Pervasive Computing in Health Care: Smart Spaces and Enterprise Information Systems
W. Segmuller, N. Cohen, Barry Leiba, Archan Misra, Maria R. Ebling, Evelyn Stern · 2004
Middleware for pervasive computing is an active area of research that is now starting to mature. Prototypical systems have been developed and used for demonstration ap- plications in a number of domains. However, realistic pervasive environments of the future will need to integrate with enterprise systems, including software, hardware, databases, standards, and life cycle. Designing and implementing enterprise-strength pervasive applications today is not an easy task, as we illustrate with a simple case study of a healthcare scenario. We use the case study to draw conclusions about requirements placed on future pervasive systems. We present a scenario where context middleware, within a few years, might assist in clinical-care business practices. Patients are instrumented with vital-sign monitors and with a means of determining their location. Physicians and nurses have wireless PDAs, also instrumented with a means of determining their location. Context-aware applications help optimize physician rounds, support nurse triage, simplify the user interface to pervasive devices, provide additional data for billing reconciliation, and provide clinical communications. A physician, Dr. Able, arrives on the second floor of the hospital. A graphic appears on his PDA showing the rooms assigned to his patients. Rooms are highlighted depending on whether the patient is currently in the room, and ambulating patients are notified that the doctor is making rounds. Relatives waiting elsewhere in the hospital are also notified so that they