title: A PDA-based flexible telecommunication system for telemedicine applications.
abstract: Technology has been used to deliver health care at a distance for many years. Telemedicine is a rapidly growing area and recently there are studies devoted to prehospital care of patients in emergency cases. In this work we have developed a compact, reliable, and low cost PDA-based telecommunication device for telemedicine applications to transmit audio, still images, and vital signs from a remote site to a fixed station such as a clinic or a hospital in real time. This was achieved based on a client-server architecture. A Pocket PC, a miniature camera, and a hands-free microphone were used at the client site and a desktop computer running the Windows XP operating system was used as a server. The server was located at a fixed station. The system was implemented on TCP/IP and HTTP protocol. Field tests have shown that the system can reliably transmit still images, audio, and sample vital signs from a simulated remote site to a fixed station either via a wired or wireless network in real time. The Pocket PC was used at the client site because of its compact size, low cost and processing capabilities.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Texas, El Paso, TX 79968, USA. nazeran@ece.utep.edu
authors.forename: Homer
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nazeran
authors.forename: Sunil
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Setty
authors.forename: Emily
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Haltiwanger
authors.forename: Virgilio
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Gonzalez