1. Introduction
Nowadays, digital electronic devices have been used to make a lot of things easier and better. Personal computers have been successful to help people in their works and to provide entertainment, thus it is not surprising if now people are thinking to make the electronic systems to be incorporated further into medical field, so that its service can be cheaper, easier to be accessed, and better in quality.
Some patients with chronic illness sometimes need to be monitored closely by medical team. By having the patients attached with suitable sensors which can transmit data over the network, it is possible for the patients to have long-term monitoring without the need for a long and expensive stay in hospital.
For long term and long distance monitoring, implantable sensors are desirable. Implantable sensors are inserted into human body so that it does not disturb the patients’ activities. Of course, the implanted devices should be able to communicate to the outside world without using wire because “wires passing through the skin are a source of infection, can result in injury (if pulled or knocked), and are often uncomfortable for the patient” [1]. Beside the purpose of monitoring, implantable devices can also be used for more complex prescription applications, such as implantable drug delivery system, implantable insulin pump, and so on.
Figure 1.1 Wireless Body Area Network
The network for medical application around the patient’s body is termed as Wireless Body Area Network (WBAN), which can be seen in Figure 1.1. A WBAN consists of sensors (implanted or wearable) and a gateway node. The gateway node in the figure is called Personnel Control Unit (PCU), although other terminologies such as Body Control Unit...
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...Nieto, RFID Design Fundamentals and Applications. London: CRC Press, 2010.
[7] Z. Yang et al, “Wireless Power and Data Telemetry for Wearable and Implantable Electronics”, Wireless Body Area Networks: Technology, Implementation, and Applications (Edited by Mehmet R. Yuce and Jamil Y. Khan), ISBN 978-981-4241-57-1. Singapore: Pan Stanford Pub., 2012.
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[9] M. S. Wegmueller et al, “Galvanic Coupling Enabling Wireless Implant Communications”, IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, vol. 58, No. 8, August 2009.
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The placement of implantable chips into patients for the purpose of accurately identifying patients and properly storing their medical history records has become a subject of a strong debate. Making sure patients are properly identified before a procedure and storing their health history records for future use has been difficult, if not impossible. The idea of being able to retrieve accurate patient’s medical history for a follow up care without relying on patient’s memory is a challenging task for many healthcare organizations. Many ideas and technologies have been introduced over the years to help solve this problem, but unfortunately the problem is still not fully resolved. There are still many errors in the healthcare due in part by improper record keeping and inaccurate patient identification. One idea that has being in discussion to eliminate these problems for good, is the introduction of a chip or radio frequency identification (RFID) technology implanted into human for the purpose storing medical data and accurately identify patients. VeriChip Corporation is currently the maker of this implantable RFID chip. They are the only corporation cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to make this implantable radio frequency transponder system for humans for the purpose of identifying patients and storing their health history information. The chip was first developed for the use of radar systems by Scottish physicist, Sir Robert Alexander Watson-Watt in 1935 just before World War II. (Roberti, 2007). This technology helps identify approaching planes of the enemy from mile away. Today, RFID has several uses. It is used for animal tracking. It is attached to merchandise in stores to prevent theft. It can be instal...
Over 10,000,000 people around the world suffer from some sort of blindness or handicap due to photoreceptor damage. These effects can be caused by a number of afflictions, including retinitis pigmentosa, macular degeneration, and tumors. These illnesses vary in severity from being a mere hindrance to completely blinding the individual. Until recently, those affected were left without hope of a cure or even a treatment that would somewhat improve their vision. But over the last few years, several groups of scientists have been working on a partial cure in the form of neuroprostheses, artificial devices which are inserted in the eye behind or on top of the damaged retinal area. These photoreceptive chips, in theory, should provide information too the healthy neurons residing in the retina, substituting for the damaged photoreceptors.
