HP retooling inkjet technology

CORVALLIS, Ore., Dec. 21 (UPI) -- Hewlett-Packard engineers are looking into unorthodox uses for the California printer giant's technology, such as improving heart stents and coding pills.

By replacing ink with medicine, HP said it believes its inkjets -- and their spraying precision -- can be retooled to save lives and pump new life into HP's $28 billion printer business, The (Portland) Oregonian reported Friday.

At Corvallis, Ore., the site where Hewlett-Packard turned out its first inkjet printer, a research group is working to see what's possible for the company' profitable technology before it has a chance to turn stale.

"We have definitely shifted our resources," said Steve Nigro, executive vice president for HP's graphics and imaging business. "If the technology stays static, the market opportunities will get static pretty quickly."

Among the novel ways of applying HP technology to something other than printer paper include depositing drugs onto stents' ultra-thin wires, marking individual pills with identification codes and videoconferencing.

"Part of the job is to try and figure out which of these markets are going to be big ones," said Joe Dody, HP precision printing manager.