1-06_Survey Paper-Medical Applications of Wireless

SurveyPaper:MedicalApplicationsofWirelessNetworksIbrahimNoorzaie,[e-mail]:Withrecentdevelopmentsinthewirelessnetworksfield,newandinnovativemedicalapplicationsbasedonthistechnologyarebeingdevelopedintheresearchaswellascommercialsectors.Thistrendhasjuststartedandwepredictwirelessnetworksaregoingtobecomeanintegralpartofmedicalsolutionsduetoitsbenefitsincuttingdownhealthcarecostsandincreasingaccessibilityforpatientsaswellashealthcareprofessionals.Inthissurveypaperwegivesomebackgroundonapplicationsofwirelessnetworksinthemedicalfieldanddiscusstheissuesandchallenges.Wehavealsotriedtoidentifysomeofthestandardsinuse.Anothercontributionduetothispaperistheidentificationofinnovativemedicalapplicationsofwirelessnetworksdevelopedorcurrentlybeingdevelopedintheresearchandbusinesssectors.Intheendwealsotalkaboutthefuturetrendsinthisfield.Keywords:medicalapplicationssurvey,medicalapplications,wirelessnetworks,sensornetworks,wirelessapplications,wirelesshomecare,smarthomes,WBAN,patientmanagement,CodeBlue,wirelessmedicalsolutions,WashingtonUniversityinSt.LouisBacktoRajJain'sHomePageTableofContents:1.Introduction1.1WhyWirelessNetworksforMedicalApplications?1.2WhoBenefits?2.ChallengesandIssues3.WirelessNetworksTechnologiesinUse3.1WirelessTechnologiesinUse-CurrentandPast4.Standards5.ResearchApplications5.1CodeBlue5.2MobiHealth5.3WirelessPhysiologicalSensorsforAmbulatoryandImplantableApplications5.4ProjectConnect6.IndustryApplications6.1LifeSyncWirelessECGSystem6.2Airborne(TM)EmbeddedWirelessDeviceServerModulesandRadios6.3ecgAnywhere6.4LifeSourceProducts6.5HealthTrax7.FutureTrends7.1PatientHomecarePage1of16IbrahimNoorzaie-SurveyPaperonMedicalApplicationsofwirelessnetworks5/9/2006file://X:\7.2Context-SensitiveMedicine7.3iReviveSummaryReferencesListofAcronymsDateLastModified:4/24/2006ViewthecompletereportonlineAdobeacrobat(pdf)versionhere1.IntroductionWirelessnetworkstechnologyhasbeenconsistentlyimprovingwithtimeandincreasinglyfindingitswayintoallaspectsofourdailylives.MedicalapplicationsisafieldwheretechnologiessuchasWirelessNetworkinghaveapromisingfuture.Inthehealthcarefield,accessandcostsavingaretwoofthehottestissuesthesedays.WirelessTechnologieshavesomethingtocontributetowardshelpingwithbothoftheseissues.ThehealthcaresystemiscontinuouslygettingmorecomplexaroundtheworldbutespeciallyintheUnitedStates.Upto98,000patientsdieeachyearasaresultofpreventablemedicalerrors[Vawdrey03].Theseareerrorsthatcouldhavebeenavoided.Thesadstoryisthatphysiciansandcliniciansmostofthetimeprovidepatientcarewithoutknowinghistoryofprescriptionsandmedicalprocedures,resultingbothwastefulduplicationandsketchyclinicaldecisionsthatdonottakeintoaccountcriticaldatarelatedtopatienthealth.Wirelesstechnologyofferstoolsthatcanhelpwithsuchsituations.Thesetoolscanhelpgivecaregiversreal-timeaccesstoaccuratepatientdata,clinicalhistories,treatments,medications,tests,labresults,insuranceinformationandetc.Withallthisdiscussionofwirelessapplications,healthcareproviderssuchashospitals,insuranceagenciesandthegovernmentarebecominginterestedininvestinginthisarea.Costsavingisoneofthemainfactorsbecausemedicalerrorsbydoctorsbringsinlawsuits.Patientandhospitalmanagementcanbeveryexpensivetoo.InthissurveypaperwewillbetalkingaboutapplicationsofwirelessnetworksintheMedicalfield.Wewillstartoutwithsomediscussiononissuesandchallengesinthemedicalfield.Thenwewilltalkaboutsomeofthewirelesstechnologiescurrentlyinuse.Afterwards,wewillpresentexampleapplicationsofwirelessnetworksintheresearchandcommercialsectors.Intheendwewilltalkaboutfuturetrendsandendwithasummary.1.1WhyWirelessNetworksforMedicalApplicationsDuetoadvancesinthewirelessnetworksfield,newandinnovativeapplicationsarebeingthoughtofinmedicalaswellashealthcarefield.Inthemedicalfieldapplicationsrangingfromequipmentmanagementtopatientmanagementarebeingdeveloped.Efficiencyamonghospitalstaffisincreasedbyusingsomeofthesenewlyavailableapplicationsandtools.Inthehealthcarefield,issuessuchaslong-termpatientcare,supportforelderlypeopleandsmarthomesarebeingdiscussedintherealmofwirelessnetworks.Thereisalsoresearchbeingdoneoncreatingteletraumasystems[Chu04]usingthePage2of16IbrahimNoorzaie-SurveyPaperonMedicalApplicationsofwirelessnetworks5/9/2006file://X:\