Design and implementation of a virtual assistant for healthcare professionals using pervasive computing technologies

With the advancement of hand-held devices, wireless and sensor network pervasive computing has achieved a perfect momentum. Formerly, a requirement existed that was a serious impediment and threat to the mobility of users – the necessary presence of a fixed wired network. This has been resolved by the recent advances in wireless and mobile technologies, particularly Bluetooth and WiFi. The advancement of available, portable, low cost mobile devices (PDAs, cell phones, etc.) has resulted in the user's mobility at unprecedented levels. As these devices can communicate with one another, the combined capabilities can be leveraged to form a useful new set of tools. Presently, pervasive computing is being extended into the sophisticated healthcare sector with the promise of providing an easier and more efficient mode of communication between physicians and patients or between the physicians themselves. In this paper we provide the details of our application 'Healthcare Aide', which has been designed to provide not only more convenience for doctor – doctor, resident doctor – doctor, patient – doctor and nurse – doctor interaction but also a smooth pathway for real-time decision making. Our pervasive middleware MARKS (Middleware Adaptability for Resource Discovery, Knowledge Usability and Self-healing) provides the underlying support for this application in a completely transparent manner. In this paper, we have also presented our survey results from users' point of view along with performance analysis.Die technologischen Fortschritte bei Pocketcomputern, drahtlosen Netzwerken (insbesondere Bluetooth und WiFi) und Sensoren ermöglichen die weitgehende Unterstützung der Mobilität von Benutzern – dort wo früher Einschränkungen aufgrund fest verlegter Netzwerkkabel bestanden. Da Pocketcomputer immer leistungsfähiger und preiswerter werden und auch miteinander problemlos kommunizieren können, verspricht die Entwicklung entsprechender Applikationen Unterstützung im Bereich des Gesundheitswesens. In diesem Beitrag präsentieren die Autoren Details zur Anwendung "Healthcare Aide", die zur Interaktion und Echtzeit-Entscheidungsfindung bei Arzt – Arzt, Patient – Arzt, Schwester – Arzt verwendet werden kann. Die Middleware MARKS stellt die technische Plattform für diese Anwendung dar. In diesem Beitrag werden darüber hinaus Studienergebnisse aus der Sicht der Benutzer zusammen mit einer Performanzanalyse präsentiert.