Telehealth technology applications hot topic at Young Engineering Professionals meeting

At the Young Engineering Professionals conference, Charles Lowe, working in the world of smart health engineering, spoke to delegates about digital health.

He discussed the applications of telecare and its capabilities. He said that telehealth tools have many applications including:

• in situ monitoring of patient environments;
• mental health purposes;
• remote consultations;
• continuous care – eg. supplying patient vital signs to doctor;
• removing the need for randomized controlled trials; and
• removing compliance issues.

Lowe says that hardware embedded into phones may be the future for telemedicine, including hardware that can monitor blood pressure, temperature, respiration and blood sugar.

There may also be scope for tracking of implantable devices such as neurological implants and pacemakers.