22-09-2008, 10:36 AM
With the day to day improvement in the field of medicine the urban society is enjoying a healthy life, but for the people of rural and remote areas even the basic health care is not sufficiently available. For the rural masses to enjoy the breakthroughs in the field of medicine, 'Telemedicine' can be used. The present form of telemedicine does not suit the Indian scenario due to the described factors. To make telemedicine suitable for Indian conditions we design a low cost, efficient prototype system making use of fixed Wireless Internet. In our system we connect the remote or rural areas to the nearest well established hospital through the Fixed Wireless Internet. In the rural center, less trained medical attendant can work upon patients by the guidance given by the efficient doctor guiding him through the fixed wireless Internet.
The basic structure of our Telemedicining is achieved through a digital camcorder and VoIP enabled telephones, which are both compatible with Fixed Wireless Internet. For the effective performance of the Fixed Wireless Internet system the design criteria of the transceiver is of utmost importance. The use of Fixed Wireless Internet System as a bridge solves the problem of Band -width requirements and cost effectiveness. With these Telemedicine system remote consultations, monitoring is possible. Depending Upon the infrastructure and the Personnel available in the rural center, telesurgery can become a reality.
Introduction
Recently, the United Nation's Human Development Report 2000 was released which has praised India's human rights endeavors. In the same report, it has also been stated that the rural health profile of the country is disturbing. When the researchers are creating the map of chromosomes, the doctors in US using 'biochip', many people, from our rural India die because of unavailability of proper medical facilities. Besides the lack of willingness from the practitioners side, the paucity of health related data is a major handicap in providing medicinal facilities in a developing country like ours, having overburden of population and financial constraints. Moreover India is undergoing a demographic transition and the age groups of the older are growing faster than the age groups of the younger.
Today India counts over 70 million elderly people. Approximately 7% of the Indian population is over 60 years of age. 75% of these elderly live in rural regions and 20% are disabled to varying degrees. The average life expectation of a person born today is around 62 years. But the sad realities in India show that the greater the longevity, the higher the chances of disability and frailty. The fact that most of the government sponsored old age homes are located in urban areas clearly shows that elderly citizens of rural area do not receive proper care. It is also difficult to take them to efficient urban hospitals due to our 'kachha' roads.
Working
The computer would digitize the voice and set up an Internet protocol address which packets the data. The packet signals are converted into RF signals. Spread Spectrum technology is made use of so as not interfere with the other frequency bands existing.
Design of Fixed Wireless Internet System
The design of Fixed Wireless Internet is the most important aspect in our system as it is unique, supporting the kind of bandwidth required for sophisticated operations in our country in a cost efficient manner. So utmost care is taken in the location and design of transceivers i.e., antennas and receivers. Once the design of Fixed Wireless System is taken care of in the physical layer, the information flows in familiar well-defined protocols through the data page link and network layer and layers above them.
Antenna Design
The design and position of antenna, both for hospital center and rural center is a critical criterion for the efficient and successful working of the system. Higher gain antennas with narrow beam are made use of in our system. This reduces the interference transmissions from several remote stations.
Line Of Sight
For Fixed Wireless Internet Network to work an unobstructed LOS is needed in between transmitting and receiving points, but practically it is no possible. Following criteria are taken in to consideration for the location of transceivers.
A series of imaginary concentric circles around direct LOS between two transceivers are drawn.
