Higher order spectral analysis of heart rate variability in pregnancy and postpartum.

This paper presents the study of bispectrum analysis methods of heart rate variability in normotensive pregnant and postpartum women. The self and cross spectral components are estimated from bispectrum of ECG of pregnant and postpartum women. It is observed that, very low frequency (VLF) and low frequency (LF) component coupling increases while the high frequency (HF) coupling and cross coupling between VLF-LF, VLF-HF and LF-HF decreases throughout the pregnancy. The power at very high frequencies decreases as gestation age progresses. Significant differences are found in similar and cross coupling frequency components in all three trimesters and postpartum. The results indicate that one possible discriminating dynamics for the pregnant women in all three trimesters is the absence of nonlinear interactions between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems.

Monitoring heart disease and diabetes with mobile internet communications.

A telemedicine system is described for monitoring vital signs and general health indicators of patients with cardiac and diabetic conditions. Telemetry from wireless sensors and readings from other instruments are combined into a comprehensive set of measured patient parameters. Using a combination of mobile device applications and web browser, the data can be stored, accessed, and displayed using mobile internet communications to the central server. As an extra layer of security in the data transmission, information embedded in the data is used in its verification. The paper highlights features that could be enhanced from previous systems by using alternative components or methods.

Development of m-health monitoring systems in India and Iraq.

Two separate projects have been carried out to implement m-health programs in India and Iraq, and, for each, this paper describes the work performed by the teams involved, presents results and details a number of lessons learned. In general, it is found that although India and Iraq have very different medical priorities, they pose similar issues when introducing m-health strategies.

Mobile communications for monitoring heart disease and diabetes.

This paper describes a practical development project to enable the monitoring of vital signs data obtained from patients located in remote rural locations. The data are gathered from a wireless network of sensors attached to a patient's body and stored locally for secure transmission over existing communication infrastructures to a hospital server. Clinicians are then able to monitor the patient offline and upload diagnoses.