Android-Based Telemedicine System for Patient-Monitoring

Telemedicine systems are based on a combination of advanced remote monitoring devices, telecommunication technology, and innovative software and hardware. As mobile phones become more powerful and perform more complex interactions between mobile devices to resident software and other server-based software, they have been recognized as effective tools for Telemedicine, and the merging of the Internet and mobile computing introduces new opportunities and challenges in the Telemedicine sector. This chapter describes the development and implementation of an Android-based Telemedicine system for patient-monitoring. The system utilizes Android devices as mobile access terminals for general inquiry and patient-monitoring services. Authorized users can also browse the patients’ general data and monitor blood pressure (BP) on the Web application. The Web applications, written in PHPScript, and embedded into HTML, reside in a content server to store BP readings, patient records, clinic and hospital information, and doctors’ appointments with patients. Moreover, a customized AJAX plugin is used to handle mapping and plotting. For testing our system, an Android phone was used to connect with the biosensor device that was clutched by the patient. Data were successfully retrieved from the sensor device and displayed on the Android phone as well as the website. The system shows how the Android based application can be feasible in remote patient-monitoring and patient data retrieval.