5^th International Conference on Medical Informatics & Telemedicine August 30-31, 2017 Prague, Czech Republic

Gamus A completed M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering, Certified System Analyst, PhD student on\r\nSynchronous Telemedicine applications in Lower Extremities Ulcerations at Tel-Aviv\r\n University, Israel. Over 25 years of experience in Telecommunications networks and\r\n Information Technologies services design and applications in Health domain. Independent Consultant for Telecommunications and Health services organizations worldwide with over 15 years\' in Telemedicine applications design and implementation.\r\n\r\n

Introduction: Lower extremities ulcers (LEU) are associated with considerable morbidity and even mortality. Their prevalence may further increase as a result of aging and its limited mobility may present a challenge to the healthcare system. Telemedicine (TM) is often defined as a process of using the information and communication technologies (ICT) to provide a remote health care to the populations where medical specialist\'s services availability is limited. The aim of the study was to assess the effectiveness of telemedicine video conferencing modality, compared to the usual face-to-face (FTF) treatment of LEU. \r\nMethods: The retrospective cohort study was conducted in Maccabi Health Services Northern District Centers, Israel, and was based on patient\'s medical records database. Consecutive visits of patients to wound care specialist for twelve-month observation period during 2015 were reviewed. Statistical analyses of cohort\'s populations and outcomes in both treatment modalities were performed using χ2 cross-tabulation, Student\'s t-test for numerical data, Binary Logistic Regression for confounding effects evaluation. Non-inferiority and equivalence of TM to FTF methods were assessed. Statistical significance of 0.05 was assumed throughout the study. All testing performed using IBM SPSS software, version 22 and WINPEPI, version 11.23. \r\nResults: A final sample of 111 patients was analyzed, telemedicine (n=55) and usual care (n=56), with 593 visits in both cohorts. No significant difference in outcome measures (healing of ulcers) between these cohorts was detected (p=0.823). Nonetheless, TM required lower number of visits compared to FTF treatment (p=0.003). Non-inferiority of TM to FTF was demonstrated within the Δ= 20% range limits. \r\nConclusions: The study results indicate that Video-Conferencing (VC) based TM may be a feasible and effective method in LEU management.\r\n

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Galina Ivanova studied Technical Cybernetics and graduated in the specialty Medical Cybernetics and Bionics. She obtained her doctorate in the field of Medical Engineering and Computer Science and worked as scientist and lecturer at the Technical University of Ilmenau where she founded and led the ”NeuroCybernetics Research Group”. Subsequently she conducted research at the Humboldt-University of Berlin, at MGH/HST Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging in Boston and at the Leibnitz Institute in Göttingen. G. Ivanova took over the position as professor for Signal and Information Analysis in the Neurosciences at Humboldt-University Berlin in 2009. Since 2015 she is leading the Group “Data Science” at the University of Leipzig and is director of the Competence Center “Biomedical Data Science” at the Institute for Applied Informatics at the same university. G. Ivanova focuses her research on the fields of biomedical signal processing, neuroimaging, multimodal data fusion as well as mobile health.

Over the last years, the use of consumer sensor devices in research and medical care has become increasingly popular. Due to their high acceptance and availability, these devices provide an unprecedented opportunity to collect objective biomedical and behavioral data at no cost continuously for an extended period of time. They are thus ideally suited for telemedicine applications and research under real-life conditions. However, the use of consumer devices also poses several technical challenges. These include the availability of raw sensor data for 3rd-party developers, accessing different types of software interfaces, the reliability and usability of the hardware interface between sensor and mobile device, quality of sensor data and battery-life. Furthermore, a number of data privacy and medical certification issues arise from the difference between producer-intended and actual use of the sensor device. In this poster, these challenges are addressed, evaluated and valid solutions are discussed. For the wearable sensor devices, various quality criteria are introduced based upon which a use case specific catalog of requirements may be written. As an example, we consider the three common use cases of fitness, health and medical applications.

Elisenda Rull Bes. B.Sc. in Nursing and M.Sc. in Nursing Sciences. PhD student in Nursing Sciences with the thesis titled: e-Health program for the follow up of the early discharge premature babies. Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Nurse since 2008 at Hospital Universitari Quirón, Dexeus. Tutor of students doing Nursing degree at Campus Docent Sant Joan de Déu since 2013. Author of e-Premature and coordinator of the research team.\r\n\r\n

Statement of the Problem: Worldwide, the preterm birth rate is estimated to be about \r\n11 per cent and about 15 million children are born preterm each year. (1, 2) The early NICU discharge has been advocated for selected preterm infants to reduce both the adverse environment of prolonged hospital stay and to encourage earlier parental involvement by empowering parents and reduce the costs of care. (3) But this early discharge need to be complemented with a follow up, in most of cases with nurse in-home visits (4). Conventional hospital-based post discharge monitoring could be improved in terms of costs and clinical effectiveness by using a telemedicine approach (5). Objective: To inform the development of a web-based and mobile application. We develop a consumer-focused e-health tool, for the follow up of the early discharge of premature babies. \r\nMethodology & Theoretical Orientation: To ensure a patient-centred e-health tool we made interviews to proposed end-users. For the clinical issues, we formed a research team with experienced NICU nurses, neonatologists and allied health professionals. We also count on one IT company for the programing and technical support. This four years’ project involves, defining the target audience and needs, software development including validation and testing the algorithm, pilot testing and refinement and end-user testing. \r\nFindings: We made a large review of the literature about interventions for the follow up of the early discharge of premature babies. To ensure the needs of the end-user we made thirteen in-depth interviews to parents of premature babies. The analysis revealed they want to get in touch with an NICU expert, emotional support and an easy use tool. The workshop with nine multidisciplinary health care professionals check the algorithms and parameterization of the alarm system, work on the evidence based health care information as well as verify the needed fields for a correct follow up. The first pilot testing was done by professional’s experts in neonatology; they check the whole tool functionality. The end-user testing was done by twenty-four parents. \r\nConclusion & Significance: This e-Health program with a patient-centred telematic tool enable the professionals of the Neonatal Intensive Care to establish a follow up program empowering the parents with the premature baby care, without the need of costly and time consuming home visits.\r\n