10,080 research outputs found

    M-health review: joining up healthcare in a wireless world

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    In recent years, there has been a huge increase in the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) to deliver health and social care. This trend is bound to continue as providers (whether public or private) strive to deliver better care to more people under conditions of severe budgetary constraint

    Mobihealth: mobile health services based on body area networks

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    In this chapter we describe the concept of MobiHealth and the approach developed during the MobiHealth project (MobiHealth, 2002). The concept was to bring together the technologies of Body Area Networks (BANs), wireless broadband communications and wearable medical devices to provide mobile healthcare services for patients and health professionals. These technologies enable remote patient care services such as management of chronic conditions and detection of health emergencies. Because the patient is free to move anywhere whilst wearing the MobiHealth BAN, patient mobility is maximised. The vision is that patients can enjoy enhanced freedom and quality of life through avoidance or reduction of hospital stays. For the health services it means that pressure on overstretched hospital services can be alleviated

    Mobile Health Care over 3G Networks: the MobiHealth Pilot System and Service

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    Health care is one of the most prominent areas for the application of wireless technologies. New services and applications are today under research and development targeting different areas of health care, from high risk and chronic patients’ remote monitoring to mobility tools for the medical personnel. In this direction the MobiHealth project developed and trailed a system and a service that is using UMTS for the continuous monitoring and transmission of vital signals, like Pulse Oximeter sensor , temperature, Marker, Respiratory band, motion/activity detector etc., to the hospital. The system, based on the concept of the Body Area Network, is highly customisable, allowing sensors to be seamlessly connected and transmit the monitored vital signal measurements. The system and service was trialed in 4 European countries and it is presently under market validation

    EmergenSIG: an integrated location-based system for emergency management

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    Several solutions have been proposed for emergencies scenarios. These solutions include real-time data communication, location-aware, coordination, and decision-making support systems. In this context, this dissertation presents a location-awareness system fully oriented to emergency scenarios, called EmergenSIG. This approach provides and gathers important field information from an occurrence (emergency situation) and shares it to all the different agents. They include police, firefighters, medical emergency teams, among others, mobilized to the same operations theater (OT). Therefore, allowing a faster and integrated response to all the involved agents, enhancing the emergency management of the occurrence. The core of this proposal is based on a low cost solution oriented to the agents on the field (EmergenSIG mobile application), which interacts with the EmergenSIG Web application, oriented to the civil protection entities, through REST Web services. EmergenSIG focuses on medical emergencies and wildfires. It was evaluated and demonstrated in different mobile devices considering different screen sizes following a usercentered design. The system was also been evaluated and validated by real entities and civil protection agents on simulated emergency scenarios.VĂĄrias soluçÔes tĂȘm sido propostas para cenĂĄrios de emergĂȘncias mĂ©dicas . Estas soluçÔes incluem comunicaçÔes de dados em tempo real ,sensĂ­veis ĂĄ localização , coordenação e sistemas de apoio Ă  tomada de decisĂŁo. Neste contexto, esta dissertação apresenta um sistema sensĂ­vel Ă  localização totalmente orientada para cenĂĄrios de emergĂȘncia, chamada EmergenSIG. Esta abordagem proporciona e reĂșne importantes informaçÔes de uma ocorrĂȘncia (situação de emergĂȘncia) compartilhando-a para todos os diferentes agentes. Nos quais se incluem a polĂ­cia, bombeiros, equipas de emergĂȘncia mĂ©dica, entre outros, que se mobilizaram para o mesmo teatro de operaçÔes (TO). Portanto, permite uma resposta mais rĂĄpida e integrada para todos os agentes envolvidos, aumentando a eficĂĄcia da gestĂŁo da emergĂȘncia de uma ocorrĂȘncia. O cerne desta proposta Ă© baseada numa solução de baixo custo direcionada para os agentes no terreno (aplicação mĂłvel EmergenSIG), que interage com o aplicativo Web EmergenSIG, orientada para as entidades da proteção civil, atravĂ©s de serviços Web REST. O EmergenSIG centra-se em emergĂȘncias mĂ©dicas e incĂȘndios florestais. Foi avaliada e demonstrada em diferentes dispositivos mĂłveis, considerando diferentes tamanhos de ecrĂŁ e seguindo um design centrado no utilizador. O sistema tambĂ©m foi avaliado e validado por entidades reais e agentes da proteção civil em cenĂĄrios de emergĂȘncia simulados

    Designing the Health-related Internet of Things: Ethical Principles and Guidelines

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    The conjunction of wireless computing, ubiquitous Internet access, and the miniaturisation of sensors have opened the door for technological applications that can monitor health and well-being outside of formal healthcare systems. The health-related Internet of Things (H-IoT) increasingly plays a key role in health management by providing real-time tele-monitoring of patients, testing of treatments, actuation of medical devices, and fitness and well-being monitoring. Given its numerous applications and proposed benefits, adoption by medical and social care institutions and consumers may be rapid. However, a host of ethical concerns are also raised that must be addressed. The inherent sensitivity of health-related data being generated and latent risks of Internet-enabled devices pose serious challenges. Users, already in a vulnerable position as patients, face a seemingly impossible task to retain control over their data due to the scale, scope and complexity of systems that create, aggregate, and analyse personal health data. In response, the H-IoT must be designed to be technologically robust and scientifically reliable, while also remaining ethically responsible, trustworthy, and respectful of user rights and interests. To assist developers of the H-IoT, this paper describes nine principles and nine guidelines for ethical design of H-IoT devices and data protocols

    Sensing the care:Advancing unobtrusive sensing solutions to support informal caregivers of older adults with cognitive impairment

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    Older adults (65 years and above) make up a growing proportion of the world's population which is anticipated to increase further in the coming decades. As individuals age, they often become more vulnerable to cognitive impairments, necessitating a diverse array of care and support services from their caregivers to uphold their quality of life. However, the scarcity of professional caregivers and care facilities, compounded by the preference of many older adults to remain in their own homes, places a significant burden on informal caregivers, adversely affecting their physical, mental, and social well-being. To assist informal caregivers, numerous sensing solutions have been developed. However, many of these solutions are not optimally suited for older adult care, particularly in cases of cognitive impairments. In that regard, the overarching aim of this thesis was to develop and evaluate the Unobtrusive Sensing Solution (USS) for in-home monitoring of older adults with cognitive impairment (OwCI) who live alone in their own houses to ease the support of their informal caregivers. In the 'Explore and Scope' part, a scoping review was conducted to identify available unobtrusive sensing technology that can be implemented in older adult care. Subsequently, in the 'Develop and Test' part, Wi-Fi CSI technology was utilized to collect a dataset illustrating physical agitation activities (Wi-Gitation). However, upon evaluation of the Wi-Gitation dataset, a challenge of generalization across different domains (or environments) was identified. To address this, the Inter-data Selected Sequential Transfer Learning framework was proposed and implemented. Lastly, in the 'Design to Communicate' part, the thesis focused on identifying the needs and requirements of informal caregivers of OwCI towards USSs. These needs and requirements were gathered through interviews and surveys, informing the development of a Lo-Fi prototype for an interaction platform. Overall, the results obtained in this thesis not only enhance the development of Wi-Fi CSI (specifically for OwCI care) but also provide valuable insights into the informational and design requirements of informal caregivers, thereby promoting the context-aware development of USSs
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