Innovative Mobile Phone Research Articles

Animal Rescue Team (ART) Application

"ART" is an innovative mobile phone software created to simplify the adoption and animal rescue procedure, ultimately altering the lives of both animals in need and caring people or families looking for companionship. This app uses technology to provide a seamless and effective platform for responsible pet adoption by bridging the gap between animal shelters, rescue groups, and future adopters. This entire project would involve the development of the app using Android Studio and Firebase

Using mobile technology to track wine tourists

Understanding how tourists behave when visiting a destination is invaluable information for businesses. Despite the prevalence of wine tourism and its economic contribution, prior research has typically used surveys which produce coarse data. In this study, we used an innovative mobile phone app with integrated survey and Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) technology to examine the movements of wine tourists within an Australian wine region. This method offers a finer grained spatio-temporal approach for understanding wine tourist behaviour and has implications for the marketing and planning that occurs within wine regions.

High uptake of an innovative mobile phone application among community health workers in rural India: An implementation study.

We assessed the uptake, feasibility and effectiveness of an mHealth intervention in improving the performance of village-based frontline workers, called accredited social health activists (ASHAs), to increase the coverage of maternal, newborn and child health services in rural India. A new mobile phone application-Innovative Mobile-phone Technology for Community Health Operations (ImTeCHO)-was implemented in all the 45 villages of two primary health centres in Jhagadia, Gujarat (population ~45 000), between August 2013 and February 2014 after training 45 ASHAs. After 9 months of implementation, 99 mothers of young infants between the ages of 1 and 4 months and 187 mothers of infants between the ages of 6 and 9 months were interviewed during the household survey to assess the coverage of maternal, newborn and child health services in the project and similar control villages. Fifteen ASHAs were purposively selected and interviewed. The coverage of home-based newborn care (56% v. 10%), exclusive breastfeeding (44% v. 23%), care-seeking for maternal (77% v. 57%) and neonatal complications (78% v. 27%) and pneumonia (41% v. 24%) improved in the interventional area compared to the control area. The ASHAs logged into the mobile phone application on 88% of working days. Of a total of 10 774 forms required to be completed, the ASHAs completed 7710 forms. During the interviews, all ASHAs demonstrated sufficient competency to use ImTeCHO and expressed a high level of acceptability and utility of all components of the intervention. A high degree of acceptability, feasibility and effectiveness for the mHealth intervention among ASHAs was supported by its widespread use.

Camlens – an Innovative Android Phone Application to Empower the Blind and Visually Impaired in Reading any Kind of Printed Text in Real-Time using Opencv, Optical Character Recognition and Text-To-Speech

CamLens is an innovative mobile phone application with the vision to empower the blind and visually impaired people in reading any kind of printed text. CamLens intelligently scans the frame inside the camera view to automatically select the exact edges of the document containing the text in real-time; crop the file from the four selected edges and alternate the perspective transformation of the cropped photographto obtain an image containing the scanned document. The application then applies Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and (TTS) conversion to extract the text from the image and to convert the extracted text into audio output respectively which may be listened by the blind and visually impaired person the usage of earphones.The genesis of the research comes from the fact that the three edges of a page of the book are easier to find with lesser possibilities of finding the fourth edge precisely which, in turn, hampers the cropping accuracy as well as the OCR and TTS output.

Responsive and Equitable Health Systems—Partnership on Non-Communicable Diseases (RESPOND) study: a mixed-methods, longitudinal, observational study on treatment seeking for hypertension in Malaysia and the Philippines

IntroductionHypertension is a leading contributor to the global burden of disease. While safe and effective treatment exists, blood pressure control is poor in many countries, often reflecting barriers at the...

Survey research with a random digit dial national mobile phone sample in Ghana: Methods and sample quality.

