the mobile electronic medical station
TRANSCRIPT
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EUROCON 2005 Serbia & Montenegro, Belgrade, November 22-24, 2005
Abstract - The Mobile Electronic Medical Station
(meMS) is a combination of a mobile and a measurement
device for medical purposes. A tool obtained by such a
combination is an extremely useful mobile gadget.Benefits of using Internet should be distributed between
all those who participate in this new dimension of life.
Diseases that ravage the planet and because of which people die every day present a challenge to new
technologies. The development of new mobile interfaceand the organization of health services with the assistanceof electronic channels bring new seconds of hope by
implementing e-Health-Care Services. Keywords - e-Health, Mobile Electronic Medical Station,
Telemedicine[4], [5].
I. I NTRODUCTION
Contemporary information and telecommunication
technologies improve conditions in all spheres of life.
Medical protection as one of the core human activities isneeded in urban as well as in the most remote rural areas
[Fig. 1]. Such need is sometimes measured by minutes or
seconds.
Figure 1. Developed electronic network of health-care
services of Serbia
II. EHEALTH NET AND APPLICATION
Following up and updating archiving of data on the
situation in the field hit by a natural disaster, as in case of
M. N. Uzelac is with the eBusiness Workshop 2005, Serbia (phone:381-63-8019904; e-mail: [email protected]).
floods, for example, contributes to timely information that
provide for making the right decision and limit the impactof consequences of such a disaster - for example, possible
infectious diseases.
Electronic medical personal files of all those who havehealth insurance enable consultations and co-operation of
several medical electronic centres, creating an electronic
consultative meeting of experts that is operative even if itis distant from the patient's location. In this way, a number
of health workers needed in the field is being reduced.With several operative men a large number of patients iscovered with the logistic support of these electronic
medical centres.
Figure 2. Application of interactive electronic health-care
Accelerated speed of giving an advice or expert
opinion, the exchange of information on the condition of a
patient or an injured is crucially important in emergencyinterventions.
The configuration of a mini health-care centre from an
information-technological aspect is the following: acomputer unit, IPnetcam, specialized interface (meMS),
printer, scanner, eHealthGrid application [Fig. 2] and, of
course, it should be linked by a high-quality CableDistribution System (KDS), ADSL or mobile connection.
The electronic personal medical file, electronic recipe
and all medical electronic documents should bestandardized.
III. STANDARDIZATION
The following should be determined by thestandardization: 1. Data type; 2. Extension type; 3. Data
size; 4. Data resolution; 5.Package size; 6.Minimum
flows.Let us look at the benefits that may be brought by a
direct digitalisation of medical data that can be further
Mobile Electronic Medical
Station
Marinko N. Uzelac
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processed electronically. The passing of decisions and theneeded time play a crucial role in emergency cases. Tele-
medicine brings additional minutes to numerous services
of e-Health-Care Services, and one of them is e-Radiology. The objective of e-Radiology is first of all to
archive, to enable a medical examination, to interpret and
acquire medical images. The trend is that these images are
directly digitalized and the advantages of such a procedureare obvious and numerous: 1. Elimination of a film and
chemical processes; 2. No time needed to develop films;
3. Direct access to an image; 4. No need for expensivedigitalisation [2].
Such approach brings a multitude of categories of e-
Health-Care Services that may be continuouslysupplemented.
A today's flow of e-Health-Care Systems requires the
standardization of enormously potential services andaccessory devices and tools that present the basis for this
significant e-business industry. It is also necessary to
establish legal frameworks for the provision of these
services. The development of new, better ways of providing health-care is the basis of all e-Health-Care
Services programmes. By comparing researches andexperience with other practices in the country and abroad,
one creates an opportunity to correct mistakes and to
introduce oneself with new successful methods.Telemedical practice, organization, staff and
administration are very difficult to be characterized and its
structures are more and more complex: professionalmedical staff, information technologies, hospital and clinic
administration, professional training, congresses,
marketing, politics, trade relations, finances. Programs ofe-Health-Care Services should enable the initiative of
making definitions (what is being measured; how data aretransferred, archived and analysed) and theimplementation of e-services that patients need. The key
element of this program is a multi-media medical database
(MMD): 1. Preparation and systematisation of completedata on a patient; 2. Expert review of information before
teleconference; 3. Simultaneous review of information in
the MMD during teleconference; 4. Subsequent scientific
analysis of clinical data.The leader of the project “National Electronic Health-
Care Network” should be the Ministry of Health. Other
ministries may be included in the project as well as
medical equipment manufacturers, manufacturers ofinformation telecommunication equipment, medical
services, pharmacies, specialists, logistic support staff.
