Technology in Healthcare11.11 Identify methods and types of data collected in healthcare.

DatabasesElectronic collection of

informationStored and sorted by fields (such

as name, address, date of service, etc.)

Examples:◦Medical office – patient information

database◦Hospital central supply – vendor

database◦Pharmacy – prescription database

SchedulingSpecially designed software used

to schedule patients for visits.

Financial RecordsWhat type of program would most

likely be used for financial record management?

Used to perform mathematical functions.

Communication

How are computers used for communication in a healthcare setting?

Patient MonitoringOxygen levelsHeart rhythmsFetal monitorBlood pressureMany uses in healthcare

Diagnostic TestsMedical laboratory

◦Computers used for blood and urine analysis

Electrocardiogram

Stress testOthers

Diagnostic ImagingMRI – Magnetic Resonance

ImagingThis is a large magnet

A computer translates the scanned information into cross-sectional images of the body

Diagnostic ImagingCT Scan – Computerized tomographyFirst computer-based body and brain

scannerThin, cross-sectional x-rays that

produce a 3-D image

Diagnostic ImagingUltrasonographySounds waves bounce off body

structures, computer catches them and makes an image

What is this?

TelemedicineUse of video and

computer systems for interactive healthcare services in different locations.

For example, rural doctors in poor countries can communicate with specialists in medical centers across the globe.

Medical RoboticsNext time you visit a hospital, don't be surprised if a small robot passes you in the hallway on its way to pick up or deliver patient samples. RoboCourier is a self-navigating utility robot designed to remove the grunt work of distributing and collecting patient samples through a hospital. This removes the burden of the tedious and menial task of pushing a medical cart around, which is currently performed by trained medical personnel, a scarce and valuable resource.

Photo courtesy of CCS Robotics

There are many different uses for medical robotics.

Medical Robotics The da Vinci Surgical system

◦ A patient-side robotic cart with 4 arms manipulated by the surgeon and a high-definition 3D vision system.

◦ Articulating surgical instruments are mounted on the robotic arms.

◦ The surgeon’s hand movements are filtered to eliminate hand tremor and then translated into micro-movements of the instruments.

◦ The camera used in the system provides a true picture for the surgeon to see his/her work.

◦ The da Vinci System is FDA cleared for a variety of surgical procedures including surgery for prostate cancer, hysterectomy and mitral valve repair.

BioinformaticsUsed extensively in

biotechnology, bioinformatics uses computers to organize biological data in databases.

The Human Genome project was managed using bioinformatics.

The FDA uses bioinformatics in pharmaceutical research.

Summary – Healthcare DataPatient informationPharmacy recordsHospital and facility

supplies/purchasingSchedulingFinancial recordsPatient medical data monitoringDiagnostic test dataBioinformaticsAnd more….

ConclusionWhat is “telerobics”?What do you think about the

future of technology in healthcare?

What do you think are the biggest challenges to the use of technology in health care?