I.

INTRODUCTION

Cloudcomputingisanewtechnologythatcanbeintegratedwithhealthcaremonitoringsystem.Thiscloud
servercanbeahugehelptothehealthorganizationsincriticalsituationwheretheyneedtherecordsofpatient
immediately.Foraneffectivehealthmonitoringsystem,thecloudisusedtomonitorthepatienthealthcondition
overthetime.Hence,thecloudactasvirtualserverthatstorespatientsrecordswhichcausesserioustreatsto
securityandprivacy.

Inthispaper,wearegoingtodiscussfurtheroncloudcomputingandhealthmonitoringinsuchaspects
likehowdoesthecouldmonitoroneshealth,theimplementationaswellastheadvantagesandthedrawbacksof
thissystem.

II.DEFINITION

A. CLOUDCOMPUTING

CloudcomputingisactuallyasharingofinformationordatatootherdevicesusingInternetbased.
NISTdefinescloudcomputingasAmodelforenablingubiquitous,convenient,ondemandnetworkaccessto
asharedpoolofconfigurablecomputingresourcesthatcanberapidlyprovisionedandreleasedwithminimal
managementeffortorserviceproviderinteraction.ThismeansthatonescanshareinformationovertheInternet
withanindependentdevice.

Figure1

Noblin, CortelyouWard, & M. Servan(2015), National Institute of Technology(2011), Huth &

Cebula(2014)andICTQatar(n.d.)point outthat therearefourtypesofcloudthat actuallyworks: public,
private,hybridandcommunity.Thesefourprovidegroundworkregardingthepersonwhoisgoingtooperate
andmanageorwhoisabletosharetheinformationwithinthecloud.

1. Publiccloud:ApubliccloudcanbeaccessedbyanyoneovertheInternet.Thisisanopenmodelthat
thecloudproviderprovidesthedatasecurity.
2. Private cloud: A private cloud is established exclusively for a specific organization comprising a
numberofconsumersandlimitsaccesstojustthatgroup.
3. Communitycloud:Acommunitycloudisshared,managedandoperatedbytwoormoreorganizations
thathavethesameconcerns.
4. Hybridcloud:Ahybridcloudisthecombinationofthethreecloudsmentionedbefore(public,private
orcommunity).
 Figure2

Thereisnodoubtthatcloudcomputingoffersmanybenefitsasitsetupavirtualofficethatmakeeasy
accessanytimeandanywherewithoutanyworriesofthephysicalstoragesinceitismanagedbytheprovider.
Dataofapatientcanbestoredimmediatelyinthepresenceofapatient.Thishelpstoreducetheprobabilityof
erroroccurintermsofreliabilityofmemory.Theimageofresultcanbestoredinthecloudsystemthatcanbe
usedbythehealthconsultantduringthemeetingwithpatientplus,itcanbeexchangedwithintheinhouse.
Theycanretrievetheinformationfor24hoursadaythatismorepracticalwhencomparingthehealthcondition
overtime.Also,itispossibleforthehealthprovidertomakescheduleofapatientlikethescheduleforroom
treatment,devicemedicationandforthetreatmentplans.

B. HEALTHMONITORING

Healthmonitoringisthecollectionofpatientsdatawheremedicalparameterssuchasbloodpressure,
temperaturereading,pulserateofapersonistakeninordertobeanalysedbymedicalexpertsforaclose
surveillance and oversight of their health condition. It was started back in 1625 done by Santorio which
measurestheverybasicbloodpressureandbodytemperature[A].AfterWorldWar2,therealisationofits
significant urgedtothedevelopment ofnewtechnologyandasfornow,thereisvast numberofdifferent
monitoringtype. Differentmedicalmonitoringdevicesareusedtodisplaythereadingofthemeasurements
takengraphicallyorinascalewhethertheymeetthenormalstandardperformancewhichisthenrecordedand
beusedfordiagnosticpurposes.
 FigureB.MultiparameterPatientMonitor[B]

FigureB.showsadevicecommonlyusedinhealthmonitoringusuallyseenbythebedsideofapatient
which is called multiparameter patient monitor. It displays multiple vital health parameter such as
electrocardiogram(ECG)reading,respirationrate,bloodpressure,bodytemperatureandmanyothersallatonce
withthehelpofdigitalsignalprocessing(DSP)[A].Thissimplifiestheprocessoftakingmeasurementand
helpsthedoctorstomakedecisionquicker.

Whyisitsoimportant?Theprimerreasonisthefactitreducespossiblerisksofcomplicationsand
infections,providingnecessarycomfort.Whenthereistheneedforpatientmonitoringdevices?Thereare
severalcases:

criticalphysiologicalconditions
unstablephysiologicalregulatorysystems(anesthesia,drugoverdose,etc)
risksofdevelopinglifethreateningconditions

Itisaroutineevaluationaimedatdetectingachangeinthehealthstatustodetermineandprevent
complications.

