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Issue 3, December 1997

ISSN 1368-1591

In-flight continuous vital signs telemetry via the Internet

Currently no method is available to assess a passenger condition by means of telemetry of vital signs from a commercial aircraft during an in-fight medical emergency. Critical communication channels between the airplane and ground rely only on voice communication via a two-way radio. The purpose of this study [1] was to test the efficacy of cellular telephone technology via the Internet as a cost-effective way to obtain the 'linking' pathway from an aircraft to a ground medical facility conducting a simulated online triage. On July 31, 1997 we transmitted vital signs from a Boeing 757, flying from Chicago to Los Angeles, simultaneously to The Saddle Back Memorial, in Laguna Hills, CA, Hospital Santojanni in Buenos Aires, Argentina and the Medical Department of American Airlines in Dallas/Fort Worth. Three lead EKG, heart rate, blood pressure, arterial oxygen saturation, end-tidal carbon dioxide, respiratory rate body temperature and real-time video were collected from a passenger and transmitted to each facility from the aircraft via the Internet. The hardware used consisted of a portable monitoring device, connected to a 133 MHz Pentium chip-based laptop computer, through the serial data port at 19 200 bps. A computerized vital signs simulator was also used to generate different pathological haemodynamic scenarios for the ground stations to diagnose. Access to the Internet from the aircraft was gained via the cellular phone aboard the aircraft. Audio between the aircraft and recipients was maintained through a second analog phone line. A total of twenty simulated scenarios were successfully transmitted simultaneously to all health care facilities. All data was received without any corruption with an average delay time of 1 sec. Even though the modem output can transmit as fast as 28 800 bps, it actually connected at 4 800 bps, which is the present standard for the aircraft cellular technology. Close monitoring of the patient can lead to a better understanding and assessment of a medical condition, improving in-flight patient care, accelerating the decision making process by making an early diagnosis, and correcting a life-threatening condition before the patient arrives at the destination.

Additional material (pictures, movies and media) is available at:

<URL:http://www.laparoscopy.com/in-flight/index.htm>

1 Gandsas, K, Montgomery, K, Altrudi, R, McKenas, D, Silva, Y. Vital signs monitoring from an aircraft via the Internet. In: The World Congress on the Internet in Medicine Abstract Book. 1997;CSRP 468 ISSN 1350-3162:59.

Alex Gandsas MD & Kevin Montgomery PhD
LAPAROSCOPY.COM
Michigan, USA

Society for the Internet in Medicine

Comments to: simq@cybertas.demon.co.uk

Copyright © 1997 Society for the Internet in Medicine. All rights reserved.
Date: December 7, 1997
Document URL: http://www.cybertas.demon.co.uk/simq/issue3/papers.html