Development Of Telemedicine System Research Articles

Feasibility Assessment of Using Smart Trackers in Telemedicine Systems to Remotely Monitor the Overall Health of Patients in Real-Time

Introduction. The development of telemedicine systems intended to remotely monitor the health status of patients constitutes one of the most promising areas of contemporary science. Particularly relevant is the use of such systems to track the health of surgically treated patients. Since such patients are mobile, sensors measuring vital signs should not cause any discomfort in regular use. Thus, wearable smart trackers can be used for these purposes.Aim. The paper aims to study the possibility of using smart trackers in a telemedicine system for monitoring patient health.Materials and methods. In the study, a series of measurements was performed using GSMIN WR 41 smart bracelets in order to estimate their accuracy when measuring pulse, blood pressure, and oxygen saturation for different research subjects at rest and during intense physical exercises. In addition, the average measurement interval of the smart bracelet was determined; the operation of the smart bracelet in the telemedicine system for monitoring vital signs was considered.Results. The studies show that an average error in the measurement of vital signs (except for systolic pressure) using the smart bracelet does not exceed 10 %. In order to avoid the high error in measuring systolic pressure, an algorithm for assessing the general health of patients was developed. In addition, it is shown that the smart bracelet can detect an abrupt change in the vital signs of patients, with the average time of their measurement and data transmission to the server of the telemedicine system coming to 45 seconds.Conclusion. The study results indicate that smart bracelets can be used to remotely monitor the health of patients in real-time. These findings are confirmed by the telemedicine system designed on the basis of the smart bracelets considered in the paper.

Development of telemedicine system for remote monitoring of heart activity based on fasegraphy method

A client-server system telemedicine for remote processing of electrocardiograms was proposed. In contrast to the known, the system allows to simplify the heart activity monitoring procedure using the original ECG sensor with finger electrodes and the innovative method of ECG processing in the phase space (fasegraphy method).It is shown that the fasegraphy method allows to improve the estimation accuracy of the reference ECG cycle in the time domain, more clearly display traditional diagnostic indicators in the phase space and introduce a system of additional diagnostic features.The peculiarity of the system lies also in using the original method of economical signal encoding, which provides a high degree of signal compression on the client side and accurate information reproduction on the server side.The proposed telemedicine system allows a family doctor to remotely monitor the patient, based on the analysis of the current measurement by the fasegraphy method and personalized norms of a particular patient, which is automatically calculated based on the accumulated data array.

Design and Customization of Telemedicine Systems

In recent years, the advances in information and communication technology (ICT) have resulted in the development of systems and applications aimed at supporting rehabilitation therapy that contributes to enrich patients' life quality. This work is focused on the improvement of the telemedicine systems with the purpose of customizing therapies according to the profile and disability of patients. For doing this, as salient contribution, this work proposes the adoption of user-centered design (UCD) methodology for the design and development of telemedicine systems in order to support the rehabilitation of patients with neurological disorders. Finally, some applications of the UCD methodology in the telemedicine field are presented as a proof of concept.

A framework for the design of user-centred teleconsulting systems

Telemedicine projects often fail to grow beyond the pilot phase of implementation. As well as the usual barriers such as reimbursement and legislation, user acceptance of telemedicine technologies is essential. From a design-perspective, it can be hypothesized that a user-centred design approach is missing in the development of telemedicine systems. We have mapped the underlying theoretical dimensions relevant to teleconsultations. An existing framework describing teleconsultations was used as the basis for the study. The perspectives that were taken to complement this framework were: (a) doctor-patient communication; (b) technology-mediated communication; and (c) technology acceptance. A literature search found 303, 42 and 409 articles in the three areas, respectively. Abstract assessment indicated 8, 5 and 6 papers for full text evaluation. Theoretical models were retrieved for each perspective and elements were clustered to form a new framework. The findings suggest the importance of instrumental and affective communication behaviours of participants in a teleconsultation. On the same level of importance are the perceptions formed by the participants on effectiveness, efficiency and 'affectiveness' of the telemedicine system. The framework has the potential to contribute to design methodology by providing a practical tool that can be used by design professionals to consider the user at every stage of the design process, even when the context is complex and unfamiliar to the designer.

A qualitative comparative analysis of the conditions affecting early maternal transfer patterns

In Arkansas, almost all of the high-risk-pregnancy resources are concentrated in a single place, at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS). During the 6-month period before a telemedicine programme started, there were five operational telemedicine sites in the state, and during the subsequent 12-month period, there were 13 telemedicine sites in operation. Data were gathered on birth-related transfers during the two periods. Qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) was used to assess the effect of different combinations of telemedical and hospital-level resources on the timing of maternal transfers. Early (pre-33-week gestational age) maternal transfers occurred in period 1 (before the telemedicine programme started), only from areas with level-2 hospital resources and no telemedicine access; early transfers also occurred in period 2 from areas with level-2 hospital resources and either telemedicine access or no telemedicine access. We conclude that combinations of resources affect physician decisions regarding transfer and that QCA is a useful tool for examining the growth and development of telemedicine systems.

Expanding Nurses??? Roles in Telemedicine & Genetics Services

This article presents nursing roles in telemedicine and genetics services. Telemedicine offers a promising solution to delivering comprehensive genetics services to children and families when travel, distance, and shortage of genetics professionals interfere with access. Nurses are already using telemedicine to provide nursing and healthcare services but have become involved in the delivery of genetics services via telemedicine only recently. Involving nurses in the development of telemedicine systems for genetics services is essential as they serve as a vital link between the patient, the healthcare system, and the community. Some of the emerging nursing roles in telemedicine include genetic family-health risk assessment, evaluation and counseling at the advanced practice level and at the primary care level, referral, participation in genetic evaluation and counseling, and family- and community-based care coordination and management. The Genomics Nurse Case Coordinator role as described by is presented as a means of further expanding the maternal-child health nursing role in supporting women and families to manage their own genomic health. Telemedicine offers nurses an opportunity to assure and provide quality genetic healthcare tailored to the individual and family's specific needs within their own community.

Agents acting and moving in healthcare scenario--a paradigm for telemedical collaboration.

This communications describes a novel approach to the analysis and development of telemedicine systems, based on the multiagent paradigm. An agent is an autonomous, social, reactive, and proactive entity, sometimes also mobile. Since telemedicine is grounded on communication and sharing of resources, agents are suitable for its analysis and implementation, and we adopted them for developing a prototype telemedical agent.

Challenges for user-interface designers of telemedicine systems.

Problems associated with telemedicine systems include high telecommunications costs, lack of physician interest, and failure to build evaluation into the design process from the onset of the telemedicine project. An overview of the human-factors engineering approach to systems design and how it can be applied to the development of telemedicine systems is described. Design of an interface is based on an analysis of user capabilities, tasks, and work environment. Task analyses are performed to understand and document the interaction between a user's work activities and a system. Two characteristics of a human factors approach that are important for telemedicine are: (1) defining and measuring user performance, and (2) involving users in the design and testing of a system. Usability goals are operationally defined and tracked to quantify performance. Having users participate in the design, testing, and critique of a system also increases the likelihood that the system will be accepted and used after it is released.