Supporting medical house-call by expanding bedside in-vitro point of care test-range and attaining respiratory sounds' visualization

摘要

Although various electrical and non-electrical biosignal-monitoring miniaturized equipment have been developed, tested and employed, out of the traditional Hospital environment, it is only during the last few years that a comparable trend is appearing, concerning Laboratory and Respiratory Medicine. It is the purpose of this paper to present the development status of a system, supporting decision-making during medical house-call or similar circumstances that: First, expands bedside Point-of-Care in vitro Diagnostics testing and in vivo or in vitro samples' morphological data acquisition and processing capabilities, by employing custom developed software-tools and adjustments, on any commercially available inexpensive digital microscope and adapting it to operate also, as a reliable visual spectrophotometer. Second, provides for custom-made low-cost hardware and software means, allowing for Pulmonary-Sounds acquisition, processing and visualization, setting-up thus, a useful electronic Auscultation and Monitoring device. Both components of the system are being presently laboratory-tested under simulated home-care conditions.