The ministry of public healthy of Ukraine
The higher state educational institution of Ukraine
“Ukrainian Medical Stomatological Academy”
“APPROVED”
at the meeting of the Department
of Medical Informatics, Medical Biophysics
and Bases of vital activity safety
«_29_» _august_ 2016
Minutes No. _1_
Acting Head of department,
Е.V.Silkova
__________
METHODICAL GUIDANCE
for students’ self-directed work at practical session
/
(for students’ self-directed work when preparing and during the practical session)
/
(for students’ self-directed extracurricular work)
Academic Subject
Module No 1
Medical Information Science
Processing and the analysis of the medical and biological data.
Medical knowledge and taking decisions in medicine
Topic
Safety precautions. The introduction and structure of medical
computer science. Network technologies. Bases of
telemedicine.
Year of study
2
Faculty
Dental
Number of academic 2
hours
Poltava – 2016
1. Relevance of the topic:
Informatics is the science of information and computer information systems. As an academic field it
involves the practice of information processing, and the engineering of information systems. The field
considers the interaction between humans and information alongside the construction of interfaces,
organizations, technologies and systems. It also develops its own conceptual and theoretical foundations
and utilizes foundations developed in other fields. As such, the field of informatics has great breadth and
encompasses many individual specializations, including disciplines of computer science, information
systems, information technology and statistics. Since the advent of computers, individuals and
organizations increasingly process information digitally. This has led to the study of informatics with
computational, mathematical, biological, cognitive and social aspects, including study of the social impact
of information technologies.
Telemedicine is using computer technologies in medicine, especially such sing as computer networks.
The most potent global network is Internet. It ensures to users fast access to the majority of information
resources of all world.
2. The specific aims:
To know safety precautions regulations;
To know actions in case of emergency conditions;
To have general knowledge about Information, units of information, Informatics and it’s main goals;
To know main computer network types, them features and assignment;
To know correct notation of electron address.
To know about telemedicine and it’s use;
To form the professional experience by reviewing, training and authorizing it.
3. Basic knowledge and skills necessary to study the topic (inter-disciplinary integration).
Previous (providing disciplines)
Obtainable skills
Computer Science
classification of diagnostic technologies;
distinguish methods computer diagnosis of diseases;
define the concept of information science as a science;
distinguish types of information;
explain the properties of the media.
Social medicine
To know assignment of computer programs;
Classification of diagnostic technologies;
To distinguish methods of machine diagnostics of diseases.
4. The tasks for students’ individual work
4.1.The list of basic term, parameters, characteristics, which student should master while
preparin for the class.
Term
Definition
Medical informatics
It is the intersection of information science, computer science, and health
care.
It is computer applications in medical care.
Medical cybernetics
It is control of processes in medicine and health care.
Biomedical informatics
It is research, experimental and theoretical directions, isolated from
routine activity of the doctor
The clinical informatics
It is integrally included in clinical process and is engaged of practical
problems, including development both application of security systems and
support of clinical process
Telemedicine
Usage of modern computer resources of processing and transmission of the
information between "centre" and "peripherals" of public health services
Computer networks
Local network
Intranet
Territorial network
Internet
Backbon
Server
Provider
Firewall
There are computers, communication lines between them and the programs
providing information interchange between computers on communication
lines.
It consolidates computers located of one work room (for example, school
class), one organization or one building.
Intranet is a network within the frames of the organization, using
technologies and protocols of the Internet, but accessible only for the certain
users, such as employees of the organization. Intranets also name private
networks.
Territorial network consolidates computers and controlled systems of one
organization or group of organizations, which supply, such as government
telecommunication networks, regional medical telecommunication
networks.
Internet – the world information computer network that join very large
quantity (thousands) of computer networks, cooperating by uniform rules.
The Internet is not commercial organization, belongs to nobody. Access in
the Internet have tens millions users worldwide.
Backbon ("ridge") of the network, i.e. the system of the computer centres
located in different parts the USA and other states.
The server is a computer on which programs providing access to network
resources work.
Services of the Internet are given by organizations-suppliers (providers).
