Performance analysis of wireless systems in telemedicine - Hybrid network for telemedicine with satellite and terrestrial wireless links

Telemedicine services represent a valuable opportunity to provide medical assistance ensuring high flexibility and prompt set up and to significantly reduce costs. The use of hybrid networks based on satellites and terrestrial wireless systems can be extremely advantageous in terms of flexibility, capillarity and integration with modem medical equipment, in particular representing a suitable solution in case of disasters. In the paper such an architecture is described and key performance for some reference applications, evaluated through simulation, are shown and discussed

A Case Study of Telemedicine for Disaster Management in Underdeveloped Remote Districts of Balochistan, Pakistan

Balochistan (South West province of Pakistan) strategically lies at the border of Afghanistan and Iran. It is thelargest but overlooked and least developed in human development index in Pakistan. Universal Service Fund(USF) has recently started several telecom projects for broadband delivery, telemedicine and distant learning touplift and streamline the underprivileged class population of remote areas of Balochistan (Pakistan).Unfortunately, the ongoing and existing development projects are highly vulnerable to floods due tomountainous geography. This paper reports the breakdown analysis of telecom infrastructure throughunstructured interviews, blogs, newspapers and organizational reports. An overview of existing information andcommunication system shortcomings and its remedies are discussed and alternative technological options fornetwork resilience are highlighted through literature review and case studies. Two resilient designs forbroadband and narrowband networks are proposed. The proposed modifications will shoulder in sustainability oftelecommunication network, which is very vital during disaster mitigation, recovery and rehabilitation processes.The proposed models can be used to design better resilient telecommunication networks & disastercommunication systems for under developed mountainous regions in the world for sustainable development.Key Words: Disaster management, Information and communication systems, Telecom infrastructure,Balochistan, Floods, Telemedicin

A Review on Provisioning Quality of Service of Wireless Telemedicine for E-Health Services

In general, on-line medical consultation reduces time required for medical consultation induces improvement in the quality and efficiency of healthcare services. All major types of current e-health applications such as ECG, X-ray, video, diagnosis images and other common applications have been included in the scope of the study. In addition, the provision of Quality of Service (QoS) for the application of specific healthcare services in e-health, the scheme of priority for e-health services and the support of QoS in wireless networks and techniques or methods for IEEE 802.11 to guarantee the provision of QoS has also been assessed. In e-health, medical services in remote locations such as rural healthcare centers, ambulances, ships as well as home healthcare services can be supported through the applications of e-health services such as medical databases, electronic health records and the routing of text, audio, video and images. Given this, an adaptive resource allocation for a wireless network with multiple service types and multiple priorities have been proposed. For the provision of an acceptable QoS level to users of e-health services, prioritization is an important criterion in a multi-traffic network. The requirement for QoS provisioning in wireless broadband medical networks have paved the pathway for bandwidth requirements and the real-time or live transmission of medical applications. From the study, good performance of the proposed scheme has been validated by the results obtained. The proposed wireless network is capable of handling medical applications for both normal and life-threatening conditions as characterized by the level of emergencies. In addition, the bandwidth allocation and admission control algorithm for IEEE 802.16- based design specifically for wireless telemedicine/e-health services have also been presented in the study. It has been concluded that under busy traffic conditions, the proposed architecture can used as a feasible and reliable infrastructure network for telemedicine

Provisioning Quality of Service of Wireless Telemedicine for E-Health Services: A Review

In general, on-line medical consultation reduces time required for medical consultation and induces improvement in the quality and efficiency of healthcare services. The scope of study includes several key features of present day e-health applications such as X-ray, ECG, video, diagnosis images and other common applications. Moreover, the provision of Quality of Service (QoS) in terms of specific medical care services in e-health, the priority set for e-health services and the support of QoS in wireless networks and techniques or methods aimed at IEEE 802.11 to secure the provision of QoS has been assessed as well. In e-health, medical services in remote places which include rustic healthcare centres, ships, ambulances and home healthcare services can be supported through the applications of e-health services such as medical databases, electronic health data and the transferring of text, video, sound and images. Given this, a proposal has been made for a multiple service wireless networking with multiple sets of priorities. In relation to the terms of an acceptable QoS level by the customers of e-health services, prioritization is an important criterion in a multi-traffic network. The requirement for QoS in medical networking of wireless broadband has paved the way for bandwidth prerequisites and the live transmission or real-time medical applications. The proposed wireless network is capable of handling medical applications for both normal and life-threatening conditions as characterized by the level of emergencies. In addition, the allocation of bandwidth and the system that controls admittance designed based on IEEE 802.16 especially for e-health services or wireless telemedicine will be discussed in this study. It has been concluded that under busy traffic conditions, the proposed architecture can used as a feasible and reliable infrastructure network for telemedicine

The technological growth in eHealth services

The infusion of information communication technology (ICT) into health services is emerging as an active area of research. It has several advantages but perhaps the most important one is providing medical benefits to one and all irrespective of geographic boundaries in a cost effective manner, providing global expertise and holistic services, in a time bound manner. This paper provides a systematic review of technological growth in eHealth services. The present study reviews and analyzes the role of four important technologies, namely, satellite, internet, mobile, and cloud for providing health services.Web of Scienceart. no. 89417

The next challenge for world wide robotized tele-echography experiment (WORTEX 2012): from engineering success to healthcare delivery.

Access to good quality healthcare remains difficult for many patients whether they live in developed or developing countries. In developed countries, specialist medical expertise is concentrated in major hospitals in urban settings both to improve clinical outcomes and as a strategy to reduce the costs of specialist healthcare delivery. In developing countries, millions of people have limited, if any, routine access to a healthcare system and due to economic and cultural factors the accessibility of any services may be restricted. In both cases, geographical, socio-political, cultural and economic factors produce ‘medically isolated areas’ where patients find themselves disadvantaged in terms of timely diagnosis and expert and/or expensive treatment. The robotized teleechography approach, also referred to as robotized teleultrasound, offers a potential solution to diagnostic imaging in medically isolated areas. It is designed for patients requiring ultrasound scans for routine care (e.g., ante natal care) and for diagnostic imaging to investigate acute and medical emergencies conditions, including trauma care and responses to natural disasters such as earthquakes. The robotized teleechography system can hold any standard ultrasound probe; this lightweight system is positioned on the patient’s body by a healthcare assistant. The medical expert, a clinician with expertise in ultrasound imaging and diagnosis, is in a distant location and, using a dedicated joystick, remotely controls the scanning via any available communication link (Internet, satellite). The WORTEX2012 intercontinental trials of the system conducted last year successfully demonstrated the feasibility of remote robotized tele-echography in a range of cultural, technical and clinical contexts. In addition to the engineering success, these trials provided positive feedback from the participating clinicians and patients on using the system and on the system’s perceived potential to transform healthcare in medically isolated areas. The next challenge is to show evidence that this innovative technology can deliver on its promise if introduced into routine healthcare

Space-Based Information Infrastructure Architecture for Broadband Services

This study addressed four tasks: (1) identify satellite-addressable information infrastructure markets; (2) perform network analysis for space-based information infrastructure; (3) develop conceptual architectures; and (4) economic assessment of architectures. The report concludes that satellites will have a major role in the national and global information infrastructure, requiring seamless integration between terrestrial and satellite networks. The proposed LEO, MEO, and GEO satellite systems have satellite characteristics that vary widely. They include delay, delay variations, poorer link quality and beam/satellite handover. The barriers against seamless interoperability between satellite and terrestrial networks are discussed. These barriers are the lack of compatible parameters, standards and protocols, which are presently being evaluated and reduced