CLAP

Cross Layer Algorithms for Phealth

 Partecipanti

Mappa

 Word cloud

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'One Laptop per Child (OLPC) is a technology research oriented educational project aiming to provide low cost information processing equipment to children around the world with new opportunities to explore, experiment and express themselves. The project was initiated by MIT Media Lab and has recently concluded the first cycle research work that resulted to the basic configuration laptop ready to be shipped. The healthcare domain is of special relevance for this project. A WSN of vital sign sensors (including electrocardiogram, blood pressure, etc.) and mobile wireless display devices (the OLPC in our case) can be employed to monitor patient health in an outpatient environment (e.g. home or care center).This research discipline is known as phealth. A number of medical wireless portable actuators (including respirators, infusion pumps, etc.) using the information of the vital sign sensors can be employed to care a patient in an emergency hospital set-up after a disaster. The OLPC project represents a new challenge for pHealth because by nature it creates electronic communities of educated users in technologically poor or even virgin environments. Health status on the other hand, together with education, represent the two major challenges for those parts of the developing world that have found (even partial) solutions on drinkable water and nutrition. An OLPC interconnected community has the means to support a prevention initiative aiming at facilitating disease management and health status control within a larger (to the community) population, by monitoring, processing and transmitting personal, ambient and environmental parameters. Today’s pHealth systems assume a technology advanced environment. Mitigating it to the OLPC reality should take into account power consumption, network bandwidth and processing limitations. On top of that the community oriented health monitoring is a novel concept, that, we introduce it here for the first time.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

An EU-funded project can make healthcare much more accessible by enabling computers distributed to underprivileged regions of the world with wireless and health-monitoring capabilities.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

Computer technology can be beneficial in third-world regions; for example, the 'One laptop per child' (OLPC) project initiated by MIT Media Lab in the US provides low-cost laptops to children to empower them through education. Closer to home, a new European initiative is building on the OLPC initiative to enhance availability of medical equipment in poorer and more remote areas of the world.

The EU-funded 'Cross layer algorithms for phealth' (CLAP) project is developing a wireless sensor network (WSN) comprising sensors that detect vital signs for healthcare purposes, to supplement OLPC equipment. Such equipment is ideal for monitoring patient health, including blood pressure and cardiac function, in an outpatient environment such as a home or care centre.

CLAP is developing a prototype based on the OLPC concept, using low-cost, low-power wireless technologies that bring rural areas closer to governments and to more advanced technology. Known as personalised health (pHealth), this is a research field for personalised medicine that allows these laptops to interface with different medical wireless portable actuators such as respirators and infusion pumps.

An OLPC-interconnected community can help facilitate disease management and health status control within a larger population by monitoring, processing and transmitting personal, ambient and environmental parameters. While today's pHealth systems assume an advanced technology environment, the project is developing technology to work under limited, third-world conditions. It is taking into account power consumption, network bandwidth and processing limitations.

The CLAP project has already transferred knowledge on WSN trends and research from MIT. It also identified the required architecture and functionality of a WSN to work in the new pHealth context, along with related services.

In short, the definition and analysis of the project requirements, usage scenarios, system design and computational algorithms were all carried out. CLAP's initial results show promising potential, and the project is planning a pilot rollout of this novel system to test in a developing country. Different candidates are currently being reviewed, many of which are OLPC villages. If all goes well, medical technology may become much more accessible to the people who need it most.