Information age technologies for surgeons: overview.

This overview summarizes the revolutionary changes that are occurring in medicine today and looks beyond medicine to the other disciplines of science that contribute to the overall revolution of the Information Age. The concept of "information equivalent," representing real objects within a computer as information, is explained. The application of today's emerging information technologies is divided into the components of patient care--diagnosis, consultation, treatment, and education--and illustrations are given of how information sciences are changing the practice of surgery.