Anyone who has recently kept a bedside vigil in a hospital's intensive care unit (ICU) is likely to have been impressed by just how much information is now gathered on a critically ill patient. Sophisticated monitors surround the bed, the electronic screens spewing out a torrent of data. That information can be vital, particularly for those near death. But it also poses a critical challenge for today's hurried nurses and physicians: how to make sense of all that data.

Select from the choices above to read the entire article.