Mobile Health (M-Health) for Tele-Wound Monitoring

This chapter describes the implementation of tele-wound monitoring (TWM) for a patient's chronic wound using a smartphone. The system proved to be quick and reliable for providing healthcare at the doorstep. The smartphone-enabled a tele-wound monitoring (TWM) framework, which is used for remote wound monitoring, has been highlighted. The TWM is effective for both rural as well as urban people; it provides good performance in terms of wound monitoring and diagnosis. The objective of this chapter is to design and develop a TWM system model that can acquire, process and monitor chronic wound-related problems by using a low-cost smartphone to increase the overall performance of the system. Specifically, the TWM system is developed for biomedical information like chronic wound processing to monitor important patient information inexpensively and accurately. The implementation is carried out using hypertext preprocessor (PHP) and MySql database and especially by Firebase cloud database, which is used for improving the efficiency.

An Integrated Approach Towards Developing Quality Mobile Health Apps for Cancer

The ever-growing demand for acquiring, managing, and exploiting patient health-related information has led to the development of several mobile health apps to support cancer patients. This chapter analyzes the clinical and technological characteristics of mobile apps enabling cancer patients to securely record, manage, and share their information online. It discusses issues relevant to increasing patient experience and acceptance, improving adherence to treatment, and effective support of coordinated care. Outcomes of recent research projects relevant to end user digital engagement, trust, interoperability, and usability/adaptability lead to an integrated approach towards developing quality mobile health apps. Improving quality of life and wellbeing in a secure and safe manner that respects the patients' privacy seems to be the key challenge. Regulation, standardization, and interoperability together with the existence of useful, accurate, and reliable tools for active patient engagement are imperative for efficient cancer disease management.

The Rise of mHealth Research in Europe

The proliferation of mhealth holds great promise for improving human health. The mhealth industry has developed into a vivid ecosystem, growing steadily over the last years with the adoption of new technologies and business models that are transforming healthcare. To this end, the European Commission launched several initiatives offering great funding opportunities for researchers and organizations. The purpose of this chapter is to provide the readers with a macroscopic analysis of the European mhealth-related funded activities of the last decade. The study examines the current situation and future trends in three main axes (innovation, area of application, and adoption) to assess whether the provided mhealth solutions are positioned to have a fundamental impact on healthcare domain. The mhealth research is accelerating fast and holds great promise, improving both patient outcomes while lowering the healthcare costs.

The Nexus of M-Health and Self-Care

Self-care emerged from the concept of health promotion in the 1970s while from 2000 onwards the term self-management gained popularity, with a greater focus on long-term conditions and the trend towards more holistic models of care. Although self-management and self-care are often used interchangeably, a distinction between the two concepts can be made. Both can be considered in terms of a continuum, with self-care at one end as “normal activity” and self-management an extension of this. Self-management support is the assistance given to patients in order to encourage daily decisions that improve health-related behaviors and clinical outcomes. The chapter envisions these concepts on a continuum with one pole representing mobile health and the other self-care. It concludes that self-management support is the nexus of mobile health and self-care.

The Science of Individuality and Tailored M-Health Communication

The era of the science of individuality promises to fully recognize the uniqueness of the individual who needs to be seen and treated with utter respect for his or her individuality. It will not be long until digitizing a person unlocks the cause for what is wrong, creating valuable knowledge that can save a life or markedly improve the quality of life. On the other hand, emerging m-health technologies provide fundamentally different ways of looking at tailored communication technology. As a result, tailored communications research is poised at a crossroads. It needs to both build on and break away from existing frameworks into new territory, realizing the necessary commitment to theory-driven research at basic, methodological, clinical, and applied levels. The chapter envisions tailored m-health communication in the context of the science of individuality, emphasizing the variability, stability, and centrality of the individual.

Mathematical Models for Computer Virus

Computer viruses have been studied for a long time both by the research and by the application communities. As computer networks and the internet became more popular from the late 1980s on, viruses quickly evolved to be able to spread through the internet by various means such as file downloading, email, exploiting security holes in software, etc. In general, epidemic models assume that individuals go through a series of states at a certain constant set of rates. Different epidemic models have been proposed based on the characteristics of the systems and the topology of the network. In this chapter, an analysis of various epidemic models will be analyzed under differential mathematical systems.

Cytopathology and the Smartphone

Since George Papanicolaou proposed the famous test pap about 60 years ago, and due to heavy impact on cervical cancer reduction, cytopathology became a popular discipline, and in some countries, a medical specialty. The microscope is still the primary device in cytopathology laboratories; however, modalities for molecular tests and networks hosting laboratory information systems and imaging systems produce enormous data. Nowadays, competing mobile devices are integrated with the environment, always connected and always on the user side. Therefore, it is expected that applications for the mobile device targeting cytopathology would flourish. There is potential for applications to various activities of the laboratory including and not limited to training, reporting of results, diagnosis and consultation, management of the laboratory, whole slide imaging and still image capture, quality control and assurance, and numerous channels for interactions between patient-doctor or among medical specialists. The mobile device can enhance the cytopathology laboratory and offer numerous benefits.

Management of Obese Pediatric Patients in the Digital Era

In this chapter, state of the art in mHealth solutions for monitoring and treatment of children suffering from obesity is presented and discussed. mHealth solutions are used for self-management, remote monitoring, and counseling of several chronic conditions including diabetes mellitus, heart failure, Parkinson's disease, etc. Concerning childhood obesity, those solutions can combine targeted games and motivational approaches towards both physical activity and diet, which could help in addressing this serious and global health issue in the direction of minimizing co-morbidities and eventually preventing serious, life-threatening events. Management of obese children requires behavior change. Multi-component intervention programs via a mobile platform can play a significant role in weight control during childhood and adolescence. In continuation of the chapter, the authors report on the newest advances in the field of digital health interventions addressing childhood obesity.

Patient Health Monitoring Using IoT

In today's world, health is one of the vital issues to solve through wireless communication technology. It should be efficient in terms of cost and reliable communication with suitable protocols. To monitor the health conditions of a patient, a mobile care system can be designed with the help of wireless sensor network using IoT. This can be done by integrating different sensors to sense physiological data from a human body and then transmit the data to a remote healthcare cloud through a smartphone as an interface. All the vital signs monitored are portable and will have the ability of short-range wireless communication. Then the data can be uploaded to the central server to keep track of the patient's health condition. In emergency, a notification will be sent to the nearest hospital by sending a warning message through mobile application.

Mobile Health Applications and Cloud Computing in Cytopathology

Modern cytopathology labs offer an outstanding portfolio of important testing services that must be of high quality and credibility. Over the last decade, clinical cytopathology was influenced by the wide implementation of computer sciences. Cytopathology labs wishing to achieve a seamless workflow process have successfully adopted automation and information management systems. Innovative information technologies, including e-health, constitute a valuable tool for interlaboratory collaboration and quality improvement. Cloud computing will enhance the opportunities in cytological data management and sharing. The authors present thorough research of mobile applications related to cytopathology and try to foresee applications that may benefit modern cytopathology. Also, the feasibility of such applications for inter-laboratory comparisons, proficiency testing, and diagnostic accuracy validation is examined. Finally, the role of mobile applications for providing and/or enhancing the laboratory capabilities through educational training and other research activities is investigated.