Emerging wireless technologies in e-health trends, challenges, and framework design issues

In healthcare the importance of obtaining the right information, at the right time, irrespective of time and location dependency is very critical. Healthcare personnel need to access real-time medical data such as patient clinical histories, laboratory results, treatments, chronic diseases, medication, and insurance information. Therefore, healthcare is the most apt domain for the application of ubiquitous technologies. Ubiquitous healthcare aims at creating an environment where healthcare is available to everyone, everywhere through the use of technologies that would not only be pervasive but also be assimilated flawlessly in the daily lives. With large-scale wireless networks and mobile computing solutions, such as cellular 3G, Wi-Fi mesh, WiMAX, Bluetooth, RFID, and Wireless Sensor Networks, healthcare personnel can tap into vital information anywhere and at any time within the healthcare networks. Ubiquitous healthcare, although promising, there are myriad challenges associated with realizing its vision. This paper highlights some snapshots of current uses and future trends of various wireless communications in the healthcare domains, addresses their applications for e-health, states the challenges faced in a ubiquitous healthcare environment equipped with different wireless technologies, and how the resulting issues might be addressed by developing a framework that provides a flexible and convenient medical monitoring, consultation, and healthcare.