Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine

Module 1 of 10

Christopher Swalm

Using Mobile Technologies to Conduct PDA-Based Surveys in Remote Areas

Overview of Hardware for Mobile Health Technology Applications

Those interested in learning about hand-held and portable devices for mobile health applications in areas where conventional device use is challenged by developed infrastructure issues, remote geographic areas, and variable access challenges. Mobile phone, mini-laptop, and PDA-based systems, among others, are discussed

University students

Epidemiologists

Statisticians

Public health professionals

…more

Target Audience for Hardware Overview Module 1

Module 2Completion of Mobile

Device Technologies and Applications Overview

Module 1Mobile Device

Technologies and Applications

Overview

Overview of Hardware Modules

Module 3Hardware/Software Setup for PDA/GPS

Module 4Continuation of

Hardware/Software Setup for PDA/GPS

Module 5PDA/GPS Device Demonstration

Module 1

Describe the course structure.

Understand the motivation for the use of mobile device based surveys.

Introduce the audience participant to various forms of technology currently under development and use in remote areas of the globe

Describe what will be explored for the remainder of the hardware modules.

Hardware Module 1 Learning Objectives Module 1

Each module includes a brief presentation of the material topic.

Some presentations may involve links to outside data sources such as on-line documents or videos.

Some particular topics may involve live demonstration points.

Course Structure Module 1

Disclaimer of Endorsement: Reference herein to any specific commercial products, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the Tulane University.

Five video modules

PowerPoint presentations

Course Guide

The “Course Guide” for modules 1 through 5 may consist of combinations of text documents with expanded text explanations, Powerpoint presentations with expanded graphic representations and explanations, and other formats of necessary documents or graphics

Course Materials Module 1

Document Resource Location Links for Course Content

Module 1

Introduction

Content

Survey

Course Info

Course Documents

Click on an item below to see additional information.

Course Info

Course Description

Module Titles and Learning Objectives

Back

Module 1

Introduction

Course Info

Content

Survey

Course Documents

Click on an item below to see additional information.

Module 4 Module 9

Module 3 Module 8

Module 2 Module 7

Module 1 Module 6

Module 5 Module 10

Back

Document Resource Location Links for Course Content

Why Mobile Health Technology Development?

Most devices are compact and light weight; low in cost to purchase

Ever increasing availability of communication access via mobile phone servers and global satellite networks

Versatility among devices; universal connectivity

Some devices we will review:

• Mobile phones

• Smartphones

• Netbook computers

• Broadband satellite terminal units

• PDAs

Module 1

Why Mobile Health Technology Development?

Module 1

Just What is a SmartPhone?

“In a nutshell, a smartphone is a device that lets you make telephone calls, but also adds in features that you might find on a personal digital assistant (PDA) or a computer--such as the ability to send and receive e-mail and edit Office documents, for example.”

Liane Cassavoy, Senior Associate Editor, PC World Magazine

HP iPAQ GLISTENFeatures:3.1 Megapixel Camera3G world phone for voice and dataBluetooth for short range communicationUp to 32 GB MicroSD external storageGPS Navigation with additional maps and software

Nokia N8Features:12 Megapixel Camera3G world phone for voice and dataAuto switching of GSM and WCDMAMicro USB connector and chargingUnified MMs/SMS editor

Module 1Mobile Health Technology Applications Overview

Some functions of Smartphones that supportMobile Health Technologies:

•SMS – ‘Short Messaging Systems’ or ‘Smart Messaging Systems’

•TCP/IP support for universal device connectivity across networks

•USB connectivity for a wide array of auxiliary devices

•RSS (Really Simple Syndication) reader for receiving standardized net based broadcasts

•Integrated GPS, A-GPS receivers

•Wi-Fi Positioning

•Full web browsing

•Editing of key office documents

•E-mail client with attachment support for images, videos, and music

Mobile Health Technology Applications Overview Module 1

Mobile Health Technology Applications Overview

Applications Involving Use of the SmartPhone

And Mobile Phone

The following illustrations are from presentations and papers delivered at the mHealth Summit 2009, heldOctober 29-30, 2009 in Washington, DC

A complete document title list, including the following titles, are found in the Word document titled ‘Presentation_list.doc’ under the Course Documents link illustrated in Slide 8

Module 1

Fetal Heart Rate and Activity Monitoring via Microsoft® Smart PhonesBy Dr Alfred Tan & Dr Martin Masek, Edith Cowan University, Australia

Mobile Health Technology Applications Overview

For expectant mothers, particularly those with high-risk pregnancies, regular prenatal checkups can be crucial in alerting an obstetrician or midwife about potentially life-threatening complications. Researchers at Edith Cowan University, together with clinicians at the Mercy Hospital in Mount Lawley, Australia aim to improve access to prenatal care in isolated communities by designing an affordable, portable fetal monitor that expectant mothers can use to check for signs of fetal distress and relay vital information to healthcare professionals via a mobile phone.