Fireproof wall, firewall is the combination of the program and hardware
means forming system of protection, as a rule, from non-authorized access
from an external global network in an internal network (intranet).
4.2 Theoretical questions for the class (to the topic):
1. Safety precautions during work with computer (for users).
2. Safety requirements during work with computer (for equipment).
3. Definition of medical computer science.
4. Main task and methods of medical informatics. The goal of Medical Informatics.
5. A problem of informatization of professional medicine, its aspects.
6. Classification of diagnostic technologies.
7. Estimation of information quantity.
8. Network concept: assignment, realization, types. Main topologies.
9. Method of information transfer in global network. Modem functions.
10. E-mail. Address of e-mail.
11. Internet history. Principles of Internet work.
12. Hypertext features and assignment.
13. Services on the Internet.
14. Teleconferences: assignment, principles of work.
15. Internet medical resources. Rules of information search.
16. The importance of Internet in medical practice.
17. Telemedicine: advantages and disadvantages.
4.3 Practical tasks pertaining to the topic and to be completed during the class:
Test
1. The brain of any computer system is …
a) ALU
b) Memory
c) CPU
d) Control unit
e) None of the above
2. How many bits have 2 bytes?
a) 8
b) 16
c) 32
d) 2
e) 4
3. What program is not Internet-browser?
a) Chrome
b) Firefox
c) Opera
d) Converter
e) Explorer
4. What is the standard language of web pages on the Internet (most Web pages are created using this
language)?
a) DELPHI
b) JAVA
c) HTML
d) FTP
e) URL
5. Physical or logical arrangement of network is…
a) Topology
b) Routing
c) Networking
d) TCP
e) None of the mentioned
6. Which IP-addresses recorded correctly?
a) 825.35.48.0
b) 128/167/38/0
c) 3.24.215S23
d) 128,32,64,255
e) 85.45.64.1
7. What was the name of the first network?
a) «LAN №1»
b) Internet
c) WWW
d) ARPANET
e) Wi-Fi
Content of the topic:
Safety precautions
In the Computer Class:
1. You shouldn’t run.
2. Coats, bags and other items should be placed under your desks or on the coat rack.
3. Periodically glance away from the screen. Staring into a computer monitor too long will strain your
eyes.
4. Let a teacher know if the color scheme, font size, or other settings of your computer are causing strain
on your eyes.
5. Avoid long sessions of typing as they may cause repetitive stress injuries to your hands.
6. Maintain good posture to ease your back.
7. Be aware of the fire exits and the location of this room’s fire extinguishers.
When working inside of a computer case:
1. Don’t attempt to touch any live wires. The high voltage in this country can kill!
2. Don’t open the computer’s power supply or monitor. There is nothing inside either that can be
repaired except by a professional, but there are many things that can injure you.
3. Watch out for sharp metal edges!
In the Computer Class:
1. Please, no food or drink near the computers!
2. Always shut down the computer via Windows’ Start button. And always do it if teacher told you to
do it.
3. Use a surge protector to keep excess electric power from damaging your computer.
4. Unplug the computer or turn off the wall socket when the machine is not in use.
5. Excessive heat can damage the computers. Please ensure that the room temperature stays cool.
6. Motion can damage some computer components. Try to move laptop computers as little as possible,
especially when the hard drive or the floppy drive is whirring.
Information is that which informs. In other words, it is the answer to a question of some kind. It is also
that from which data and knowledge can be derived, as data represents values attributed to parameters, and
knowledge signifies understanding of real things or abstract concepts. As it regards data, the information's
existence is not necessarily coupled to an observer (it exists beyond an event horizon, for example), while
in the case of knowledge, the information requires a cognitive observer.
At its most fundamental, information is any propagation of cause and effect within a system. Information
is conveyed either as the content of a message or through direct or indirect observation of something. That
which is perceived can be construed as a message in its own right, and in that sense, information is always
conveyed as the content of a message.
Information can be encoded into various forms for transmission and interpretation (for example,
information may be encoded into a sequence of signs, or transmitted via a sequence of signals). It can also
be encrypted for safe storage and communication.
