Thesis type:
Msc
Author:
Diogo Menezes Borges
Supervisor:
João Paulo Trigueiros da Silva Cunha
Title:
Telemedicine multimedia systems assistance in neurological diseases diagnosis (available here)
Abstract:
Neurodegenerative diseases are a target study of many investigation groups. There is a great interest in understanding and discovering the source of this kind of diseases, how these kind of pathologies develop and the effect it has, on a short-long term, in patients. However, this is only possible through a rigorous patient monitorization, allowing physicians to decide which treatment plan is best, and during the treatment, observe if it is having a positive or negative effect on the patient. Nevertheless, these kind of situations are not always easy to perform under the current clinical practice conditions, either by fault of the physician either because of the patient. This is due to several factors such as: the need for extensive travel, availability of “clinical time” during the different phases of the diagnosis-therapeutics-evaluation cycles, among others. Telemedicine and eHealth are one of the areas that are giving a positive response to these problems. They offer the possibility to perform a better monitorization of those treatment cycles and they are a key technology already recognized by the European Commission in their action plan for electronic health 2012-2020 [1].
Telemedicine is an area, applied to healthcare, in which a great investment has been done over the last decades. The fact it allows a physician/patient interaction, through audiovisual devices, without the need of both parties being present in the same space at the same time has made this area highly important in the cases where constant monitorization is crucial such is the case of Parkinson disease [2]. It is also possible to add devices worn by patients in order to quantify vital variables relevant to the monitorization of the treatment, such as movement sensors [3].
This thesis aims at the development of a multimedia system that will allow Parkinson disease specialists to: interact with their patients through mobile devices or webcam (if needed), acquire audio and video data obtained from small devices worn by patients, take notes about doctor/patient interactions and save all this information in an online service that can be accessed through mobile technology and the web. Thus, the doctor will be more informed about the disease’s development and have the necessary tools, allied to his medical knowledge, to apply the best treatment to the patient.
References:
[1]”eHealth Action Plan 2012-2020 ;Innovative healthcare for the 21st century”, Com.of the European Commission.COM736 Final.Available:http://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/en/news/ehealth-action-plan-2012-2020-innovative-healthcare-21st-century-[Accessed:2014.07.10]
[2] [Johns Hopkins University Address Disparities in Care Through Telemedicine. (s.d.). Obtido em Abril de 2014, de The National Parkinson Foundation: http://www.parkinson.org/About-Us/Press-Room/Press-Releases/2013/May/The-National-Parkinson-Foundation-and-Johns-Hopkin
[3] Shyamal Patel, K. L. (2009). Monitoring Motor Fluctuations in Patients with Parkinson’s disease using wearable sensors. IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN BIOMEDICINE, VOL. 13, NO. 6, 864-873
