Every year, more than 50,000 Americans with diabetes must undergo foot or leg amputations. In many of these cases, poor blood circulation is the villain. Imagine, then, having socks with built-in pressure sensors that would alert you to put your feet up for a while. Researchers estimate that about three-quarters of diabetes-related amputations might be avoided with this kind of simple warning system.

Smart socks are just one example of the growing push to make high-tech home medical devices a part of our everyday lives. "Health care is coming home again," says William Herman, director of the physical-sciences division of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Center for Devices and Radiological Health. "This is one of the most-if not the most-rapidly growing segments of medical technology. It's driven by an aging baby boomer population, pressures to control health spending and the availability of new technology to implement decentralized care."