Information resolves uncertainty. The uncertainty of an event is measured by its probability of
occurrence and is inversely proportional to that. The more uncertain an event, the more information is
required to resolve uncertainty of that event. The bit is a basic unit of information in computing and
digital communications. A bit can have only one of two values, and may therefore be physically
implemented with a two-state device. These values are most commonly represented as either a 0 or 1. The
term bit is a portmanteau of binary digit. In information theory, the bit is equivalent to the unit Shannon,
named after Claude Shannon.
Example: information in one "fair" coin flip: log2(2/1) = 1 bit, and in two fair coin flips is log2(4/1) = 2
bits.
Units of information
Size examples
1 bit – answer to a yes/no question
1 byte – a number from 0 to 255
90 bytes: enough to store a typical line of text from a book
512 bytes = ½ KB: the typical sector of a hard disk
1024 bytes = 1 KB: the classical block size in UNIX file systems
2048 bytes = 2 KB: a CD-ROM sector
4096 bytes = 4 KB: a memory page in x86 (since Intel 80386)
4 KB: about one page of text from a novel.
Medical informatics is informatics in health care. It is a multidisciplinary field that uses health
information technology (HIT) to improve health care via any combination of higher quality, higher
efficiency (spurring lower cost and thus greater availability), and new opportunities. The disciplines
involved include information science, computer science, social science, behavioral science, management
science, and others. The NLM defines health informatics as "the interdisciplinary study of the design,
development, adoption and application of IT-based innovations in healthcare services delivery,
management and planning." It deals with the resources, devices, and methods required to optimize the
acquisition, storage, retrieval, and use of information in health and biomedicine. Health informatics tools
include amongst others computers, clinical guidelines, formal medical terminologies, and information and
communication systems.
"Medical Informatics is the science and art of modeling and recording real-world clinical concepts and
events into computable data used to derive actionable information, based on expertise in medicine,
information science, information technology, and the scholarly study of issues that impact upon the
productive use of information systems by clinical personnel." [S. Silverstein]
"Medical informatics is the study, invention and implementation of structures and algorithms to improve
communication, understanding and management of medical information."[Homer Warner]
"Medical information science is the science of using system-analytic tools to develop procedures
(algorithms) for management, process control, decision making and scientific analysis of medical
knowledge." [Ted Shortliffe]
"Medical Informatics studies the organization of medical information, the effective management of
information using computer technology, and the impact of such technology on medical research, education,
and patient care. The field explores techniques for assessing current information practices, determining
the information needs of health care providers and patients, developing interventions using computer
technology, and evaluating the impact of those interventions. This research seeks to optimize the use of
information in order to improve the quality of health care, reduce cost, provide better education for
providers and patients, and to conduct medical research more effectively." [Stephen B. Johnson].
Dr. Johnson further points out that Medical Informatics, in addition to its technologic base, needs to
provide scientific methods to study information needs, not just assume a particular technology is the answer,
and must show true impact of systems, not just develop applications or assume that things work.
The American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) has adopted as the theme of its 1999 annual
conference four concepts or cornerstones for a new information management environment for healthcare.
They point out that many of the "mega changes" in healthcare that will occur in the next decade will
concentrate on the manner and extent to which information is gathered, disseminated, managed, and used
throughout the health care system. The preeminent role of information will dramatically affect the delivery
and administration of health care and will have a profound influence on the content and techniques for
training, continuing education, and research designed to support and improve the health care system. The
development of a new robust information management paradigm will be required, and the four major
cornerstones form the core of this new paradigm.
These AMIA cornerstones can serve as a functional "definition" of medical informatics. They are:
representing medical knowledge, acquiring and presenting clinical information, managing change, and
integrating information. These are key functions well-suited for medical informatics leadership.
A view on Medical Informatics from the British Medical Journal points out the importance of improved
organization and communication of health information, and the role of medical informatics at the center of
these objectives. Medical informatics links such areas as knowledge management, guidance on best
practice, education of professionals and the public, and the use of new communication and computer
technologies. The article describes medical informatics by analogy: "In the same way that surgeons use
scalpel and needle, those involved in medical informatics use tools such as clinical guidelines, medical
languages, and information and communication systems to assist the study and dissemination of medical
knowledge."