IV. MOBILE ELECTRONIC MEDICAL STATION
The Mobile Electronic Medical Station (meMS) servesfor measuring pressure, heartbeats, bodily temperature,
heart analysis, blood analysis and as a port for other
measurement and medical devices such as inhalators andinjectors [Fig. 3]. Also, this medical console serves in
such a way that these medical measurements and analyses
can be transferred, by a mobile or in some other way of
telecommunication connections, to a desireddestination[5].
The device presents a combination of a mobile phoneand a medical device for the measurement of health
conditions. It consists of a rigid housing and a flexible
belt. Besides its hardware component, this device also hasan appropriate software component and new servicing
methods. The application of this device obviously comes
from its application in health-care and the improvement ofa user's experience. Providing a completely new service
for users, this device may present the basic particle of the
future mobile electronic health-care network. Instead ofwaiting for long in stuffy waiting rooms, undergoing a risk
of an additional infection from already infected people,
this device provides a higher level of the provision ofhealth-care services[5].
After initiating the system, the user, by pressing a
functional button, makes a selection between whetherhe/she wants to have his pressure, pulse and/or
temperature measured; then, the user calls a specialist
doctor by a video call and with the doctor's assistance via
interactive transparent instructions, using electronicstethoscope, performs the reading of his/her heart beats[5].
The specialist is on-line all the time, he has the user's
image and the user sees the doctor on his/her screen of thedevice. After finishing the medical examination, the
specialist gives an electronic recipe that the user forwards
to the pharmacist and then the patient takes the prescribedtherapy. All measurements are archived and may be
forwarded to the specialists. Also, the specialist may have
a database on the patient with which, upon a request, thearchives of the device is being synchronized[5].
Figure 3. Mobile Electronic Medical Station
In the past the problem was solved in such a way that
the images of measurements and analyses were transferred
to a computer and sent to a certain web destination. Thereare some suggestions to solve the issue by using a mobile
phone as a hub[5].
In this way, by a single device, this medical console, the
previous solutions are being united and the issue of havinga lack of mobility, interactivity and transparency is thus
being solved and that, in some emergency cases, may be
decisive for saving a patient's life[5].By digitalizing all signals that the emMedicalStation
measures, records, stores or emits, mobility and
transparency are ensured. The devices has a status of ageneral design – officially patent pending, and the creation
of three or more models is envisaged, depending on built-
in components for mobile networks 900/1800MHz,UMTS.
The monoblock housing of the device with a built-in
antenna may have the following dimensions:
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85x65x24mm, weight: 130gr. By the development of lightmaterials and nano components, the dimensions of the
device may be minimized and its weight reduced.
The battery of the device is a changeable category and itis recommended to use: Li-Polymer of 1000mAh.
The screen is TFT, and depending of the model, the
number of colours may be from (16bit) 65,536 to (18bit)
262,144. The video aspect of device are cameras with theresolution from 640x480 to 1632x1224 pixels, enable
making photographs (.jpg), a video file (.3gp), digital
zooming, auto focus and flash, as an option.The device has a recording (.amr), emitting (.amr,
.mp3), storing and sound transfer capabilities.
Internal and external memory helped by the MemoryStick Duo card give 1024MB capacity.
The device has communications - local, by attaching a
cable to an USB port, wireless RFID, IR or bluetooth anda remote transmission of data by GSM, GPRS. Suported
protocols are WAP 2.0, POP3, SMTP, and SMS, EMS,
MMS, SyncML technologies.
The device measures: blood pressure 0-299 mmHg, pulse 40-180/minute, and temperature 34-42°C. The
device may measure the level of sugar in one`s blood byan electrochemical method, using a test strip.
It can be concluded from the following that this device
presents the basis for future mobile mini laboratory.Description of numbers of the draft [Fig. 4]: 1. Front
side; 2. Backside; 3. Top; 4. Bottom; 5. Left side; 6. Right
side; 7. Turn on/turn off; 8. Navigation-up/down; 9. Navigation-left/right; 10. Big screen; 11. Small screen; 12.
Camera; 13. Navigation; 14. Keyboard; 15. Going
backwards; 16. Accept; 17. IR, port, charger; 18. EKG port; 19. e-Stethoscope port; 20. Functional button F1; 21.
Functional button F2; 22. Functional button F3; 23.Functional button F4; 24. Registration of inhalation; 25.Registration of injection; 26. Registration of body weight;
27. Start measuring; 28. Volume regulation; 29. Memory
card; 30. Earphones; 31.Analysis card; 32. USB port; 33.Pulsator and pressure echo; 34. Battery and SIM card; 35.
