using smartphones in healthcare and to save lives
DESCRIPTION
Panel discussion - Gabor Kiss, Obuda University, HungaryTRANSCRIPT
INTRODUCTION
Nowadays the use of smartphones gets more and more widespread in the whole world.
INTRODUCTION
• Smartphones today are provided with lots of knowledge and due to their operating systems they can easily be extended with new functions.
• They are usually supplied with GPS receivers, gyroscopes and cameras and they also have access to the Internet.
These attributes have aroused the interest in how people could use a smartphone nowadays to satisfy the need that appears more and more often that is to live a healthier life.
Since people have such appliances with them all the time, they should exploit the opportunities hidden in them.
What about the fields in which these functions could be made a good use of once they have been built in smartphones?
A HEALTHIER LIFE
• Proper nutrition• Regular fluid intake• Exercise
Proper nutrition
People should try to intake just as much food and drink as they need at that very moment to preserve their life cycles. People should simply compensate for the energy they have used since their previous meals. It certainly depends on what types of activities they have performed (sports, physical work, sitting while working, sleeping… etc.) and also how much energy their bodies basically need to sustain the biological processes (individual value).
How could smartphones help moderation?
Proper nutrition
The smartphone should also know how many calories people need. It could count it on the basis of their weight, percentage of bodily fat, age, sex, height and it also has to take into consideration how much they actually move and what type of work they do. Some of the values can be measured and indicated but it is more difficult to calculate the daily motion. To do so, people need the help of their phones. They could tell how many minutes it took them to walk to work, how much time they have spent standing, sitting, doing sports, sleeping… etc. On the basis of these figures they could reckon how much energy intake they will need.
Proper nutrition
A simple application needs the data of the types of the movements and the time spent doing them. On the basis of these data a smartphone could count the amount of calories users need. Then the types of food that the users want to have could be named or selected from a list and the application could count how many gramms of it they can consume to compensate for the energy used.
Proper nutrition
Proper nutrition
Proper nutrition
In a complex application smartphones could get to know when their users were jogging, walking, travelling and standing on the basis of the GPS co-ordinates and the measured speed and they could calculate the time spent relaxing with the help of a gyroscope (it can recognize the act of going to bed or sitting down). If the GPS co-ordinates are changing quickly but they are not connected to the movements of the body, people are travelling and so they need just a basic amount of calories to sustain their biological processes.
Proper nutrition
Portable sensors that are able to communicate wireless could provide further data about the momentary state of health and need for fluid and calories. After the evaluation of this data smartphones could count people’s calorific needs between two meals quite reliably. Now people should only get to know how much they should eat of what they want. With the help of their cameras these phones could even make an attempt to recognize the type of the given food and could indicate the calorific needs for it. For instance when a user starts eating some Milanese macaroni, his phone either recognizes what type of food he has in front of him or he could select it from a list.
Proper nutrition
What smartphone sets could also assist their users with is to recognize how much food they have already had, how many times they have lifted their forks to their mouths and how much food they have put on their forks. The appliances could give a sign that their users have had enough and should put down their spoons, knives, forks, chopsticks… etc. They should stop eating because they would only intake superfluous calories that their bodies can not make use of. The recognition of the types of food and the measurement of the calories that users need could be processed automatically.
Regular fluid intake
In this rushing world people fail to take the sufficient amount of liquid most of the time. They consume 1.5-2 litres of fluid instead of the recommended 3-4 litres. As it has already been discussed in connection with food intake, smartphones could recognize how much and what type of drink their users have had and could give signals when they have reached the sufficient amount and also warn them if they have not had enough to drink that day.
Regular fluid intake
A more simple method is sensory monitoring.This application would be more user-friendly. Smartphone users have to make a connection between their phones and the sensors to obtain the measured values of the different sensors. Since the activity depends on how much fluid a user needs, a portable sensor that could communicate wireless could measure the amount of liquid leaving his body through his skin and the apparatus could modify the required amount with regard to this data.
Regular fluid intake
The composition of people’s blood could also be constantly checked with the help of various sensors. If their blood is not diluted enough, there is not enough liquid in their bodies. Having evaluated the values of the sensors smartphone sets could again give signals in time to compensate for the lost amount of liquid by continuously checking the values measured by the sensors.
Exercise
Muscles and bones require burdening so that they will not become weak; their ’maintenance’ is indispensable since the muscles hold and move the bones. The built in sensors (GPS receivers and gyroscopes) make it possible for smartphones to recognize the kind of activity their users perform, for instance walking, jogging, cycling, working out in the gym… etc. Certainly smartphone users could also select the type of activity they are about to start. In this case they should only pay attention to the time spent doing sports, so that they could calculate when their phone sets should signal to them to stop on the basis of an average energy need and muscle work.
Exercise
When the users have indicated or their smartphones have recognized the kind of activity the users are performing, the appliances could calculate how much time their users should spend doing this type of exercise to keep the given muscles in good condition on the basis of their individual data (weight, height, age, sex, percentage of bodily fat… etc).
Exercise
Naturally, it is not enough to keep muscles and bones in a good condition. People have to pay attention to the fact that they need cardio-trainings to be inserted in their daily routines since they need to train their hearts, too. But here they have to make sure that they decrease the burden gradually once they have reached their maximum individual pulse rates during a training session. The maximum heart rate depends on age, sex, the type of activity (eg. jogging, swimming, cycling…etc.), weight, percentage of bodily fat and height.