Interoperability of a smart pump is critically important. The ability to instantly capture as well as manage patient data takes on an increasing role for improving patient safety, staff productivity, and financial performance (Wellspan Health, 2015). The most important aspect of the smart pump is the added safety and efficiency of the use of the pumps to allow nurses to focus their attention on caring for the patient (Wellspan Health, 2015). Earlier this year, the Alaris was rated as the industry leader for interoperability with EMRs in the Smart pump/ EMR integration report that had been released from KLAS. KLAS is an organization who monitors the performance of healthcare organizations (Alaris, 2016). The Alaris contains advanced technology that notifies clinicians when an infusion is outside the normal parameters, helping to avoid errors related to medication infusion (Alaris, 2016). Some important features offered by the Alaris include: Guardrails Suite MX safety software with large volume pumps, PCA, respiratory monitoring through EtCO2, and/or pulse oximetry measurement of SpO2, syringe and bar-coding capabilities to help protect every type of infusion available (Alaris, 2016). The Alaris can be updated wirelessly with order parameters of the infusion directly
Many families have had the agonizing experience of losing their beloved pets. Lost dogs, puppies, and cats end up in shelters around the country with no way of contacting an owner. State wide license laws are supposed to aide in returning lost dogs to their owners, but in many cases these laws do not end up working. Many individuals do not follow the law close enough, do not have enough money to pay for a license, or dogs lose their collars or tags. Other families tattoo their dogs, but few shelters make the effort to find such a marking. Identifying microchips implanted just under the skin of a pet are a possible solution to prevent a family pet from being lost forever. There are fewer problems with this microchip identification system in comparison to the traditional laws. One issue is that some of the chips are becoming unable to be read by a shelter without a universal scanner, and shelters do not necessarily have the technology to scan some of the newer chips. Even though there are set backs, the microchips are becoming an increasingly popular technology to aid in locating your lost pet.
The clinical application of ES can be dated as far back as 1812 when Hartshorne used electricity to promote bone healing in a patient suffering a tibial nonunion, later described in an 1841 publication (Wienke & Dayton, 2011). Research stayed in focus with bone stimulation via ES therapy for many years leading to the US Food and Drug Administration approved labeling electromagnetic devices for treatment of nonunion and delayed union fractures. ES therapy in chronic wound healing became a major research trend in the mid 1960s with a multitude of successful clinical trials to follow (Isseroff & Dahle, 2012). Eventually ES use in treating chronic soft tissue wounds became widely accepted and in 2002 the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services approved ES treatment in a clinical setting for certain types of chronic wounds and pressure ulcers. Until 2003, research focus stayed with ES therapy on pressure ulcers but later ...
Our clinical knowledge is expanding. The researcher has first proposed the concept of electronic health record (EHR) to gather and analyze every clinical outcome. By late 1990s computer-based patient record (CPR) replaced with the term EHR (Wager et al., 2009). The process of implementing EHR occurs over a number of years. An electronic record of health-related information on individual conforms interoperability standards can create, manage and consult with the authorized health professionals (Wager et al., 2009). This information technology system electronically gather and store patient data, and supply that information as needed to the healthcare professionals, as well as a caregiver can also access, edit or input new information; this system function as a decision support tools to the health professionals. Every healthcare organization is increasingly aware of the importance of adopting EHR to improve the patient satisfaction, safety, and lowering the medical costs.
California inventor Mike Biegal first introduced the basic prototype for the microchip used in the biochip transponder in 1979. The chips are tiny, passive electronic devices ranging in size from12 to 18mm in length and 2.0 to 3.5mm in diameter. All chips are individually inscribed and programmed to store a unique, permanent, 10-15-digit alphanumeric identification code. The GPM is coupled with an antenna and is sealed in an inert glass capsule. It is implanted into a living being using the same procedure as a routine vaccination. Immediately following implementation the tiny device remains inside the bein...