One of the most comprehensive definitions of medical informatics available comes from the "Handbook
of Medical Informatics" [Editors: J.H. van Bemmel, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, and M.A. Musen,
Stanford Univerity, Stanford, CA]: "Medical informatics is located at the intersection of information
technology and the different disciplines of medicine and health care ... We shall also use the term health
informatics without entering into a fundamental discussion of the possible differences between medical
informatics and health informatics.
Medical informatics has both distinctly applied features and more fundamental characteristics. Just as
medicine itself is multidisciplinary, so is medical informatics. The main reason for this convergence of
disciplines is that, in principle, medical informatics deals with the whole field of medicine and health care.
Blois summarized the heterogeneity of medical science quite eloquently and related the multidisciplinary
nature of medicine directly to the basis of medical informatics: In medical informatics we develop and
assess methods and systems for the acquisition, processing, and interpretation of patient data with the help
of knowledge that is obtained in scientific research.
Computers are the vehicles used to realize these goals. In medical informatics, we deal with the entire
domain of medicine and health care, from computer-based patient records to image processing and from
primary care practices to hospitals and regions of health care. Some areas of the field are relatively
fundamental; others have an applied character. The challenge in developing methods and systems in
medical informatics is that once the systems have been made operational for one medical specialty, they
can also be transferred to some other specialty."
If medicine is to become a true information-driven enterprise and achieve the highest quality possible,
the people who "revolutionize" it must have expertise in both medicine and management of information.
It should be remembered that a license to practice medicine is a privilege earned as a result of intensive
study and abdication of the rights of leisure. Becoming a physician requires intelligence, high ability and
extreme discipline. Basic training in the Marines is far easier than the year of medical internship, which is
only a small part of the medical education process. Basic training in the Marines lasts only eight to sixteen
weeks and has fairly regular hours reserved for sleep. The internship year alone is a physical and emotional
marathon that runs 24 hours a day. Specialty training after internship, such as the residency and fellowship,
is often even more demanding.
This medical background, or the training background of other clinical specialties, supplemented with
healthcare IT expertise through medical informatics training, provides the ideal leadership qualities and
abilities for meeting the challenges of clinical computing.
NETWORKS
Computer networks are computers, communication lines between them and the programs providing
information interchange between computers on communication lines.
Computer networks can be local, distributed (other name – territorial) and global.
Local network consolidates computers located of one work room (for example, school class), one
organization or one building.
“Ring”
“Bus”
“Star”
Fig 1. Layout geometry of local network (Topology)
The local network includes the network equipment and the network software. Network interface cards
concern to the equipment. They are inserted into computers which form the network. In most cases the
interface card is installed directly in one of slots of the motherboard, and can sometimes be a part of the
separate block to which the computer is on-line. Connection of computers is carried out through appropriate
plugs of the network card. The data taken from one computer will be converted to the appropriate format
with the help of the network card, and then data are dispatched on a cable connecting computers to the
network card of other computer which obtains the data; then data will be transformed to the format, clear
for the PC, and will be dispatched them in the RAM. All these operations pass under the control of the
appropriate software which carries a name of the network operating system. The network operating
system also carries out a control of the network operation – which uses the network, what resources are in
the network, etc. The network operating system works similarly to operating systems of handle as a
computer: it is booted in the RAM and is used for execution of various services during operation of users
or applications. Only in this case services are given for the network of computers, instead of for separately
taken PC.
Intranet is a network within the frames of the organization, using technologies and protocols of the
Internet, but accessible only for the certain users, such as employees of the organization. Intranets also
name private networks.
Territorial network consolidates computers and controlled systems of one organization or group of
organizations, which supply, such as government telecommunication networks, regional medical
telecommunication networks.
Internet – the world information computer network that join very large quantity (thousands) of computer
networks, cooperating by uniform rules. The Internet is not commercial organization, belongs to nobody.
Access in the Internet have tens millions users worldwide.
Communication lines can be cables, phone lines (the medium the electrical signal is), fiber optic lines
(the information is transferred with the help of light signals), a radio communication, including satellite.
