Abstract
Once diagnosed with cancer, a patient goes through a series of diagnosis and tests, which are referred to as “after cancer treatment”. Due to the nature of the treatment and side effects, maintaining quality of life (QoL) in the home environment is a challenging task. Sometimes, a cancer patient’s situation changes abruptly as the functionality of certain organs deteriorates, which affects their QoL. One way of knowing the physiological functional status of a cancer patient is to design an occupational therapy. In this paper, we propose a blockchain and off-chain-based framework, which will allow multiple medical and ambient intelligent Internet of Things sensors to capture the QoL information from one’s home environment and securely share it with their community of interest. Using our proposed framework, both transactional records and multimedia big data can be shared with an oncologist or palliative care unit for real-time decision support. We have also developed blockchain-based data analytics, which will allow a clinician to visualize the immutable history of the patient’s data available from an in-home secure monitoring system for a better understanding of a patient’s current or historical states. Finally, we will present our current implementation status, which provides significant encouragement for further development.
Highlights
In 2018, 1.74 million individuals were diagnosed with cancer in the USA alone Both cancer itself and cancer treatments severely affect a patient’s quality of life and daily functioning [1,2], for example through muscle stiffness [3], joint pain, a decrease in bone density and muscle endurance, weight loss, nausea and vomiting, neurological impairments, decreased stamina, loss of range of motion, changes in sensation and cognition [4], cardiopulmonary dysfunction, deconditioning, difficulty with mobility and daily activities, edema, reproduction and sexuality difficulties, communication impairments, memory and attention problems, and psychological effects, such as depression, fear, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder [2]
We have extended our existing research on brain–computer interface (BCI) [93]
We have extended our previously designed gesture-based smart home appliance management system [98] by adding blockchain and off-chain, which acts as an occupational therapy platform for a cancer patient
Summary
In 2018, 1.74 million individuals were diagnosed with cancer in the USA alone Both cancer itself and cancer treatments severely affect a patient’s quality of life and daily functioning [1,2], for example through muscle stiffness [3], joint pain, a decrease in bone density and muscle endurance, weight loss, nausea and vomiting, neurological impairments, decreased stamina, loss of range of motion, changes in sensation and cognition [4], cardiopulmonary dysfunction, deconditioning, difficulty with mobility and daily activities, edema, reproduction and sexuality difficulties, communication impairments, memory and attention problems, and psychological effects, such as depression, fear, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder [2]. During the long-term management of cancer, the patient will initially be confronted with the mental load related to the diagnostic announcement, after which the patient will experience side effects from the treatments and variability of mood related to diagnostic announcements of remission or relapse. These items are of great concern to family and loved ones who are facing a heavy mental burden that is often overlooked by caregivers. The severe side effects of cancer-treatment plans negatively affect the quality of life (QoL) and limit the body functionality of cancer patients [1]. A recent survey on practicing oncologist surgeons worldwide shows that 54.4% of the surgeons disclosed that they did not incorporate QoL data within their cancer treatment plans [8]
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