Computers and Medicine
Computers have become more and more present in our lives. We have them at home, sometime each member of the family has one, we have them at the office and, normally, the top computers are managing transportation, heating and water systems in our houses and the list may continue.
More and more, computers are to be found in hospitals and medical facilities, as well as in almost any doctor’s office. Computers have proved to be of great help, gathering data, organizing it and doing great work in the research field. X-rays and CT are usually used to see any abnormalities inside the body of a patient. The x rays will help with one perspective, while the CT offers multidimensional images.
Doctors use both types of images in order to formulate a diagnosis for the patients they see. These images are seen using top quality computers that can even combine the images and recreate the internal structure of the body.
Another use of the computer in medicine has to do with magnetic resonance imaging. During the process, powerful magnetic fields are used to understand and map the internal structure of one patient. It is the perfect way of getting images of the soft tissues in the body, without using any kind of radiation.
Top computers aided by top software programs receive the data and interpret it, so that the doctors see exactly what is going on inside. This way the doctors are able to properly diagnose the patients without having to perform complicated surgery.
Spectroscopy is the medical procedure during which an irradiating substance is used in order to examine the reflected or transmitted radiation pattern. This radiation is collected and analyzed, so that the doctors can see what wavelengths are present or missing. This method is used when doctors want to determine the presence of poison, for example, in order to prescribe the correct treatment.
Numerous computers are used all over the world to monitor patients in hospitals. Patients are connected to computers that have all sorts of software programs installed, and with this help the doctors are able to measure the blood pressure, the level of oxygen, the pulse and many other vitally important information. In the same time, these computers will alert the doctors when something wrong is happening.
Robots that are controlled by top speed computers and software programs are used nowadays when a surgery is performed. Robots can do great work, teaming up with the doctors in the wonderful effort of saving lives. These days robots help doctors do things that they were only dreaming about a few years ago.
Not long ago, doctors used to store huge files containing all the important data of their patients. Today the storage is done in a totally different way, with the use of computers. Computer database technology is now making the storage process a lot easier. All the patients’ important files are now safely kept on huge hard disks and they can be rapidly accessed.
Internet access is used in the medical world as well, so the doctors can receive almost instantly a second opinion or may search the internet for the information they need. The diagnosis procedure is thus done a lot easier and more correctly than before.
As many of the discoveries in the medical world are uploaded on the internet, all the doctors, worldwide, may have access to the most recent discoveries. They find out about the new available treatments, the new medicines that have been launched, about the medical errors that some do and all these are of great help for preserving the life of the people.
Computers are used in the medical field not only for spectacular procedures, but also for simple things that can thus be done a lot easier and quicker. For example, a computer is used to manage the scheduling in a medical facility, so that the patients will not have to wait for long before they are seen by a doctor. The person that answers the phone call uses a computer that allows radio scheduling with the simple help of a mouse click.
A major field in medicine where computers have proved to be helping a lot is the imaging sector. Due to the development of technology, doctors may now see in detail inside of all body structures, and thus provide a correct and rapid diagnosis that in many times will save the life of the patient.
Not only are the computers extremely useful in the medical field, but also in the medical software industry. A lot of companies nowadays create programs dedicated to the use in medical facilities, where they help with monitoring, scheduling and diagnosing the patients.
The Mediasoft medical billing software is just an example from the many programs that are compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. The program manages to connect the patient invoices with the individual payments.
The Abraxas electronic medical record software is another example of an application that helps with billing, scheduling and, at the same time, does a great work collecting data from patients. This is a program that has been certified by the Commission for Health Information Technology.
Usually a less nicer handwriting will not mean too much, but when the doctor that prescribes you medicines writes in an illegible way, this can lead to some huge and life threatening errors. Software creators have thought about this aspect and with the help of the RxCure Electronic prescribing software, this risk is no longer a real one.
The electronic prescriptions are used by all the doctors that want to give their patients correct and easy to read prescriptions. The software is also saving energy, time and money, as RxCure connects directly with the pharmacies using the internet.
Binary Spectrum Physician’s appointment scheduler is rapidly bringing order in the scheduling process, so that there will never be people waiting in line to get to the doctor. In case that some of the patients need authorization from the insurance provider, this software automatically sends requests, thus saving the doctor a lot of time and energy.
The University of Pittsburg has created a picture taking monitor that has been offered a facelift. This wearable device can give information related to the eating habits of one person, and helps people count the calories they get. The device can be connected to a shirt as easy as a usual pin.
EButton includes a library of foods and can take pictures while the person is eating. The device is not yet ready to go on the market, but its creators hope to do that as soon as the device will be able to correctly detect the size of the portions of food that has irregular shapes.
More and more companies are interested in creating wearable technology. Some of the created devices have proved to be very useful in patient rehabilitation. This is the conclusion of BioMed Central and was published in a recent number of their journal.
The Italian developers have created a wearable system which uses a voltage battery that can send data to a computer via Bluetooth. The device will be useful, for example, in monitoring the exercises that the patients do at home, their posture and flexibility.
Understanding the relationship between lifestyle behaviors and health can be a real challenge for doctors; for this reason a wearable camera was created. This camera can offer new insights; it can collect information concerning the sedentary behavior, active travelling and eating behaviors of the patient.