Abstract
Information technologies give patients the opportunity to communicate with medical professionals remotely. Telemedicine uses these technologies to provide advanced healthcare and medical services. We present a medical online consultation application based on Web Real-Time Communications (WebRTC) technology enabling chat, audio, and video calls. Communication architecture and protocols of the application are explained in detail. Additionally, the user interface of the application is shown via performed calls. The application is tested and evaluated on different network connections (3G, 4G, local, and DSL) and different browsers and mobile operating systems (Android, Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, iOS, Opera, Safari). During calls, communication quality parameters such as round-trip time (RTT) and packet loss, obtained via the WebRTC application programming interface, are analyzed. 3G, 4G, and local connections show low packet losses ($$1 %) in Android, Chrome, iOS, Opera, and Safari for DSL connection, but RTT values are low ($
Highlights
Healthcare services have become more innovative and patient-centric with the help of information technology
3G and 4G are mobile networks that are based on Universal Mobile Telecommunication Service (UMTS) and Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, respectively
A Web Real-Time Communications (WebRTC)-based online consultation application was presented, and it was tested in different networks, browsers, and mobile operating systems for the first time to reveal its performance in different usage scenarios
Summary
Healthcare services have become more innovative and patient-centric with the help of information technology. The exchange of information between patients and doctors has become easier with communication technologies and that improves healthcare services and technologies [1,2,3,4,5]. Patients can readily reach doctors and healthcare service providers through communication tools [6]. It is possible to share medical data with/among healthcare service providers [7]. As a result of these services, a new medical field called telemedicine has emerged, whereby healthcare providers can remotely diagnose, monitor, and treat diseases via telecommunication tools [8]. The use of information technology in medicine is enhancing day-by-day and telemedicine has become a necessity for today’s healthcare services [19]
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