Transcript M Health
Capability study: Mobile
Health at NIBEC
Philip Catherwood (B.Eng.(Hons), MSc, PGCFHE).
“m-Health has the potential to revolutionise
affordable healthcare delivery by alleviating the
systemic pressures on the healthcare industry”*
* http://connectedplanetonline.com
Why m-health promises to be a winning solution
Low network maintenance
Remote monitoring in rural areas
Phones are always on, computers are not
Carrying a Phone/Tablet is part of a modern lifestyle
Using a small portable multi-communication computing
device is convenient, economical, practical and personal
m-health as a ‘developing world’ solution
Examples of m-health initiatives – Argentina, Botswana, China, Guatemala,
India, Indonesia, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru,
Philippines, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia
Issues include:
Dealing with epidemics and a shortage of healthcare workers
Largest killer diseases - malaria and AIDS
Opportunities:
explosive growth of mobile communications over the past decade offers a
new hope for the promotion of quality healthcare
Phones offer a management platform for administration and monitoring of
anti-retroviral treatment programs
Foundations to address the developing world’s health crisis set up by
such philanthropists as Bill Gates
m-health goals
Develop patient-centered healthcare delivery
Increased self-management of illness
Alleviate the systemic pressures on the healthcare industry
Reduced number of hospital beds occupied
Remote monitoring and smart diagnosis
Improved disease management
Improved compliance with treatment regimes
m-health at NIBEC
Path of development includes:
Select the wireless technology (e.g. Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, ZigBee).
For telemetry solutions, connect Bluetooth (e.g. EBWT12-A), Wi-Fi (e.g.
WiFly GSX 802.11b/g), ANT Ultra Low Power Wireless (e.g. Nordic
Semiconductors) and/or ZigBee (e.g. CC2530ZDK) to microcontroller
evaluation board or prototype device.
For stand-alone solutions, choose suitable target smartphone and install
necessary memory storage to meet the needs of the activity.
Develop specification for the data capture, graphical user interface, plugin hardware and back-end network topology.
Design and test software to meet the specification.
Trial m-health solution based on quality of service requirements, customer
specification and end-user ergonomics.
1
Phones
We use a number of development phones;
Those running Microsoft Windows Mobile for Pocket PC 2003
T-mobile MDA PH20B PocketPC
HP iPAQ H5550 PocketPC
Dell Axim X50 PocketPC
-The above have SD slots, Bluetooth, IEEE802.11b, CPU Intel PXA263 400MHz, RAM 128MB.
Those running Microsoft Windows Mobile for 6.5 Professional
HTC HD2 T8585 Smartphone
-The above has SD slots, Bluetooth, IEEE802.11b/g, GPS, CPU Qualcomm QSD8250 GHz, RAM 578MB.
Tablet PCs
Latest developments in computing technology have allowed clinicians to
have the processing power of a desktop PC in a handheld mobile device.
Platform boasts Bluetooth, Wi-Fi & LAN connectivity. Next generation will
include 4G networking for synchronised rural roaming.
Available wireless technology for m-health
Bluetooth
Radio
module
telemetry
solution
Wi-Fi
Bluetooth
mobile
Labview
Bluetooth
mobile
Labview
Wi-Fi
mobile
Labview
Wi-Fi
mobile
Labview
Programming & GUI
There are a number of ways to program phones & Tablets
Windows mobile SDK (.NET using Visual C#) – professional
programming activities for Windows mobile suite to generate commercial products
Java mobile SDK (Java code, converted to JVM sitting on
Linux kernel) – professional programming activities for Android mobile OS to
generate commercial products
Labview (G-programming) – rapid prototyping of concepts
Develop GUI in National Instruments LabVIEW
Examples of past,
current and future projects
Past – ECG onto portable device
Modify and test embedded software on the
hardware platform (add communication
protocol).
Alter the LabVIEW code (serial port
information and wireless technology-specific
protocols).
Re-configure the LabVIEW code for the
implementation of National Instruments
LabVIEW Mobile 2009.
Execute new software on mobile device and
test functional operation.
Current – Smartphone Point of care device
Current – Smartphone/Ambulatory patient
monitoring device integration
Future – Many projects planned. A small
selection include:
‘Developing world’
solutions
(HIV testing, data collection, mobile
medical centre devices, etc).
Future Point of
Care devices
(Glucose monitoring,
Asthma monitoring, etc).
Continua Certification
Growing Continua Alliance
membership, with a focus on
mobile communication for
medicine.
Increased integration due to
wireless medical standardisation.
Quality of Service and network integration
(clinical trials)
m-health solutions must provide a robust
‘always-up’ service. When the wireless
connection is not available, the onboard
memory must record and store the vital
medical data and forward it at a time
when connectivity is restored.
m-health solutions must be suitably
flexible to be integrate with current
hospital technologies.