Project Proposal

Introduction:

Internet Medicine promotes professional, ethical and equitable improvement in health care delivery through the application of Internet technology. Internet Medicine is the use of medical information exchanged from one site to another via electronic communications for the health and education of the patient or health care provider and for improving patient care.
It can be broadly defined as the use of information technology to deliver medical services between distant sites. It uses information and Telecommunications technology to transfer medical information for diagnosis, therapy and education. It can include the transfer of basic patient information over computer networks (medical informatics), the transfer of images such as radiographs, Computerized Tomography (CT) scans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Ultrasound studies, pathology images, text of patient interviews and examinations, consultations with medical specialists, and health care educational activities. Internet Medicine has the potential to make a difference in the lives of many people. In remote rural areas, where a patient and the closest health professional can be hundreds of miles apart, Internet Medicine can mean access to health care where little had been available before. In emergency cases, this access can mean the difference between life and death. In particular, in those cases where fast medical response, time and specialty care is needed, Internet medicine availability can be critical.

AIM:

The aim of this study is to understand the concept of Internet Medicine, its need and benefits in healthcare along with the technological development that has enhanced its application.

The potential growth with respect to technical advancements in the field of telecommunication has triggered an enormous interest among professionals in healthcare delivery system. Today’s service providers despite of all the legal and bureaucratic issues that surround it carry this study to assess the success of implementation and the management of such a system to understand who within an organization decides whether this application would benefit them and what does it take to pursue such a matter for a successful implementation for the betterment of humanity.

Requirements:

We would be accomplishing the following:

• To set up a web page which interacts with the database to get and post the patient/doctor response and/or queries.
• The database used would be MySql or Access.
• File and Image transfer will be done.
• Online chat will be setup. This would be done using JAVA as an interactive language.
• There will also be a facility to have conference with more than two persons at the same time, but with a maximum of four.
• The files could be viewed and discussed online by doctors and patients.
• Online video streaming will be done if time permits.

Hardware Requirements:

For file transfer and data transfer we would require a scanner to scan the files and put it up on the local drive so that it could be displayed and shared with the other end.

For video streaming, we would require a video camera on either/both ends.

If we are just transferring data and posting it on the web we do not need very high speed efficiency and 52K modem would be sufficient for that.

For online chat we would need sufficient bandwidth requirements:

ISDN (Integrated Switched Digital Network)

Speed 128kb/sec

Fiber Optic

45-600Mb/sec

T1 Full or Fractional

1.54Mb/s or 378 kb/sec

ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode)

1.5 –622Mb/s

Software Requirements for User:

The chat program that will be designed will be specifically designed to be Platform Independent so that the users can use it on any kind of system whether it be Unix or Windows or BeOS.

Software/Database Used:

The following will be used for development:

Web Page: Developed using HTML and PHP3.

Online Security: Scripting for password authentication and security will be provided using encryption decryption approach in PHP3.

Database Management: MySql will be the primary database that will be used for client and users to post data and read data via the web. The images posted will also be stored on the MySql database.

On the other hand, while using the chat program the password authentication will be done through Access database that would be connected using JDBC.

Conclusion:

The primary goal of this project is not to setup a page that can hold the client information and data online and be accessible to him/her anywhere in this world, but to create an interactive client that would enable the patients and doctors to have conferences with each other and in a group to come out with a better and instantaneous solution.

In this case there would be less expenses on telephone calls between nations and the need to travel would be reduced by great extent saving time and money. In the present times, work force, time and money are crucial. In such a fast-paced world, the use of technology to provide the best health care giving faster result is a boon.

With this utility to chat and transfer files and work on the file online, all at the same time, we are creating the ability to a better and greater discussion scenario.