Advances in healthcare technologies make it easy to monitor patient vital signs at home making remote patient care more effective. Moreover, smart wearable technologies are making it possible for patients and doctors to diagnose diseases early. Mobile lab
The breakthrough of wireless technology has introduced new possibilities for healthcare. These wireless networks allow connection and control between computers, handheld devices, printers, scanners, and other peripherals without the hassle of cords and cables. They provide crucial mobility that is necessary in the modern hospital. In areas of constant activity, such as the ER, the ICU, and the surgical recovery room, immediate information such as a patients test results would be beneficial to nurses and other healthcare providers. One could login to a secure network to retrieve patient records, view x-rays and lab tests, look up information on the internet, order treatments, and consult with specialists from just about anywhere. However, in hospitals with a hard wired network this information is not readily available throughout the hospital and cables can get in the way. With a growing technology, deciding which type of wireless network to implement can be difficult. Therefore, it is my role to evaluate different wireless networking devices and select the best device for the hospital.
Wearable antennas are made by textile materials. Electrical properties of these textile materials are not readily available. Wearable antennas are designed to work in the complicated body centric environment. Performance of wearable antenna near to human body is different from free space performance. Effects on the antenna near human body are reduction of antenna gain, cross polarization level growth, radiation pattern fragmentation, and decreased antenna efficiency. These effects can be minimized by making good isolation between human body and antenna. Good isolation can be achieved by putting ground plane or by making space between human body and antenna. Biological effect of wearable antennas can be defined in terms of
Electronic Medical Record (EMR) provides convenient access to the staff of the clinic. It also provides quick access to patients’ information each time staff wants to retrieve the data. Other than that, the system could help in solving record movement problems and at the same time improve the quality of the process. In terms of security, using the EMR is more secured compared to manual system as it can be restricted to certain user for example to medical officer and receptionist. The user needs to login into the system so that it can be easily monitored and identified who uses the system. As for the b...
Body area networks (BAN) are a form of wireless personal area network (WPAN) and it has recently been accepted as 4th generation mobile communications systems taking the form of human to human networking incorporating wearable sensors and communication. BAN is normally thought of as wireless sensor networks (WSN) however in this paper we try to elaborate on how BAN works. BAN can take various forms, it incorporates the use of sensors which can be found in, on or around the body and it uses different types of communication. In the following section we shall elaborate on the specific communication architecture used by BAN.
"Microchip Implants Closer to reality." The Futurist. 33.8 (1999): 9. Proquest Platinum. Proquest Information and Learning Co. Glenwood High School Lib., Chatham, IL 25 Oct. 2004
Real time monitoring can provide enormous benefits to doctors for example, it can warn doctors if anything happens to the patients and it will keep a record so that we can understand how to tackle these diseases (Wakefield, 2012). According to Menachemi and Collum (2011), real time monitoring can help with increasing hospital’s database. While patients are being monitored, the data about the disease is stored electronically in a database which then can be accessed by doctors to improve their ability to cure the disease if it occurred again. Real time health monitoring can inform anyone nearby how the patient is doing and to see if the patient needs any medical care (Herzog, 2015).although having real time health monitoring is better than nothing. Kakria, Tripathi, and Kitipawang (2015) stated that the time it takes to send the data to the hospital can take more the 6 minutes, which is under acceptable range in American heart association. . While it is a simple equipment that can be attached to a patient, it can track any vital, mental and physical changes that can be fatal to the patient and notifies the doctors so that they can act on the patient as soon as possible (Herzog, 2015). Other method that computer scientist can do to improve health monitoring is by the internet. Herzog (2015) stated that by using the internet patients can
It is pertinent to note that ICT gives room for technological convergence in that various communication channels or platforms are integrated in it. This has opened the way for health enlightenment in various forms such as podcasts, short videos, blogs and so on. The limitless coverage of the internet allows these enlightenment efforts to be accessed all over the world enhancing global health. The information system of any health center will not function effectively without Information and Communication Technology (ICT). In other words, ICT is the backbone of the current information system. Information can be transmitted within a couple of no time. The array of purveyor of information under ICT is extremely vast and this technology helps doctors, hospitals, the general public and all other medical care providers. It is pertinent to note that Pharmaceutical industry is the industry that enjoys the biggest benefits of ICT. All the medical data available helps in assessing the medical requirements, makes them aware of similar research being carried out in different parts of the world and in letting the world know about their developments Consequently, the advent of ICT has made