Image and Signal Processing for Networked E-health Applications

Annotation E-Health applications facilitate the exchange of information between clinicians or between institutions, reducing costs, extending the scope and reach of medical facilities, enhancing the quality of service offered on- and off-site, and provides new means of medical supervision and preemptive medicine. Currently, the integration of medical networking and medical information systems is treated as an obvious need; standalone medical networking environments are no longer a reality and the term "telemedicine" is in practice used interchangeably with e-Health. This book provides an overview of the field of Networked e-health applications and telemedicine and its supporting technologies. Chapters focus on signals, signal processing, electroencephalogram (EEG) and the Electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG), medical imaging, as well as a look at medical signal processing and classification from the point of view of urgent medical support, where not every possible type of medical equipment is readily available. Also covered is the encoding for transmission of medical data. Compression is of central importance, as is loss of information and ways to minimize it. The final section of the book addresses the design, implementation, and operation of e-Health systems.