Smart mobile app allows docs to treat patients remotely

MANILA, Philippines - With the help of technology, amputees in far-flung areas do not have to travel far to be evaluated by city-based doctors specializing in prosthetics.

Rural health workers caring for the disabled can now send patient data, including photos, via Smart GPRS/3G. This information can then be accessed by city doctors via Smart Bro, using a Web application that allows them to perform actual evaluation of prosthetic limb requests.

Known as the Amputee Screening via CEllphone NeTworking (ASCENT), the application is meant to support Physicians for Peace-Philippines Walking Free Program, which allows the poor to avail themselves of more affordable prosthesis, or artificial limb, fabricated by the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital.

Smart Communications Inc. had the application designed by Ateneo de Manila University and BlueBlade Technologies to provide a cheaper and efficient method of screening patients before prosthetic fitting.

Thus, the UP-PGH prosthetic team does not need to go on site to assess amputees’ readiness for prosthesis, resulting in savings on accommodations for doctors and beneficiaries.

ASCENT has Web application and mobile application components.

Rural health workers using Series 40 and Series 60 Nokia phones can run the prosthesis phone application to record data, including photos of the patient.

After the prosthesis report is reviewed and sent by the workers via Smart GPRS/3G, it is received by a java application that stores data in a central server. Data are sent at a minimal cost of P10 per 30 minutes of usage.

Images and data are saved in a file system and database, which run on MySQL. City doctors can then access this information using Web Client.

Doctors can view the detailed patient forms, showing the status of the patient, and photos of the stump - or the part of the body where the prosthesis will be fitted. They recommend if the request made for the patient will be granted, after which the prosthetic limb can be delivered to the rural area.

In addition, doctors can also immediately send important feedback to the cellphone of health workers on site, such as data on bandaging, rehabilitation, wound care and medications to facilitate prosthesis fitting and functional recovery.

The application is expected to benefit many poor amputees. There are about 1.2 million amputee patients in the Philippines who are in need of prosthesis.