Mobile telemedicine for moving vehicle scenarios: Wireless technology options and challenges

Recent studies conclude that patient survival during a health emergency situation depends on the effective pre-hospital healthcare. Mobile telemedicine exploits different wireless network technologies in order to tackle this problem. This paper looks into the case of mobile telemedicine service provision in a moving vehicle (ambulance). The special characteristics and requirements of this operational scenario are discussed in terms of benefits and limitations in conjunction with the application of existing wireless communication systems in this case. Moreover, emerging wireless broadband communication systems and spectrum access technology are considered in the same context, in an attempt to further improve service provision and face future challenges. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.