Auriga Develops an App to Prevent Disabling Conditions

Telemedicine is one of the fastest growing segments in healthcare. The global telemedicine market was estimated to be worth around $17.9 billion in 2015, and it is forecast to grow at 18.7% annually from 2016 to 2022, according to P&S Market Research. that the number of patients using telemedicine services will reach 7 million by 2018, up from less than 350,000 in 2013. At Auriga, we believe that the telemedicine industry will see tremendous development in the coming years, and we are striving to deliver sophisticated and high-quality solutions to our customers.

Recently, Auriga’s team took part in the development of an automated system of remote data mining and analysis to reveal and prevent serious disabling conditions. The system collects data from patient questionnaires and remote medical devices (e.g., sphygmomanometers, pulsometers), analyzes it, and produces overall findings on a patient’s health. Based on the main insights, the user is advised to visit his/her physician, change his/her diet, increase physical activity, etc.

The most interesting feature of the system is speech synthesis. User interface voice control avoids the cost of maintaining a large call center, an obvious but outdated solution. The user’s speech is synthesized, and the responses are recognized automatically. All communication between the system and the user is recorded and transmitted to the server for further processing and storage.

An essential part of the system is a mobile application developed by Auriga’s engineers. It is a three-tier client–server solution with cloud-based storage, available for Android and iOS platforms. The application is integrated with diagnostic units, and it supports Bluetooth and WiFi communication protocols as well as VoIP communication with healthcare personnel.

The app receives user data and, when the speech is synthesized, implements the selected script logic. This scenario is a graph accumulating information about the questions asked, the possible answers, the requirements needed to proceed to the next question, and more. When all data is assembled, it is sent to the server.

Our engineering team developed and implemented a wide range of scripts, including predictive scripts for disease genesis, health and diet recommendation scripts, and scripts for nonstandard situations. For example, the system automatically triggers an alarm in case of critical data values and enables an ambulance call on voice request that provides patient GPS coordinates.

It is important to note that the solution is not directly related to the treatment or monitoring of ambulatory patients. Nevertheless, it helps to prevent the development of serious disabling conditions at early, highly treatable stages. Not only does it help physicians and specialists in their daily clinical practice; it also, and more importantly, improves patients’ chances of recovery.

Auriga’s Experience in Telemedicine Solutions Development

Auriga has been providing software development services for the MedTech industry for over 12 years. The company has made it to the list of top-10 IT services providers for health care according to the IAOP’s Global Outsourcing 100 rating for eight years in a row. In 2015, Dräger Medical, one of the global leaders in the area of medical equipment manufacturing, named Auriga “Supplier of the Year” in the “Services” category.

For many years, Auriga has been participating in the development of system-level and embedded software for medical equipment, including patient monitoring and ICU solutions, infusion pumps, and dialysis equipment. Lately, our clients have shown an increasing interest in mobile solutions (including wearable devices for health monitoring), remote health control, and hospital information systems integrated into the hospital’s infrastructure, including telemedicine systems.

One of the latest solutions Auriga has worked on is a consultation and remote monitoring system based on a multi-tier distributed SOA architecture. This system is integrated with HIS, PACS, and EMR; it enables the transmission of clinical records, lab results, prescriptions, images, clinical parameters, monitor data, and treatment plans; and it can control physicians’ schedules. Additionally, cloud storage and interoperability with other devices, such as patient monitors, X-Ray machines, CT and MRI scanners, ultrasound machines, and ECG devices, have been implemented. The solution developed by Auriga’s engineers is compliant with the HL7 standard.