1. Next Generation Telemedicine Service Provision
in the Home Healthcare Sector
A joint project between
KTH and Huddinge University Hospital
André Alander, Andreas Larsson, Dan Kopparhed, Pascal Laue, Pawel Merdi, Shahidur Rahman
Communication Systems Design
2g1712 (16 credits) 2g1713 (20 credits)

2. Presentation Overview
Background
Goals
Video
Work Flow
Project Tasks
Benefits
Prototype Model
Implementation Approaches
Advantages of MQ Approach
Future Work
Summary & Conclusions
Questions
TeleMedng
Communication System Design 2003

3. Communication System Design 2003
Background
Biomedical equipment enables patients to stay home
Department of Biomedical Engineering (MTA) at Huddinge University Hospital
Large increase in number of biomedical equipment at patients’ homes
Telemedicine is expected to grow rapidly in the nearest future
TeleMedng
Communication System Design 2003

4. Communication System Design 2003
Goals
Main goals
Design and implement a platform for transfer of data
from patients to the hospital
Analyze potential benefits involved when deploying the platform
Optional goals
Implement applications on the platform
Implement teleconferencing between patients and hospital
TeleMedng
Communication System Design 2003

5. Communication System Design 2003
Video
TeleMedng
Communication System Design 2003

6. Other Biomedical Products
AutoCPAP
Pulseoximeter
TeleMedng
Communication System Design 2003

7. Communication System Design 2003
Work Flow
Current System
Patients discover problems
Difficult to get/give exact information from/to patient
Solution often requires biomedical engineer to visit patient
Future System
Problems and solutions are identified remotely at the hospital
Patients may solve the problems through instructions
Visits to patients may not be necessary
TeleMedng
Communication System Design 2003

8. Communication System Design 2003
Project Tasks
Project plan
Business Analysis (BA)
Cost and Benefit Analysis (CBA)
System Architecture Design (SAD)
System Design
Building prototype
Testing
Final report
TeleMedng
Communication System Design 2003

9. Communication System Design 2003
Benefits
Commercial Benefits
Marginal benefit if the number of patients is low
Large benefit if the number of patients is high
Non Commercial Benefits
High quality support for Patients
Improved efficiency of the work of the staff
Knowledge of new telemedicine technology
TeleMedng
Communication System Design 2003

10. Communication System Design 2003
Prototype Model
TeleMedng
Communication System Design 2003

11. Prototype Implementation
TeleMedng
Communication System Design 2003

12. Implementation Approaches
Transmission of data
Java Application Approach (custom solution)
Not scalable, Time consuming
Inefficient way of data transmission
Information Bus Approach (IBM WebSphere MQ)
Guaranteed delivery and prevention of duplicates
Forwarding ability at a later time
Database Oriented Approach (oracle 9i)
Provides Application Server and Advanced Queuing facilities
Message propagation to a specified Queue
Guaranteed delivery and exception handling
Provides prioritizing between messages among others
TeleMedng
Communication System Design 2003

13. Advantages of MQ Approach
Very scalable
Can handle thousands of clients
Easy to maintain
Saves time and money
Future-proof approach
Lower maintenance costs
Technology already familiar to the staff of the Hospital
Products already licensed and ready for use
Existing commercial components can be used
Easier programming
Easier code testing
TeleMedng
Communication System Design 2003

14. Communication System Design 2003
Future Work
Investigate the use of other Message Queue systems
Extend with full user interfaces on both client and server side
Implement the platform on a residential gateway or other suitable hardware
Implement teleconferencing between patients and the hospital
Investigate technology for redundancy in communication and data storage
Test the platform with real patients
Evaluate the test and the patients’ perception of it
TeleMedng
Communication System Design 2003

15. Communication System Design 2003
Summary & Conclusions
Telemedicine gives benefits and save money
Large cost savings when system used in large scale
Concept of the designed platform is proved
Interesting future opportunities to extend the system
Telemedicine expansion has just begun…
TeleMedng
Communication System Design 2003

16. Communication System Design 2003
Questions
TeleMedng
Communication System Design 2003

17. Communication System Design 2003
The End
TeleMedng
Communication System Design 2003