Multipurpose health care telemedicine system

Abstract

In this study we present a multipurpose health care telemedicine system, which can be used for emergency or patient monitoring cases. Ambulances, Rural Health Centers (RHC) or other remote health location, Ships navigating in wide seas and Airplanes in flight are common examples of possible emergency sites, while critical care telemetry and telemedicine home follow-ups are important issues of patient monitoring. The telemedicine system is a combined real-time and store and forward facility that consists of a base unit and a telemedicine (mobile) unit. The telemedicine unit (patient site) allows the transmission of vital biosignals (3-12 lead ECG, SPO2, NIBP, IBP, Temp) and still images of the patient from the incident place to the base unit (consultation site). The transmission is performed through GSM, Satellite links or POTS. Using this device a specialist doctor can telematically "move" to the patient site and instruct medical personnel when handling a patient. The consultation site is equipped with a multimedia database able to store and manage the data collected by the system. The system was validated in four different countries using a standardized medical protocol.