IntroductionGenerating a nationally representative sample in low and middle income countries typically requires resource-intensive household level sampling with door-to-door data collection. High mobile phone penetration rates in developing countries provide new opportunities for alternative sampling and data collection methods, but there is limited information about response rates and sample biases in coverage and nonresponse using these methods. We utilized data from an interactive voice response, random-digit dial, national mobile phone survey in Ghana to calculate standardized response rates and assess representativeness of the obtained sample.Materials and methodsThe survey methodology was piloted in two rounds of data collection. The final survey included 18 demographic, media exposure, and health behavior questions. Call outcomes and response rates were calculated according to the American Association of Public Opinion Research guidelines. Sample characteristics, productivity, and costs per interview were calculated. Representativeness was assessed by comparing data to the Ghana Demographic and Health Survey and the National Population and Housing Census.ResultsThe survey was fielded during a 27-day period in February-March 2017. There were 9,469 completed interviews and 3,547 partial interviews. Response, cooperation, refusal, and contact rates were 31%, 81%, 7%, and 39% respectively. Twenty-three calls were dialed to produce an eligible contact: nonresponse was substantial due to the automated calling system and dialing of many unassigned or non-working numbers. Younger, urban, better educated, and male respondents were overrepresented in the sample.ConclusionsThe innovative mobile phone data collection methodology yielded a large sample in a relatively short period. Response rates were comparable to other surveys, although substantial coverage bias resulted from fewer women, rural, and older residents completing the mobile phone survey in comparison to household surveys. Random digit dialing of mobile phones offers promise for future data collection in Ghana and may be suitable for other developing countries.

Informacione tehnologije u medicini 21. veka

We are witnessing a lot of unimaginable achievements in information and nanotechnology, and their application in modern medicine which can be considered a revolution in medicine. "Is it radical transformation through innovation?", as asked Jozef Schumpeter, and how does conventional medicine respond to these challenges? How did it begin, and how long did information technology arrive? With this paper we tried to give at least a partial answer. So far a doctor, we can conditionally say, was the only bearer of medical knowledge - medical information, in his hands was a "general database" (professional literature), as well as a database of personal, medical data (medical card of the patient). However, now the situation is completely different. Digitization of medicine and networking, and absolute availability of knowledge, as well as electronic records, represent the systematic storage of a large number of medical findings, quick and targeted search and usability of information about a particular person, and immense help to the doctor. The introduction of algorithms enables the lightning processing of incoming information. However, "knowledge from a computer" can be a danger to the availability of information to lay people, which makes it necessary to verify the validity of the information source. The new concept of "transferring and disseminating knowledge from a computer" aims to transfer responsibility for personal health. In the development of nano technology, two critical moments are: decryption of DNA (genome analysis, to details reveals the "biology" of a person) and micro-sensors and wireless transmission technologies that are integrated into an innovative mobile phone (smartphone) that allows monitoring of a number of vital parameters. Miniature ultrasound devices and powerful micro-analyzers, in smartphones and virtual browsing are a reality. Does the doctor lose the ground under his feet? What is the general attitude of patients towards innovation? The answers to these questions are very different, and we tried to present them with the track of the facts pro et contra. With the conclusion about the undeniable contribution and benefits of innovative technologies in medicine, there are many open questions. We wanted to mention and discuss some of the dilemmas related to information technology and nano technology.

Short-Term Efficacy of an Innovative Mobile Phone Technology-Based Intervention for Weight Management for Overweight and Obese Adolescents: Pilot Study.

BackgroundIn the United States, approximately one-third of adolescents are now overweight or obese, and one in six is obese. This financial cost and the larger nonfinancial costs of obesity make obesity prevention and management for adolescents imperative for the health of the nation. However, primary care visits are typically brief, and primary care providers may lack adequate resources to help overweight or obese adolescents to manage weight issues. To augment the efficacy of primary care visits for adolescent weight management, mobile phone technology can be used as an adjunct treatment that provides additional opportunities for encouraging improvement in lifestyle, attainment, and maintenance of healthy weight.ObjectiveThe purposes of this study were to (1) measure effects of an innovative mobile phone technology-based intervention for overweight and obese adolescents and to (2) examine the intervention’s feasibility for use in primary care clinics.MethodsThe mobile phone-based intervention had three components: use of the Fitbit Flex, participation in an online educational program, and receipt of biweekly text messages during the maintenance phase. A randomized controlled study design was utilized. Data regarding anthropometrics (body mass index [BMI] and waist-to-hip ratio), blood pressure, levels of physical and sedentary activity, diet, and self-efficacy regarding physical activity and diet were collected at baseline and at 3 and 6 months after the baseline assessment.ResultsA total of 40 adolescents participated in the study. At the 6-month follow-up visit, compared to participants in the control group, the mobile phone-based intervention participants had significant improvement in BMI (z=–4.37, P=.001), diastolic blood pressure (z=–3.23, P=.001), physical activity days per week (z=2.58, P=.01), TV and computer time (z=–3.34, P=.001), servings of fruits and vegetables per day (z=2.74, P=.006), servings of soda and sweetened drinks (z=–3.19, P=.001), physical activity self-efficacy (z=2.75, P=.006), and dietary self-efficacy (z=5.05, P=.001). Medium to large effect sizes were found in these outcome variables.ConclusionsThe use of mobile technologies may offer a practical, reliable adjunct to weight management for overweight and obese adolescents in busy primary care clinics serving adolescents.Trial RegistrationClinicaltrials.gov NCT 01693250; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01693250? term=Adolescent+ obesity+AND+mhealth&rank=5 (Archived by WebCite at )

