Sci-fi writers have been astonishing us for years with stories, especially the ones of the far future and its" technologies. From the bioregenerative field on Star Trek, used to accelerate cellular growth on injured crew members on, down to the most recent of all shown in the upcoming movie "Ballistic" staring Lucy Liu. In "Ballistic" the bad guys use a small device the size of a cell to cause a heart attack in their victims, once it is injected and activated. Sci-fi right?? Well not quite. The technology mentioned above have been under development, and one of them being tested in the Navy.
Two years ago doctors at the medical college of Wisconsin in Milwaukee made fiction into nonfiction, with the help of NASA and space shuttle technology the development of LEDs (light emitting diodes) was introduced into the medical field. Scientist found a way to accelerate the healing process by charging up cells in the body, just like the bioregenerator field used in Star Trek. The infrared light emitted by the LEDs increase the energy in cells causing growth up to five times faster than normal. Dr. Whelan a naval medical officer and professor of neurology have been working with LEDs array aboard a nuclear submarine treating injuries caused in training exercise. His research and studies on the healing properties produced by the LEDs have inducted him in NASA space technology hall of fame. In the near future this 3.5 inch by 4.5 inch portable flat array of LEDs can one day be carried around in hospitals and used as often as your common stethoscope or blood pressure cuff to treat minor cuts, sprains, sores, and even tumors.
In the movie "Ballistic" the technology used by the villain is known as nanotech.
(anything smaller than microtechnology) Swedish inventor Edwin Jager say robots the size of a period used in a sentence could be used to move cells, repair damaged tissue to delicate for surgery, capture bacteria, or even seek out individual viruses.