Proceedings Of The Second Iasted International Conference On Biomedical Engineering February 16 18 2004 Innsbruck Austria

The International Council on Medical and Care Compunetics (ICMCC) wants to emphasize the computing and networking synergies in medicine and (health)care. The term compunetics was introduced to present the union of computing and (social) networking. ICMCC wants to bring together as many aspects of medical and care compunetics as possible by forming a Global Knowledge Center. The availability of information works on both the BTB and the BTC level, as the structure will aim at both the consumers and the professionals (caregivers). Patients / consumers will be able to obtain information related to their illness or handicaps, so that they will be more knowledgeable about possible treatments and treatment alternatives. Professionals will be able to find relevant information (medical, technical, scientific) in a fast and efficient way. Industry (and more specifically SME’s) will have access to technical information from a central portal. The shifting paradigm of health from reparative to preventive will enhance the necessity of consumer related information that, when efficiently obtained, can be of great economical benefit. In a world where the need for care is growing rapidly and where it is impossible to expect a growth in the number of caregivers, information is becoming more and more crucial. Not only because an informed patient is an economic benefit, but also because awareness amongst professionals about developments in their own and related fields can save enormous amounts of money. ICMCC will build a global network of professionals in medicine and care. Clinicians, pharmacologists, managers, care practitioners, patients, policy makers, IT specialists will all be represented.

Pervasive healthcare is an emerging research discipline, focusing on the development and application of pervasive and ubiquitous computing technology for healthcare and wellness. Pervasive healthcare seeks to respond to a variety of pressures on healthcare systems, including the increased incidence of life-style related and chronic diseases, emerging consumerism in healthcare, need for empowering patients and relatives for self-care and management of their health, and need to provide seamless access for healthcare services, independent of time and place. Pervasive healthcare may be defined from two perspectives. First, it is the development and application of pervasive computing (or ubiquitous computing, ambient intelligence) technologies for healthcare, health and wellness management. Second, it seeks to make healthcare available to anyone, anytime, and anywhere by removing locational, time and other restraints while increasing both the coverage and quality of healthcare. This book proposes to define the emerging area of pervasive health and introduce key management principles, most especially knowledge management, its tools, techniques and technologies. In addition, the book takes a socio-technical, patient-centric approach which serves to emphasize the importance of a key triumvirate in healthcare management namely, the focus on people, process and technology. Last but not least the book discusses in detail a specific example of pervasive health, namely the potential use of a wireless technology solution in the monitoring of diabetic patients.

In this Special Issue on human health engineering, we invited submissions exploring recent contributions to the field of human health engineering, which is the technology used for monitoring the physical or mental health status of individuals in a variety of applications. Contributions focused on sensors, wearable hardware, algorithms, or integrated monitoring systems. We organized the different papers according to their contributions to the main aspects of the monitoring and control engineering scheme applied to human health applications, including papers focusing on measuring/sensing physiological variables, contributions describing research on the modelling of biological signals, papers highlighting health monitoring applications, and finally examples of control applications for human health. In comparison to biomedical engineering, the field of human health engineering also covers applications on healthy humans (e.g., sports, sleep, and stress) and thus not only contributes to develop technology for curing patients or supporting chronically ill people, but also more generally for disease prevention and optimizing human well-being.

Though considerable amount of research, both pre-clinical and clinical, has been conducted during recent years, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) remains one of the mysterious diseases of the 21st century. Great efforts have been made to develop pathophysiological models and to clarify the underlying pathology, and with novel instruments in genetics and transgenic techniques, the aim for finding a durable cure comes into scope. On the other hand, most pharmacological trials failed to show a benefit for ALS patients. In this book, the reader will find a compilation of state-of-the-art reviews about the etiology, epidemiology, and pathophysiology of ALS, the molecular basis of disease progression and clinical manifestations, the genetics familial ALS, as well as novel diagnostic criteria in the field of electrophysiology. An overview over all relevant pharmacological trials in ALS patients is also included, while the book concludes with a discussion on current advances and future trends in ALS research.