Use of Mobile Phone to Promote Governance and Equity within the Health System: Experience of Rural Health District in Burkina Faso

Background: Mobile phone has been described as offering a remarkable potential to deliver primary health care. It is widely used in low-and middle-income countries to support health care delivery. In Burkina Faso, high maternal mortality rates and persistent numbers of people living with HIV are priorities to address by government. Here we described an innovative mobile phone platform that helps to overcome barriers of access to health service by community members in rural health district. Methods: A mobile phone project was implemented to enhance better access to health information and care delivery for mother, and people living with HIV. An interactive messaging and voice system was developed and incorporated major local languages to overcome literacy barrier. In addition, a patient’s reminder system for follow-up appointments was incorporated. Results: Overall 423 pregnant women, 319 new-born mothers and 116 HIV/AIDS patients were followed-up by the system in 2015 by community health workers. An average 177 patient’s reminder for appointment was completed. There was an 8% increase of antenatal care uptake and better compliance of HIV patients to antiretroviral services. There was also a reduction of about 84% of loss of followed-up from HIV patients (P<0,05), and an increase of 41% of assisted deliveries. However, running mobile devices in a hard to reach population is challenging. Conclusion: Use of mobile phones at a community level is a powerful tool to increase their equitable access to health care information and participation to local health care governance. However challenges must be anticipated.

P22 A user centred approach to the design of p-of-care and self-test mobile phone diagnostics for sexually transmitted infections (STIs)

BackgroundEffective Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) control is being challenged by inadequate access to prompt diagnosis and treatment for patients and relatively poor community STI surveillance. This work forms part of...

Touch n' Tag: digital annotation of physical objects with voice tagging

PurposeThis article aims to explore the possibilities and use of a mobile technology‐supported audio annotation system that can be used for attaching free‐formatted audio annotations to physical objects. The solution can help visually impaired people to identify objects and associate additional information with these objects.Design/methodology/approachA human‐centred design approach was adopted in the system's development and potential end‐users were involved in the development process. In order to evaluate the emerging use cases, as well as the usefulness and usability of the application, a qualitative field trial was conducted with ten visually impaired or blind users.FindingsThe findings show that visually impaired users learned to use the application easily and found it easy and robust to use. Most users responded positively towards the idea of tagging items with their own voice messages. Some users found the technology very useful and saw many possibilities for using it in the future. The most common targets for tagging were food items; however, some users had difficulties in integrating the solution with their everyday practices.Originality/valueThis paper presents an innovative mobile phone application with a touch and audio user interface. The actual use cases describe the everyday needs of visually impaired people and this information might be valuable to service providers and technology developers. Also, the experiences gained from these trials can be used when developing software for the visually impaired on other platforms.

Managing Asthma with Mobile Phones: A Feasibility Study

Asthma is a chronic disease and a growing health problem worldwide. The objective of this pilot study was to test the feasibility and utilization of tracking asthma symptoms through an innovative mobile phone application. The subjects for this research project consisted of 4 individuals who are currently receiving treatment for asthma from a primary care physician in Ingham County, Michigan. Participants took their peak flow reading each day and used the short message service (SMS) function on their phone and sent it to a Web server. If they did not send it by 11 AM, they received a reminder via an automated SMS to their phone. The resulting data suggest that this method of management is feasible. The data also demonstrate participants' satisfaction in monitoring their asthma in this manner. Using mobile phones for asthma management could improve compliance with asthma action plans and reduce adverse asthma events. Future research could further demonstrate that mobile phones are a new and effective method for providing healthcare.