“Medical care can be said to be a very personal issue, and most people associate it directly with doctors, nurses, and medical equipment. Therefore, getting rid of medical staff and letting patients know more about the equipment has become a current trend. This idea was originally to improve medical care in remote areas. But with the advancement of technology, coupled with economic pressure, this idea has become popular in many places. Medical crises such as the Covid-19 global pandemic have accelerated the adoption of telemedicine.
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Author: Marcel
Medical care can be said to be a very personal issue, and most people associate it directly with doctors, nurses, and medical equipment. Therefore, getting rid of medical staff and letting patients know more about the equipment has become a current trend. This idea was originally to improve medical care in remote areas. But with the advancement of technology, coupled with economic pressure, this idea has become popular in many places. Medical crises such as the Covid-19 global pandemic have accelerated the adoption of telemedicine.
Medical diagnosis from human network to cloud-infographic
Overview of Virtual Medicine
Virtual medicine is also called telehealth or telemedicine. For example, the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration and the Department of Health and Human Services define telemedicine as remote clinical services, such as diagnosis and monitoring.
Telehealth refers to preventive and curative care, including non-clinical applications such as administrative management and provider education. The World Health Organization defines telemedicine as all aspects of medical care including preventive care. In Europe, e-medicine includes telemedicine, Electronic medical records and other components of health information networks.
No matter how it is defined (this article will collectively be referred to as virtual medical care), it is inseparable from excellent communication infrastructure, ideal broadband connections, and secure software and hardware. Electronic health records include key data such as medication dosages, insurance information, and other personal information. This type of information is integrated with the healthcare system and therefore needs to be encrypted to ensure information security.
The amount of medical data is increasing every year. Before the COVID-19 outbreak, researchers at Stanford University predicted that medical data will grow by 48% in 2020. This figure includes sensitive personal information about patients, their health conditions, and insurance brokers recorded in hospitals or doctors’ offices, so the security requirements are very strict.
This is why most countries have established rules to protect personal electronic health information created, received, used, or maintained by medical providers, medical plans, and medical information clearinghouses. Generally, protection is provided through the following levels:
・ Management level: Assign security responsibilities to individuals and implement security training.
· Physical level: Protect their electronic systems and data by restricting access to EPHI and using off-site backups.
・Technical level: Realize process automation (such as identity verification control) and encrypt data during transmission.
The exchange of medical data between clinical facilities, patients, researchers, and doctors will involve a large amount of data, so cloud and edge architectures with appropriate security measures are required.
Wearables and artificial intelligence
The application of cloud or edge computing makes artificial intelligence (AI) possible, even for smaller applications. In the past few years, some medical professions have actually adopted artificial intelligence technology. According to surveys by commercial suppliers and research institutions, the most widely used radiology is undoubtedly the radiology that uses remote artificial intelligence platforms to process imaging results on a regular basis.
The diagnosis itself depends largely on the communication between the patient and the doctor. However, many diseases can also be accurately diagnosed through artificial intelligence. For diabetes and cardiovascular disease (CVD), which are among the top ten causes of death in the world, due to the extremely high mortality rate, people have been trying to use various methods to help obtain an accurate diagnosis.
Although mobile blood pressure and heart rate monitors and blood oxygen sensors have been in use for a long time, the advent of multi-sensor wristbands and sports watches have taken these devices to a new level. The amount of data collected by devices like Apple Watch is staggering. Although not many doctors will believe the single-channel electrocardiogram collected by this device, the wearer can at least perform a thorough physical examination based on the alarm it sends out.
A good example of medical sensor fusion is Maxim Integrated’s MAX86150 integrated photoplethysmogram (PPG) and electrocardiogram (ECG) biosensor modules. In order to facilitate development, Maxim also provides a matching MAX86150 evaluation kit (Figure 1). This module can be used to measure ECG, PPG, and synchronize ECG and PPG. During monitoring, this module uses infrared proximity mode to detect the user’s finger. When the finger approaches the module, the red LED indicator lights up.
Figure 1: The MAX86150 evaluation kit provides a proven platform for evaluating the MAX86150 integrated photoplethysmogram (PPG) and electrocardiogram (ECG) biosensor modules. (Source: Mouser Electronics)
Another development platform that may be closer to the final product is the MAXREFDES101 health sensor platform 2.0 developed by Maxim Integrated (Figure 2). This healthcare sensor platform integrates PPG analog front end (AFE) sensor (MAX86141), biopotential AFE (MAX30001), body temperature sensor (MAX30205), microcontroller (MAX32630), power management IC (MAX20303) and 6-axis accelerometer/ Gyro. The entire platform includes a watch case and a biosensor hub (MAX32664) with embedded heart rate algorithm. Algorithm output and raw data can be streamed to Android applications or PC GUI via Bluetooth for demonstration, evaluation and custom development.
Figure 2: The Maxim MAXREFDES101 health sensor platform 2.0 is a unique evaluation and development platform with a wearable size for wrist wear. (Source: Mouser Electronics)
in conclusion
Virtual healthcare products, telemedicine, and remote patient monitoring have brought some benefits to patients and doctors. And virtual care is widely used because it can provide the cheapest care in the most effective environment. With the emergence of the health crisis, the adoption rate of virtual medical care is also accelerating, and at the same time higher requirements are placed on the development of communication infrastructure.
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