coming up with really ingenious ways to track our health," said Lindsey Turrentine, CNET's editor-in-chief.

The Omron HeartGuide can take your blood pressure throughout the day, a more realistic evaluation of your heart-disease risk.

There's a tiny button that looks like nail art but is actually a UV sensor that can give you an idea how much sunlight you're getting. You can wear it on your finger, sunglasses or shoes.

And in what could be a huge boon to stroke- and spinal cord-injury patients, there's a glove that helps paralyzed hands move again. Experts say this is just the tip of the health-tech revolution.

"Eventually, if there's a concern that we have with our health, we will be able to track it ourselves and then have that conversation with our doctors, and that's really exciting," Turrentine said.

And in case you thought innovators forgot about future technophiles, there's a wearable system that transmits Mom's heartbeat to her new baby. What could be more calming?

One issue is whether some devices may need FDA approval, especially things like blood-sugar sensors. FDA approval can be prohibitively expensive, so developers will likely say that medical data the devices collect is meant to be taken to your doctor so he or she can decide what action to take.

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