SENSORY SIGNAL PROCESSING ISSUES IN A TELEMEDICINE SYSTEM

Abstract

A telemedicine system will provide sustainable, comprehensive, low-cost, fast, private, and convenient access to medical consultation and diagnosis for patients from remote locations. The telemedicine system addressed in this paper consists of a sensor jacket, which is worn by the patient for medical monitoring. The signals sensed through the jacket are processed and transmitted through a public telecommunication link, to a medical professional in a hospital at distance. The medical professional interacts with the patient through audio and video links, and simultaneously examines the data transmitted by the monitoring system. Medical assessment, diagnosis, and prescription are carried out on this basis. Sensing and signal processing are paramount to providing the patient data to the medical professional in an accurate and effective manner. This paper presents some relevant issues and techniques. Specific examples of electrocardiograms and respiratory signals are provided to illustrate the applicable signal conditioning approaches. Results are presented to demonstrate the feasibility and the effectiveness of these methods.