Design Article
Streamlining the design of portable medical electronics
2/25/2011 5:46 PM EST
Other connectivity options in the module include LAN, WiFi, 3G, and WiMax, among others. Depending on the scenario where the medical device is to be used, particular connectivity features can be present. Care has to be taken such that the user is not required to perform confusing put configuring of the device for the various protocols.
Standard formats like DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communication in Medicine) can be used to communicate and ensure criticality and safety of patient data. The data has to be encrypted and transmitted over the channel to prevent potential compromise of medical data, Figure 2.
Figure 2: Top-level block diagram
The authorized personnel (caregivers) would have a secure login to access the medical data from the data centers. The comments provided by the experts are also logged on the server which forms a repository of patient data along with expert’s comments. The servers can run complex algorithms to aid the caregivers in making a diagnosis.
The algorithms can automatically diagnose certain conditions and display this to the patients and care providers. The interface to the healthcare givers should also be intuitive and easy to use. The software must be robust and error free to ensure there are no issues involving erroneous medical data.
Further, the feedback from the caregivers must be communicated to the patients. Use of equipment must provide ample benefits to patients as well as drive the cost of healthcare down. This also increases the extent of quality healthcare by breaking the geographical barriers.
The following parameters which are necessary for a patient monitor are discussed in detail:
- Electrocardiogram (ECG)
- Pulse oximeter
- Glucose monitor
- Respiratory monitor (Spirometer)
- Blood pressure monitor
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kinnar
2/28/2011 5:17 AM EST
It is really really very much required to have some iPhone kind of versatile device and platform for portable medical devices where functions of many devices can merged into one device and that too that device will be affordable upto an extent that it can be sold in every corner of the world, improving the local medical needs.
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prabhakar_deosthali
2/28/2011 7:07 AM EST
Such medical devices will be more appropriate for the developing world countries where the pathological laboratories are not too many and the cost of pathological analysis is very high. With affordable portable devices the people can do the routine health parameter checks on their own at much lower cost .
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agk
2/28/2011 10:50 AM EST
In a nut shell Cypress engineer's said about a home based basic patient monitoring system could be usefull to critically unstable healthy people. It is sure that Cypress PSoC's can be used efficienty in these applications.More information on these applications are available at Cypress website.
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Dr DSP
2/28/2011 5:03 PM EST
This is a good survey article with lots of high-level details. Look at some of the MCU guys websites for more detailed applications- even with code!
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