Will Machines Be Able to Tell When Patients Are About to Die?

A few years ago, on a warm sunny afternoon, my ninety-year-old father-in-law was sweeping his patio when he suddenly felt weak and dizzy. Falling to his knees, he crawled inside his condo and onto the couch. He was shaking but not confused when my wife, Susan, came over minutes later, since we lived just a block away. She texted me at work, where I was just finishing my clinic, and asked me to come over. When I got there, he was weak and couldn't stand up on his own, and it was unclear what had caused this spell.