Pils Final Product
Patient Interactive Communication and Learning System
In a hospital environment, patients are inundated by too many communication tools. While managing their illness, they are forced to interact with doctors/nurses/family members, telephone, television, etc.; yet the patient may still feel overwhelmed and alone. Our goal is to develop an interactive system which will combine the functions of several different communication methods into one simple system. The system will decrease the need for many types of communication tools and increase access to communication. The Patient Interactive Communication and Learning System (PILS) aims to simplify the patient's hospital communication experience by combining communication tools into one easy-to-use system. PILS will help the patient feel connected by allowing them to interactively communicate with others, learn how to manage their illness, and access entertainment media.
After examining the current hospital environment, we found two things lacking in hospital communication: emotional connections and persistency of information. PILS system was designed to address and overcome these shortcomings. First, video chat technology was introduced to leverage visual cues to promote and maintain emotional connections between patients, hospital staff, and family. Using this same video technology to allow doctors and nurses to record important information for patients provides a persistent record of the patient’s condition, empowering the patient to better understand their condition and have more control over their recovery. Adding the ability to access entertainment channels or health educational material provides everything the patient would need in one system.
The current version of PILS has been developed using JAVA SE 5.0 and the Java Media Framework (JMF). For the video and audio communication channels, we have leveraged the power of the Skype communication client. Through a generous donation of equipment from PolyVision, the PILS system demonstrates the improvements of Tomorrow’s patient care is possible with Today’s technology.
Pils Images
First poster. Mainly details process.
Our second poster highlights some of the other parts of the Pils system including the nurses call receiver and the family video box. The top graphics display what Pils would look like in an actual patient room.
The plasma display would be the main interface for doctors, nurses or family members. The doctors would have access to patient medical records through EeMR and could record video messages that could later be replayed by family members.
The interactive panel is the main interface used by the patient. This would be mounted on the patient bed and would replace the traditional nurse call box. From this unit the patient can contact the nurse, have video or phone conversations with family members, watch TV or access educational materials.
Screenshot of the main window of the patient display. The Call Nurse button is accessible on all screens in the same location, ensuring the patient can reach the nurse at all times.
Future Development
We have several features and changes on the Pils roadmap before Pils reaches 1.0 status. These include:
- Integration of video calling into Pils window either through continued use of Skype or OpenWengo, an open-source equivalent to Skype.
- Integration of video message playback into Pils window.
- Migrating the code to a native code base and using a more powerful graphics manager like OpenGL or QT.
- Integration with the PolyVision hardware that allows direct manipulation of the hardware from the Pils software (removing need for remote).
- Developing hooks to connect Pils to an electronic medical records manager like EeMR.
- Developing robust database backend for storage and retrieval of videos. Includ metadata like doctor's name and annotated records from whiteboard usage.
- Build in secure storage and access for remote retrieval.
- Extend accessibility control so system can be used for patients with a variety of needs and disabilities.
- R&D for nurse's handheld call box
PILS_final.pdf
Link to this Page
- Patient Comm last edited on 11 December 2006 at 3:38 pm by adsl-214-52-90.asm.bellsouth.net