Belt buckles[5].
Functional buttons have the following purpose: F1-
measurement: pressure, pulse, blood sugar, temperature, e-Stethoscope, body weight; F2 – telephone: ordinary call,
video call; F3 – sending signals: USB, SMS, e-mail, IR,
Bluetooth; and F4 – archiving: save, review,
synchronization[5].
V. POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL BENEFITS
One billion mobile devices is expected in year 2005.The estimates on the income of mCommerce for year
2005 are 8-24 billion dollars, depending on the researcher
who performed the study.The estimates of the Internet users till 2007 are
1.460.000.000, and wireless users of the Internet shall
amount to 56,8% of all Internet users.By adding medical services to mobile devices, a digital
transmission of all medical measurement signals becomes
possible, and that opens a new dimension for the usage of
mobile phones.
Figure 4. Draft of meMS-e[5]
The potential maximum of additional services is the
maximum number of mobile devices. Starting from the
zero minimum, we come to the approximate value of
about 500 million mobiles with medical services. Thespeed of the penetration depends on the productional
efficiency. Recent studies suggest that the self-monitoring
of blood pressure (SMBP) may improve the identification
and control of hypertension. There are more than 800million people with high blood pressure worldwide. This
number is forecast to increase significantly due to therapidly rising number of elderly people and those who are
overweight.
Worldwide Penetration of Handheld Devices Through2005: Asia-310 million, Europe-177 million, US-24
million.
It is expected that the growth of this service via mobiledevices of the next generation shall continue in the future.
Currently, there is no offer of this service at the market, so
at present, the market is 100% free for the penetration.Potential commercial benefit of an meMedicalStation
may be defined via the potential usage of:
Self-monitoring blood pressure, temperature andother measurements that are possible with this device.
Continuous storage of medical data with a statistical
analysis and an automated recommendation for takingcertain therapy and a medicine.
Interactivity with expert medical staff (doctors,
nurses), and synchronization of data with the medicaldatabase.
A possibility of adding new data, and of compiling
all medical data in the memory of the device.
One of the benefits is the programming of a value
that, in case of being exceeded, activates the alarm (sound,light or vibration), warning the user of the criticalcondition. These values may be systolic or diastolic
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pressure, pulse, temperature or time at which one shouldtake a medicine.
Programming a definite time (times) when self-
monitored measurement starts, the table of an automaticstart of meMS.
Continuous monitoring of medical results of remote
users or users who are not easily accessible.
Benefits from its usage in sports, for themeasurement and control of burden and stability test for
sportsmen.
People dealing with difficult, high-risk jobs may have
the independent control of their medical condition and
changes that occur due to stressed situations.
Measurement and statistical analysis of medical data
when a person is awake and asleep enable the adjustment
of required concentration and alertness.
Certain professions, such as: divers, pilots,
parachutists, climbers require an ability to make a correct
decision, and these decision depend on someone`scondition. By monitoring these conditions it is possible to
prevent making wrong decisions, i.e. to predict the
condition that is result of a bad decision.
Coordination of all related parameters in order to
achieve better results regarding one`s health.
By adding an RFID to this device, the potential of its
usage is doubled.
The device is also usable for the following market
groups: 1. Medical care, 2. Army, 3. Business services, 4.Personal services, 5. Sports.
VI. CONCLUSION
This work wants to point out to the importance and
possibilities of using telecommunication-informationtechnologies in health-care. The initiative for the
implementation of an e-HealthNet national network in
Serbia should come exactly from the ICT sphere, and
without a wide support and planned approach, this
network of future health-care services shall only present a
modest pendant of sporadic classical health-care services.
We have presented the main idea and described some
features of certain categories of e-Health-Care Services.
We have presented a mobile electronic medical unit[5].
We perceive the future development of this area in the
integration of all classified and qualified individual
research projects[4].
R EFERENCES
[1] L. Beolchi, European telemedicine glossary of
concepts, standards, technologies and users; 5th ed.
W83GA1 2003 EU(World Health Organization,
Library&Information Networks For KnowledgeDatabase-WHOLIS).
[2] Committee on Evaluating Clinical Applications ofTelemedicine, Telemedecine: a guide to assessing
telecommunications in health care; Institute of
Medicine (U.S.).
[3] T. M. Fliedner; Teleconsultation in radiationmedicine; 2002; WHO.
[4] M. N. Uzelac, eHealth, submitted for publication,INFOm, 2005.
[5] M. N. Uzelac, Patent: Mobile Electronic MedicalStation – application No. P-2005/0508, Intellectual
Property Office; 2005.
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