Improving Patient Care by Unshackling Telemedicine: Adaptively Constructing Rich Wireless Communication Channels to Facilitate Continuous Remote Collaboration

Abstract

Telemedicine has had a positive impact on some aspects of patient care. However, existing telemedicine systems that use high-quality video are inflexible, requiring investment in fixed infrastructure. We have overcome a number of technical challenges to build a mobile telemedicine system that can reliably deliver high-quality video from both stationary sites and moving vehicles. Our system is constructed using custom software and off-the-shelf hardware, and opportunistically aggregates wireless data connections from different providers. We have evaluated the communication capabilities of our system in a number of realistic experiments. We are about to launch an evaluation of the clinical utility of our system. The system will be used to allow neonatal specialists to participate in the care of critically ill infants at remote sites and during transport.