Module 1

Real-Time Cardiovascular Diseases Detection on a SmartphoneAllen Cheng, Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA

Mobile Health Technology Applications Overview

Although it is the world’s leading cause of death, cardiovascular disease frequently goes undetected. Often, when the disease results in a heart attack or other sudden condition, treatment comes too late. A team of researchers at the University of Pittsburgh is developing a low-cost, cell phone–based electrocardiogram device that could lead to earlier detection and treatment.

HeartToGo Prototype 1, including a HTC TyTn, II Microsoft Mobile PDA phone with Microsoft Windows Mobile 6 OS and an integrated 400MHz processor and the Bluetooth Alive Heart Monitor.

Module 1

Use Smart Phones to Promote Diabetes Self-Management: Robust Elderly in Urban and Rural China 

Jiao Ma, Cynthia LeRouge, Joseph Flaherty, et al.

Mobile Health Technology Applications Overview

China is one of the countries with the largest number of people suffering from diabetes (King, Aubert, & Herman, 1998). Continuing rising in prevalence of diabetics has become a major public health problem in modern China (Cheng, 2003). Recent studies attribute the burden of diabetes to poor patient practices and limited knowledge of the clinical complexities of diabetes (Bouldin, et al. 2002). Some recent studies have indicated that cell phones can be used as a tool in care of diabetes, particularly through smart messaging systems (Kim & Jeong, 2006; Benhamu et al., 2007). China is experiencing a proliferation of mobile phone usage (China Statistical Yearbook, 2003). Though most of the rural areas in China still lack telecommunications infrastructure, dramatic migration trends are leading people out of these areas (UN, 2002). This project proposes to design and prototype an age and culturally appropriate, interactive diabetes self-management system on smart phones for robust (independent in activities of daily living) elderly population with diabetes in urban and rural China.

Module 1

Mobile Health Technology Applications Overview

Effective healthcare requires reliable patient data and a trained physician to interpret the data and guide treatment. In many developing countries, bringing those two components together—reliable data and trained physicians is a tremendous challenge. Healthcare personnel are frequently under-trained and under-equipped, often facing excessive patient loads with minimal equipment. Light microscopy is one of the most important clinical tools for routine examinations. However, high-quality light microscopes commonly available in the developed world are rarer than physicians in some developing countries. We are working to turn the camera of a cell phone into a clinical-quality light microscope that can transmit images of patient samples remotely for evaluation by specialists. Such a cell phone microscope—which we call the CellScope—will address both healthcare data collection and diagnosis problems in developing countries by linking the two through wireless communication.

CellScope: Mobile Phone Microscopy for Disease Diagnosis and Monitoring

Daniel Fletcher, University of California, Berkeley

Module 1

Mobile Health Technology Applications Overview

RapidSMS For Nutritional And Food Security Surveillance In Malawi

Meredith Chang

Integrated Nutritional and Food Security Surveillance system addresses malnutrition in Malawi. Data on individual children are collected on a monthly basis. There are problems with data collection, data quality, and real-time response to crisis. Columbia University students, with UNICEF Innovations, developed a system to collect data via SMS messaging, provide instant data quality feedback, access to real-time data collection and timely response to crisis. 13Bit Labs was contracted to scale to 15 GMCs, expand data analysis capabilities, and rationalizing with other eHealth solutions. Malawi has low internet penetration. PDA and Java enabled phones are out of budget. The solution uses RapidSMS; an open source system for SMS communication. The pilot implemented the RapidSMS INFSSS solution in 3 GMCs and is scaling up to 500. Assessment includes surveys, focus groups and comparative data analysis. The bottleneck is training of field workers to collect and transmit the data.

Module 1

This concludes the first module.

In Module 2, the overview is completed with the exposure to additional smart phone technology and the introduction to Netbook devices, Broadband Satellite devices, and the PDA configured with the external GPS receiver.

What’s Next?Module 1