Mobile Telemedicine for Diabetes Care

Diabetes Mellitus is nowadays one of the most frequent non-contagious diseases in the world and remains a major health problem for the national health care programs. It is well proved that Telemedicine helps diabetic patients controlling their glucose levels, facilitating their day to-day therapy management and the communication with health care personnel. The rapid growth and development of information technologies in the areas of mobile computing and mobile Internet is shaping a new technological scenario of telemedicine and shared care systems. In this chapter we will show one approach to Mobile Telemedicine for Diabetes Care

Opportunities And Challenges of E-Health and Telemedicine Via Satelite

The introduction of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the health scenario is instrumental for the development of sustainable services of direct benefit for the European citizen. The setting up of satellite based applications will enhance rapidly the decentralisation and the enrichment of the European territory driving it towards a homogenous environment for healthcare

Telemedicine

Telemedicine is a rapidly evolving field as new technologies are implemented for example for the development of wireless sensors, quality data transmission. Using the Internet applications such as counseling, clinical consultation support and home care monitoring and management are more and more realized, which improves access to high level medical care in underserved areas. The 23 chapters of this book present manifold examples of telemedicine treating both theoretical and practical foundations and application scenarios

Holistic System Design for Distributed National eHealth Services

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The Ethical Implications of Telemedicine and the Internet for Home Healthcare

Information and communication technologies, such as the Internet, are transforming our business, education, and leisure practices. The healthcare industry is no exception to this trend and the burgeoning field of home-based telemedicine is evidence of this. As with many technological innovations in healthcare, assessments of homebased telemedicine and correlative policies are being driven by economic and technological criteria that emphasize cost reduction and technologic efficiency. These are important considerations, but these assessments neither identify the ethical values involved in home-based telemedicine nor address its possible ethical implications. Since the economic and technologic viability of home-based telemedicine is not identical with its ethical appropriateness and justification, this is a serious oversight. Hence, the use of telemedicine and the Internet in home healthcare invite a discussion about their ethical implications for the traditional goals and moral ideals of healthcare practice. The purpose of this study is to argue that the ethical implications of telemedicine and the Internet for home healthcare should be better understood and incorporated into future home-based telemedicine research and policy development. To this end, this study reviews the home-based telemedicine literature and examines the normative connections between home-based telemedicine and the following: (1) provider-patient relationships, (2) healthcare privacy and confidentiality, (3) distributive and family justice, and (4) informed consent. This study concludes that given the traditional values and goals of healthcare, information and communication technologies present both possible harms and benefits for home healthcare recipients and providers, but that on balance the benefits are more likely to outweigh the harms. However, because the exact benefits and harms of homebased telemedicine are unknown at this time, additional empirical research and outcome studies are needed. Finally, as part of a general technology assessment of home-based telemedicine, future research should include an ethical evaluation of all information and communication technologies that will be employed. If this is not done, home-based telemedicine policies will be inadequately informed and many of the possible harms of home-based telemedicine that could be prevented will not be prevented

MedLAN: Compact mobile computing system for wireless information access in emergency hospital wards

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.As the need for faster, safer and more efficient healthcare delivery increases, medical consultants seek new ways of implementing a high quality telemedical system, using innovative technology. Until today, teleconsultation (the most common application of Telemedicine) was performed by transferring the patient from the Accidents and Emergency ward, to a specially equipped room, or by moving large and heavy machinery to the place where the patient resided. Both these solutions were unpractical, uneconomical and potentially dangerous. At the same time wireless networks became increasingly useful in point-of-care areas such as hospitals, because of their ease of use, low cost of installation and increased flexibility. This thesis presents an integrated system called MedLAN dedicated for use inside the A&E hospital wards. Its purpose is to wirelessly support high-quality live video, audio, high-resolution still images and networks support from anywhere there is WLAN coverage. It is capable of transmitting all of the above to a consultant residing either inside or outside the hospital, or even to an external place, thorough the use of the Internet. To implement that, it makes use of the existing IEEE 802.11b wireless technology. Initially, this thesis demonstrates that for specific scenarios (such as when using WLANs), DICOM specifications should be adjusted to accommodate for the reduced WLAN bandwidth. Near lossless compression has been used to send still images through the WLANs and the results have been evaluated by a number of consultants to decide whether they retain their diagnostic value. The thesis further suggests improvements on the existing 802.11b protocol. In particular, as the typical hospital environment suffers from heavy RF reflections, it suggests that an alternative method of modulation (OFDM) can be embedded in the 802.11b hardware to reduce the multipath effect, increase the throughput and thus the video quality sent by the MedLAN system. Finally, realising that the trust between a patient and a doctor is fundamental this thesis proposes a series of simple actions aiming at securing the MedLAN system. Additionally, a concrete security system is suggested, that encapsulates the existing WEP security protocol, over IPSec