Conversion of the information from a computer for transmission on a communication circuit (and on the
contrary) is made with the help of special devices - network cards, network adapters, modems, etc.
Communication circuits can be allocated, intended only for operation of the network, or switched (the
phone lines providing temporary link through automatic telephone exchange). The transfer rate of the
information on different lines differs: below all on phone lines; but they are the most accessible and cheap.
Connection of a computer to a telephone system is carried out through the modem.
Modem (modulator/demodulator). The device which allows to transfer and accept the computer
information on a telephone line. The sending modem will transform digital data to analog signals which
can be transferred on a telephone line. The accepting modem translates analog signals back in the digital
form.
Feature of the Internet is high reliability of operation. A base part of the network is Backbone ("ridge")
of the network, i.e. the system of the computer centers located in different parts the USA and other states.
As in the Internet there is no uniform control center, this network functions even in case of failure of a part
of communication circuits and computers as transmission of the information can be carried out by different
paths.
As any other computer network, the Internet will consist of set of the computers connected among
themselves by communication circuits, and the programs installed on these computers. Though there are
some features inherent only in the Internet. The example of the conditional scheme of a part of the Internet
is resulted on figure below.
INTERNET
Services of the Internet are given by organizations-suppliers (providers); users are connected through
their computers (servers). To the network can be connected both a separate computer, and a local
network. Though only one computer of a local network connects to the Internet by the communication
line, all other computers of the given local network also are connected to the Internet through it.
Providers have many lines for connection of users and high-speed lines for link with other part of the
Internet. The maximum transfer rate of the information is provided with the suppliers on-line directly to
"backbone" of the network.
The computers connected to the Internet are named as sites or nodes of the Internet. Nodes can differ on
services which they give: access to the Internet (sites of suppliers) or allocation of the information (for
example, sites of corporations – the information on the goods and services).
There are also the search sites, providing to user’s possibility of information retrieval in the Internet.
There are the national search sites working in a narrow segment of the Internet with one–two languages of
users, and powerful systems, such, as Google, providing search and in an English-speaking segment, and
in national segments.
The gateway server is the computer connected simultaneously both to the Internet, and to other network.
Thus, the server is a computer on which programs providing access to network resources work. Network
resources - are the information placed in the network. The program-server is the program providing
data processing – storage and transmission – on the computer-server. The web-server. It is possible to
work with files and the folders placed on the web-server the same as it is done with objects in windows of
a Windows explorer or «My computer». FTP-servers can contain huge sizes of the data which are readily
available with the help of FTP protocol. Proxy server. Access through proxy server CERN is limited to
possibility of review and loading of files.
Transmission of the information in the Internet
Transmission of the information in the Internet is carried out by rigidly stipulated rules. Two main used
concepts - the address and the protocol. Any computer connected to the Internet, has the unique address,
without dependence on, whether it is connected permanently, as the server, or temporarily. This address is
used for the information transfer on a computer and in process of information interchange during each
session in the network. Special organizations are engaged in output and check of addresses, guaranteeing
uniqueness of each name. Addresses are represented by the name constructed by defined rules, and the
digital code. Names are used by users in an operating time with the Internet; digital codes are used by
computers at information transfer. Conversion of character names into digital names is made automatically
for what the computer of the user accesses to DNS servers which store DNS (Domain Name System - the
domain system of names) databases.
Names are formed on the domain system. Thus names are made of parts of a different level, is sequential
clarification layout of a computer. Each level is named as the domain; domains are separated from each
other by points, for example: www.netspace.org (the organization giving the information on educational
resources) or office.chair.umsa.ua. The domain of a top level allocates in a name more to the right, a lower
layer – more to the left.
Domain is the group of the computers forming a part of a network and using the common catalogue
database. The domain is administered as uniform object with the certain rules and procedures. Each domain
has a unique name.
Domains of a highest level correspond to the agreement on which two-letter codes designate the
countries, trigram – a sphere of activity (are usually specified in the USA, the name of the country thus is
absent). For example, ua - the denotation of Ukraine, ru or su - Russia, uk - the Great Britain, fr - France,
de - Germany. The domain com - commercial organizations, net - network organizations, edu - educational
and scientific, gov - government agencies, mil - militaries, org - other organizations. Similar trigram
denotations in domains of the second level (in front of the domain of the country) have the same sense, but
inside the indicated country.
