A web-based system for personalized patient education and compliance monitoring, Journal of Telecommunications and Information Technology, 2005, nr 4

The economic importance of therapy compliance has grown steadily in recent years, not only because of the efficacy of newer therapeutic methods but also because of the increased costs of treating the consequences of poor compliance. Improved compliance can lead to significant savings by preserving or restoring a patient’s health, improving quality of life, by reducing the number of medical services required when therapy fails or appears ineffective, and by helping limit the rise in national health care costs. Within the framework of the TEN-Telecom European Commission Programme, C-Monitor project developed an integrated health telematics platform to enhance chronic patient compliance to therapy and interactive communication with their attending physicians. The overall aim of the project was to study the potential benefits, both in clinical and financial aspects, of such innovative systems and services along cost-efficiency of care provision. The platform developed has been validated in controlled small-scale trials in a number of European countries. The Greek pilot involved installation of the system in a private hospital in Athens and the validation scenario dealt with morbid obesity patients that have undergone surgical operation. A number of 30 patients were recruited for the trial. Results of the trial indicated the technological robustness of the proposed system and the potential clinical and economic benefits of running such services. Further trials are required to better address cost-efficiency issues with respects to the service goals

Information and e-learning services for the efficient management of allergy and asthma, employingan integrated environment monitoring network, Journal of Telecommunications and Information Technology, 2005, nr 4

In this paper we present a distributed telematic platform which is implemented to support health information management and innovative services to people suffering from allergies, asthma and rhinitis. The developed system establishes a trans-European information network offering specialized services to health professionals, patients and the public, by collecting, processing and distributing specialized data and informational content. An integrated monitoring and reporting system of aero-allergens is used to collect Pan-European environmental data and produce allergy maps, forecasting and danger level alerts. Informational content and e-learning resources are also consolidated and combined with personalized health management services. Through the created network, health information is supplied to sufferers via WWW and SMS technologies, and informational and learning resources are offered to health professionals. Sets of services were implemented in pilot form and offered to real users for testing purposes. The results were encouraging towards expansion to fully blown service at a Pan-European level

Cost-effective health services for interactive lifestyle management: the PANACEIA-iTV and the e-Vital concepts, Journal of Telecommunications and Information Technology, 2005, nr 4

Information technology applications in medicine are rapidly expanding, and new methods and solutions are evolving since they are considered pivotal in the success of preventive medicine. In this paper two different concepts will be presented, the PANACEIA-iTV and the e-Vital concept. PANACEIA-iTV is a home care service provision system based on interactive TV technology and supported by the IST programme of the European Commission. The e-Vital service, supported by the eTEN programme of the European Commission, regards an integrated home care and telemonitoring service chain aimed at large sensitive parts of the European population, the "at-risk" citizens, who are usually patients with a stable medical condition that allow a near normal life but may suddenly deteriorate and put life at risk

BLOOD PRESSURE WAVEFORM CHARACTERISTICS EXPOSED BY SPECTRAL ANALYSIS AND NEURAL NETS

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The Once-Only Principle The TOOP Project

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, YYYY. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries

Models of brachial to finger pulse wave distortion and pressure decrement

Objective: To model the pulse wave distortion and pressure decrement occurring between brachial and finger arteries. Distortion reversion and decrement correction were also our aims. Methods: Brachial artery pressure was recorded intra-arterially and finger pressure was recorded non-invasively by the Finapres technique in 53 adult human subjects. Mean pressure was subtracted from each pressure waveform and Fourier analysis applied to the pulsations. A distortion model was estimated for each subject and averaged over the group. The average inverse model was applied to the full finger pressure waveform. The pressure decrement was modelled by multiple regression on finger systolic and diastolic levels. Results: Waveform distortion could be described by a general, frequency dependent model having a resonance at 7.3 Hz. The general inverse model has an anti-resonance at this frequency. It converts finger to brachial pulsations thereby reducing average waveform distortion from 9.7 (s.d. 3.2) mmHg per sample for the finger pulse to 3.7 (1.7) mmHg for the converted pulse. Systolic and diastolic level differences between finger and brachial arterial pressures changed from -4 (15) and -8 (11) to +8 (14) and +8 (12) mmHg, respectively, after inverse modelling, with pulse pressures correct on average. The pressure decrement model reduced both the mean and the standard deviation of systolic and diastolic level differences to 0 (13) and 0 (8) mmHg. Diastolic differences were thus reduced most. Conclusion: Brachial to finger pulse wave distortion due to wave reflection in arteries is almost identical in all subjects and can be modelled by a single resonance. The pressure decrement due to flow in arteries is greatest for high pulse pressures superimposed on low means