The information is checked against their disease state to calculate a score, and this helps staff work out the best treatment.

BBC: NEWS | Health | 'I tried not to think about food'

Engineers can calculate the most efficient route for a spray-painting robot to take around a car body, work out how quickly parts must be supplied, look for bottlenecks or even tell if a human worker's task is likely to give him backache.

ECONOMIST: Manufacturing technology