URL address is the address unequivocally determining a resource in the Internet. URL addresses for
websites begin with a prefix http://. URL address can be more detailed, for example, specify a name of the
hypertext page usually determined on expansion .html or .htm. URL address usually begins with a name
of the protocol; then the name of the organization owning in node follows (a suffix follows designates type
of the organization).
For example, http: // www.yale.edu/address contains the following data:
http: the given web-server uses HTTP protocol;
www: the given node is in the Internet;
edu: the given website belongs to educational establishment.
The extreme left domain can designate the type of the information stored to the indicated address. So,
www.evms.edu address is a page of East-Virgine medical school in the World Wide Web,
ftp.microsoft.com is a ftp-server (a file store) of the Microsoft corporation.
The majority of large firms have the pages in the World Wide Web, which have the addresses including
a name of the company more often, before which there is a name www (the type of the information - WEBpage), and after a name of the company - a name com.
INTERNET AND WEB-BASED MEDICAL COMMUNICATION
Despite the tremendous growth of the Internet and the vast amount of information available to medical
practitioners, busy physicians (especially those in clinical practice) have little time to spend exploring the
Internet. In some cases, physicians simply do not know how to access required medical information in the
best and fastest possible way. Many physicians do not know how beneficial the Internet can be for their
medical careers, especially in such areas as patient care, academic work, or research.
More-informed patients often have a more favorable prognosis, and doctors can help make patients better
informed by supplying reliable Internet sites. Researchers at University of Iowa tested the benefits of an
“Internet prescription”, or a list of Web addresses containing information relevant to patients' medical
conditions. In the study, patients and their families that received such information were more likely to use
the Internet to find health information than patients who were not. One of every 3 parents receiving Internet
prescriptions for their child's health said they used it. Also, 66% of the health-related Web sites used by
parents in the prescription group were sites recommended by the physicians.
In conclusion, the Internet and Web has had important impact in the practice of medicine. Physicians
need to know the importance of this media and how to use it in a pragmatic and efficient way. Many
physicians believe that they save personal time by using the Internet and that they can use the Internet for
better practice of medicine. Also they can have easy access to clinical guidelines, journal contents, and
reference textbooks and even provide patients with educational materials. Physicians will be able to obtain
information on state-of-the-art conferences and have direct communication with other physicians and
specialists or practice telemedicine, thereby expanding the depth and extent of medical knowledge and
providing better diagnosis and patient care.
International information networks
Computer local information systems are united with the help of the Internet.
Now there are readily available databases POISINDEX, TOXNET, MEDLINE, EUROTXNET, etc. c
the most detailed accompanying information on application. Especially the Internet is useful to patients
who can to address, practically, to all world community behind the help. Statistics shows, that the majority
of patients access on questions of oncology.
In the USA there is noncommercial organization Med Help International (<http: // medhlp.netusa.net/>).
Access to the server is free and information interchange between patients and doctors is possible.
EDUCATION
Creation of a wide-area network the Internet has created completely new possibilities in an education
system.
"Virtual" education is the modern form of instruction by correspondence. The pupils, who are not having
possibilities to visit occupation because of remoteness from school or physical inability, are trained through
the Internet, not quitting from a house. After graduation examination they receive valid certificates.
Since 1983 in the USA reform of an education system began. At university of state Colorado (400000
students), at the Californian university (500000 students) and at a number of other educational institutions
students communicate with teachers and faculties with the help of communication networks.
Since September, 1, 1999 in Russia the official virtual high school began to work. Its pupils can receive
the certificate about the finished secondary education. In Moscow state university of economy, statistics
and computer science about 40000 students are trained remotely.
In Ukraine one of leaders - is the Kharkov University of Radio Electronics. Teachers communicate with
students on e-mail and in on-line mode. For this purpose, there are electronic textbooks.
The remote form of training – is obtaining of educational services without visiting to higher educational
institution, with the help of modern informational-educational technologies and systems of
telecommunication, such as the e-mail, a television and the Internet. Thus testing also can be remotely.
