Development of a system supporting patient supervision and treatment in contemporary home-care: status report.

The emerging amalgamation of informatics, communication technologies, and entertainment electronics in the field of Biomedical Technology combined to, first, the increase in length of the mean life expectancy, and, second, the hospitalization cost avalanche, will facilitate gradually the development of a new Hi-Tec home-care environment. We have developed a home-computer based system, addressing crucial aspects of the development of contemporary home-care that comprises of: First, the employment of low-cost commercially available components, supporting home-care patient's well-being observation, including eventually vital-signs monitoring. Second, software means for the processing, the evaluation, and the targeted transmission of the acquired health-data. Third, software tools for the planning, the documentation, and the management of the corresponding home-care case. The present paper constitutes a progress report of the ongoing development efforts.