Journal List > J Korean Med Assoc > v.52(12) > 1042113

Park, Jeong, and Jung: Application of u-Health Under Special Situations

Abstract

u-Health is a good alternative in providing health care service under special situations where access to health care is limited. With the expansion of life space and the increase of travel, people are being put in danger across various situations on the sea, in the sky, disasters, and so on. It is not easy to provide health care in those situations, while people may still have high expectation to heath care. This gap can be narrowed by using u-Health, which is based on advanced information and communication technologies. The special situation for u-Health is where normal health care cannot be performed because of physical limitation and danger, which can be further broken down to five situations. The first is a situation on means of transportation such as ship and airplane. The second situation is when medical facilities are far away from life space, in places like backwoods. The third situation occurs on the place where it is difficult for patients to receive treatment due to restrained freedom, for example, a prison. The forth is the situation where the medical team is unable to approach easily, such as war zone and disaster area. The last special situation is the extreme environments like polar region. In order to make the u-health system more helpful for patients under special situations, there is a need for a research development and investment on sensors to measure accurate bio-signals, the network to transmit the data, and the technologies to analyze the data and to provide feedback. Therefore, institutional supports for technology development are required for further development of u-Health for people in great needs.

Figures and Tables

Figure 1
Architecture of maritime telemedicine for Korea Coast Guard.
jkma-52-1164-g001
Figure 2
MedAire's remote assistance.
jkma-52-1164-g002
Figure 2
U.S. army's mobile healthcare: BMIST.
jkma-52-1164-g003

References

1. Ji KY, Kim MK, Park JH. Demand prospect and market development of u-health. IITA Weekly Technology Trend. 2006. 1231.
2. Park RW. Development strategies of ubiquitous health care. Journal of the Korean Hospital Association. 2005. 34:84–92.
3. Lee HS, Choi MK, Kim KH. The recognition of medical providers and users on telemedicine. Health Science & Medical Technology. 2004. 30:59–66.
4. Kang SW, Lee SH, Ko YS. Coming the era of u-health. Samsung Economic Research Institute Report. 2007. 602:1–22.
5. Lim JS, Kim CY. Health problems and solving method of island residents. Korean J of Rural Med. 2002. 27:7–14.
6. Seoul Metropolitan Fire and Disaster Management Department. The present status of mountain rescue for recent three years, 2006~2008. Seoul Metropolitan Fire and Disaster Management Department's Report. 2009.
7. National Emergency Management Agency. SAFE KOREA Column. 2008.
8. Samsung Medical Center. http://www.samsunghospital.com.
9. National Emergency Management Agency. http://www.nema.go.kr.
10. Lee JK, Lee HY, Lee KS, Jeong ST, Yun JG, Moon JM, Chun BJ, Min YI, Kim JC, Han BH, Kim NK. A clinical analysis of the patients transported by EMS helicopter - In Gwangju and Jeonnam. J Korean Soc Emerg Med. 2005. 16:646–653.
11. Park HS, Jeong JW, Lee JW, Cho BG, Kim YI, Kim SK, Yeom SR, Cho SJ. Maritime remote medical advice performed by Emergency Medical Information Center in South Korea. J Korean Soc Emerg Med. 2007. 18:1–6.
12. Flesche CW, Jalowy A, Inselmann G. Telemedicine in the maritime environment-hightech with a fine tradition. Med Klin (Munich). 2004. 99:163–168.
13. Anogianakis G, Maglavera S, Pomportsis A, Bountzioukas S, Beltrame F, Orsi G. Medical emergency aid through telematics: design, implementation guidelines and analysis of user requirements for the MERMAID project. Int J Med Inform. 1998. 52:93–103.
crossref
14. Anogianakis G, Maglavera S, Pomportsis A. Relief for maritime medical emergencies through telematics. IEEE Trans Inf Technol Biomed. 1998. 2:254–260.
crossref
15. Canals ML, Gomez F, Herrador J. Maritime health in Spain: integrated services are the key. Int Marit Health. 2001. 52:104–116.
16. Choi JS. Estimating the economic cost through emergency medical guide to ships on the ocean. Busan Emergency Medical Information Center Report. 2009.
17. Crociere Mediterraneo. http://www.costacrociere.it.
18. TELESAL Project. http://www.telesal.it.
19. KISTI. Emergency patients on long-haul airline. Golbal Trends Briefing. 2002.
20. Goodwin T. In-flight medical emergencies: an overview. BMJ. 2000. 321:1338–1341.
crossref
21. Garrett JS. Experience with 1132 in-flight medical emergencies: what have we learned. 1999. Presented at South Californian Institute.
22. Ferrer-Roca O, Diaz De Leon RD, de Latorre FJ, Suarez-Delgado M, Persia LD, Cordo M. Aviation medicine: challenges for telemedicine. J Telemed Telecare. 2002. 8:1–4.
crossref
23. MedAire, Inc. http://www.medaire.com/.
24. Kokesh J, Ferguson AS, Patricoski C. Telehealth in Alaska: delivery of health care services from a specialist's perspective. Int J Circumpolar Health. 2004. 63:387–400.
crossref
25. Lee W. Robotics in laparoscopic surgery. Hanyang Medical Reviews. 2008. 29:68–74.
26. Eadie LH, Seifalian AM, Davidson BR. Telemedicine in surgery. Br J Surg. 2009. 90:647–658.
crossref
27. RYU YH. Need and control method of medical prision. Korean Society fo Correction Service. 2008. 40:181–201.
28. Hogan DE, Burstein JL, editors. Disaster medicine. 2002. 1st ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins;90–103.
29. Morris TJ, Pajak J, Havlik F, Kenyon J, Calcagni D. Battlefield Medical Information System-Tactical (BMIST): The application of mobile computing technologies to support health surveillance in the department of defense. Telemed J E Health. 2006. 12:409–416.
crossref
30. Merrell RC, Cone SW, Rafiq A. Telemedicine in extreme conditions: disasters, war, remote sites. Stud Health Technol Inform. 2009. 131:99–116.
31. Llewellyn CH. The role of telemedicine in disaster medicine. J Med Syst. 1995. 19:29–34.
crossref
32. Satava R, Angood PB, Harnett B, Macedonia C, Merrell R. The physiologic cipher at altitude: telemedicine and real-time monitoring of climbers on Mount Everest. Telemed J E Health. 2000. 6:303–313.
crossref
33. Angood PB, Satava R, Doarn C, Merrell R. E3 Group. Telemedicine at the top of the world: the 1998 and 1999 Everest extreme expeditions. Telemed J E Health. 2000. 6:315–325.
crossref
34. Rentschler ME, Platt SR, Berg K, Dumpert J, Oleynikov D, Far-ritor SM. Miniature in vivo robots for remote and harsh environments. IEEE Trans Inf Technol Biomed. 2008. 12:66–75.
crossref
TOOLS
Similar articles