It allows the modern specialist to study practically all life, without special business trips, holidays,
combining study with base activity. It is possible to study, being practically in any point of globe where
there is a computer and the Internet. Cost of remote training makes 50-60 % from cost of resident
instruction.
The remote form of education demands from the student of the large independent load.
Remote training is used actively in training to computer science and in adjacent areas. In medicine
integrate virtual and remote training is impossible, therefore it is used as addition to main – classical – the
form of training and for post-graduate educations, advanced training of professional skill of doctors.
The Dark Side of Telemedicine – Hacking into Medical Data
People worry that the string of numbers that identify their credit card accounts, if sent via the Net, could
be intercepted by hackers to finance the purchases of strangers.
In a telemedicine a worse problem is the potential for illegal access and misuse of online medical or
psychiatric data, whether in transit or stored.
People with long-term diseases like diabetes, or even those only genetically predisposed to them, could
lose job opportunities and be rebuffed for insurance if information stolen from data banks were sold to
corporate bidders.
Politicians and celebrities would be particularly susceptible to scandals and blackmail arising from
intercepted data. More distant in time, patients relying upon intravenously delivered medicine, remotely
controlled via the Net, could have their lives threatened by a cyber-attacker who altered their medicinal
flow rate.
Benefits of online medicine
Telemedicine uses technology to provide an alternative to traditional, in-person physician visits, and
provide medical care at a patient's location, regardless of the location of the medical team.
Computer scientists familiar with the medical field believe that within the next five years, computers at
remote locations will control vital sign monitoring and limited types of medical treatment. Medical care
will travel with patients, whether they are in the home, the office, or on travel, so their electronic medical
records must be accessible from any location.
Sensors attached to patients will transmit signals to computers, either in the home or at a remote location,
for state-of-health analysis. Because these vital-signs sensors will be non-invasive and comfortable to wear,
they will acquire medical information from the patient around the clock instead of a few times a day. This
approach to continuous physiological monitoring and trend analysis will lead to a preventive health care
model where the future health of an individual will be predicted based on information acquired from these
sensors. This differs from the primary care delivery model employed today, where a patient visits a
physician only after suffering discomfort or experiencing a health emergency.
Fireproof wall, firewall is the combination of the program and hardware means forming system of
protection, as a rule, from non-authorized access from an external global network in an internal network
(intranet). The firewall prevents a direct communication between an internal network and external
computers, passing the network traffic through a proxy-server which is taking place outside of a network.
The proxy-server defines, whether it is necessary to allow to a file to get in an internal network. The
fireproof wall refers to also as a sluice of safety. In Windows XP and later internal firewall is present.
TELEMEDICINE
Telemedicine – is usage of modern computer resources of processing and transmission of the
information between "center" and "peripherals" of public health services.
The primary goals of a telemedicine - to enable doctors of small cities and settlements to consult for
experts at medical centers of capitals and regional centers, to transfer case histories from one clinic in
another, to carry out nation-wide and international medical computer conferences, courses of improvement
of qualification of doctors "on the job".
The potential advantages are obvious in dispersed communities, or when patient transportation is a
problem.
Telemedicine is distance consultation among health
professionals or between health professionals and patients by
use of telecommunications technology such as real-time
audio or visual systems, most notably video conferencing.
The potential advantages are obvious in dispersed
communities, where expertise is thinly spread, and when
traveling is difficult or inconvenient for doctor or patient.
Uses are wide and varied and include direct interview and
history taking, observation of physical signs, and distance
reporting of imaging procedures. The location of
consultation varies from hospital inpatient and outpatient settings, to broader residential and home settings,
and even outer space.
Some hospitals in the United States are using broadband technology to improve patient care and cope
with a national shortage of physicians in certain specialties. For example, in one hospital in California,
patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) are monitored by doctors a mile away in a control room called the
ICU. With advancing communications protocols, neurologists can view their patients' radiology images
and diagnose their diseases from remote locations. Even computer-assisted neurosurgery is possible.
Types of telemedicine
Telemedicine can be broken into three main categories: store-and-forward, remote monitoring and
interactive services.