FDA clears Intel home medical device

Intel Corp. won Food and Drug Administration clearance to begin selling a medical computer designed to help the elderly manage health conditions at home.

The touch-screen Intel Health Guide device collects vital signs and information, sends the data to doctors and acts as a videoconferencing and e-mail link. The system will go on sale in the fourth quarter of this year.

The computer is the first Intel-branded product from Chief Executive Paul Otellini's 3-year-old initiative to open the healthcare market to the Santa Clara, Calif.-based company's silicon chips. The machine is aimed at winning sales to hospitals, doctors, insurance companies and governments.