Exercise
The maximum pulse rate to which burden can be increased and also the time span of burden depend on how trained people are. An endurance test can determine the maximum individual pulse rate and it can also be found out with the help of a sphygmograph during a training session. When a phone user has achieved his maximum pulse rate, he has to decrease the burden of the heart and so gradually decrease the pulse rate, otherwise it can lead to indisposition, unconsciousness or incidentally to death.
Exercise
It is important to establish the maximum pulse rates for sportspeople as well as for everyday people and it is vital to signal when to stop working out by decreasing the burden gradually. The problem could be solved if the smartphone users’ sets are attached to sphygmographs and if the individual maximum pulse rates are set in the phones. The appliances could give signals when the given values are reached and they also display information concerning the degree and the process of decreasing the burden.
Exercise
The bodies of people suffering from heart disease can be burdened with the 60-80% of their maximum pulse rates. These values are determined on a scale and doctors can inform their patients of them once their diseases have been recognized. In this case the modified values have to be set in the smartphone sets.
DISEASE
At the topic of proper nutrition it has already been discussed how a smartphone could determine the proper quantity of food named by its user or recognized by itself so that the phone user will not intake any superfluous calories.
He can even attempt to lose some weight with its help.
The composition of nutriments and also their quantity can differ in case of various diseases.
DISEASE
Nephropathic patients can intake less protein than healthy people. Smartphones could even help them with choosing the right food by displaying them in a list that shows which food contains the right amount of or rate of protein; the phones could also determine the quantity to be taken on the basis of the measured values mentioned before (necessary calory intake).
DISEASE
People suffering from hepatopathiaor kidney disease, bilious complaint or pancreatic disease can eat only low-fat and unseasoned food. Smartphone users could take a picture of the chosen food and the appliances could compare the pictures with other pictures in the database on the Internet. When the phones have recognized the types of the food, they could analyse the ingredients and could make signals if the food is not healthy for the users.
DISEASE
People suffering from diabetes are obliged to intake a decreased amount of carbohydrate. It is very important for them to decide upon the amount of carbohydrate on the basis of what type of activity they will be doing, for instance they have to take more carbohydrate before doing sports. A smartphone appliance could again assist its user since he could tell the phone what type of activity he would like to perform and for how long and also how much insulin he usually has to take. On the basis of all these information the amount of carbohydrate that is needed due to the different burdening can be calculated.
DISEASE
Smartphones could be used to signal if their users have to take a given medicament and they could make sure the different medications do not neutralize or reinforce their effects by indicating when to take them to avoid the undesired consequences.
Patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease could be warned to eat, drink and take medication on the basis of a given regularity.
LIFE-SAVING
Smartphones could be applied for observation and giving distress signals in the case of sick people living alone or in the case of the sick people whose relatives work during the day and can not look after them. The roles of the smartphones are revaluated in the case of sick old people living alone or being alone at home without any help. These appliances could be used to give out warnings to eat, drink or take medicine and are useful in other fields as well due to the fact that they process the data of the connected portable sensors that are able to communicate wireless.
LIFE-SAVING
The sensors could perceive the changes of the cardiac rhythm, the rise of body temperature, the oxygen level in the blood, the respiratory rate… etc. Having processed the data of the connected sensors a smartphone could send a message to the patient’s relatives in case of a possible indisposition; it may contain the data of the type and the duration of the indisposition. The oxygen level in the blood can be measured with a pulsoxymeter and its changing can refer to various diseases.
LIFE-SAVING
For example the hurried inspiration of an asthmatic can mean an attack. If the pulsoxymeter measures a big change in the oxygen level in the blood, it could make a signal and/or send a message to the screen of the phone after evaluating the data. On the basis of the signals of a smartphone the family members could call the ambulance or hurry home depending on the degree of the disposition.
LIFE-SAVING
It might happen that a patient loses consciousness on the occasion of an indisposition. In this case a smartphone apparatus could recognize the sudden change of the bodily position after evaluating the data of the built-in gyroscope and could decide on the level of the seriousness of the situation by evaluating the values measured by the sensors. If the change of the bodily position is the consequence of a sudden fall and the patient’s state of health is satisfactory according to the measured values, it is still worth making a note of this event by the phone so that it will be able to analyse an incidental aftermath.
LIFE-SAVING
If there is a change in the pulse rate apart from the natural rise caused by the fright at the fall or if the pulse rate stays high for long, it has to be analysed since there can be a fracture or an internal haemorrhage in the background. In such cases a smartphone could write information on the screen about the patient’s precise condition, the measured data and the GPS co-ordinates with the help of the built-in GPS receiver. It could also supply individual information about blood-group, drug allergy…etc. in the light of which the ambulance doctor can get prepared to examine a particular part of the patient’s body and to attend the patient more properly.
LIFE-SAVING
It is also worth sending a message to the ambulance if the fall is the consequence of losing consciousness; the measured data, the patient’s condition and the GPS co-ordinates can be life-saving information since the people surrounding them rarely recognize the seriousness of the situation if there is anyone around them at all and the event does not take place at home when they are alone. The phone could draw the attention to its display by giving out loud signals; it can contain vital, life-saving instructions that can help keeping the patient alive until the ambulance arrives.
LIFE-SAVING
If a car driver loses consciousness, it is not only his life but also the lives of other people that will be endangered. In case of indisposition the phone could send instructions to the vehicle to take over the control from the driver and not to allow him to use the steering wheel or the pedals; the vehicle itself is to use them properly. The car is to switch on the hazard warning indicator and the phone will drive the vehicle off the road to its edge while gradually decreasing the speed and paying attention to the position and the movements of the surrounding vehicles, objects, people and other living creatures. In the meantime the phone set could also call the ambulance and send the information about the precise location and the measured data.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR KIND ATTENTION!