Design of an Enhanced 3G-Based Mobile Healthcare System

Abstract

An enhanced mobile healthcare multi-collaborative system operating over Third Generation (3G) mobile networks is presented. This chapter describes the design and use of this system in different medical and critical emergency scenarios provided with universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) accesses. In these environments, it is designed to communicate healthcare personnel with medical specialists in a remote hospital. The system architecture is based on advanced signalling protocols that allow multimedia multi-collaborative conferences in IPv4/IPv6 3G scenarios. The system offers real-time transmission of medical data and videoconference, together with other non real-time services. It has been optimized specifically to operate over 3G mobile networks using the most appropriate codecs. Evaluation results show a reliable performance over IPv4 UMTS accesses (64 Kbps in the uplink). In the future, advances in m-Health systems will make easier for mobile patients to interactively get the medical attention and advice they need.