III.THENEEDOFCLOUDCOMPUTINGINHEALTHMONITORING

Aswearenotawareourbodyhealthchangingondailybasisaffectedfromtheactivitieswedidorthe
environment,thereitgoeswhereweareinneedtomonitorourhealthtospothealthproblemsearlierbeforeit
becomesworst.Inmanycases,evenahorriblediseasecanbehaltedinitstrackswhenitsfoundsoonerrather
thanlater[4].Inmedicalhealthcare,healthmonitoringactivityisavitalmatterasthisbecomesabenchmark
forfurtherdecisionmaking.

Statistically,thenumberofpatientsiskeepincreasingbyeachyearwhichleadtoenormouslygigantic
datasetofmedicalrecordofeachofthem.Inthismedicalindustrythatisstilladoptingoldfashionedmethodin
recording patients health record which still lean on paper and traditional information technology (IT)
environmentshascompelledtoarequestfornewbroadtechnologyinimprovingoperationalefficiency[3].

Cloudcomputingcomesinhandytomeetthedemandwhich providesaninfrastructurethatallows
hospitals,medicalpractices,insurancecompanies,andresearchfacilitiestotapimprovedcomputingresources
atlowerinitialcapitaloutlays.

Figure3illustratethecurrentmanualwayofhealthmonitoring[2].Theprocessesaredescribedas
below:
 Figure3.CurrentSystem(Rolimetal.,2010)

(i) Thestaffmemberjotdownthereadingoftheparametersmeasureddisplayedbythemonitoring
devices.
(ii) Dataiskeyedintothedataenteringterminals.
(iii) Thedataisthenstoredinacentraliseddatabaseofthehospitalinanorganizedrecording.
(iv) Oncethedataisalreadyintheserverdatabase,itcanbeaccessedbyanauthorisedmedicalstaff
throughinterfaceapplicationremotely[2].

Aswecansee,goingthroughthescenario(i)to(iv)inFigure3.(Rolimetal.,2010)above,itportraysthe
clientserverElectronicHealthRecord(EHR)wherethedataisstoredinhouserequiringsoftwareandhardware
beinginstalledintheoffice[5].Themaindrawbacksofthecurrentsystemisthatitexposedtomanmadeerror
eitherduringcollectingthepatientsdataorwhenkeyitinthecomputerwhichcanbeincorrectlyinput.In
additiontothat,itpromotestoinefficiencyasittakescertainamountoftimebeforeitisaccessiblethroughthe
interfaceapplication.Itisalsoalaboriousprocesswhichbecomesaproblemwhenlackofstafftoentertainthe
largenumberofpatientsresultingslowprogress[2].

Thus,itencouragesustoproposeanapproachintegratingcloudcomputingintakingovertheslowongoing
systeminhealthcare.Providearealtimeaccesstothestateofhealthwebbasedandenhancingtheefficiencyof
thesystem[1].Thepatientsdataisstoredinexternalserversandavailabletoberetrievedviathewebcalling
fortheneedofonlyacomputerwithaninternetconnection[5].

IV.IMPLEMENTATIONOFCLOUDCOMPUTINGTOMONITORHEALTH

Architectureofcloudcomputing:

Cloudcomputingarchitectureconsistsof:InfrastructureasaService(IaaS),Platform asaservice
(PaaS),andSoftwareasaservice(SaaS).InfrastructureasaServiceisdeliveringhardwaresuchasnetwork,
serverandstorageasservice.ForPlatformasaservice,theyprovideintegratedsetofsoftwarethatprovides
everything that software developer needs to build the application. Software as a service is a business
applicationshostedanddeliveredasaserviceviatheweb.Figure3belowshowstheexamplesofcompanies
thatprovidescloudcomputingservices:
 Figure4

Thehealthmonitorisstartedbydataacquisitioncomponentwhereitisresponsibleforcollectingdata
of apatient and his/herpersonal information.Thesedata can becollectedfrom variousresourcessuchas
hospitals,governmentaidedhealthcareservices,RSSfeedsandeventhepersonitself.Thisinformationwillbe
thenuploadedtothecloudusingwebbrowsersoranapplication.Dataisstoredinthecloudfrom where
retrievalofdataforprocessingandthedecisionsmakingcanbemade.Theinformationcanbesharedsecurely
andeffectivelyamongthesimilargroupsoragencieswhoaredetectingandcontrollingtheoutbreak.

Figure5

V.ADVANDTAGES
 Therearecountlessofadvantagesofadoptingcloudcomputinginthehealthcareindustry.Itcrossesthe
limitationsintheclientserverEHRsystemasthedataarestraightawaytobetransferredtothecloudstorage
fromthemonitoringdeviceused.Thisreducesthepossibilityofmakingerrorinrecordingtheresults[2].As
wellasitgivesinstanthandsontoaccessandusedigitalizemedicalrecord,filesandmedicalimagesofthe
patientswherebythedatawilldeterminethefurtheractionshouldbetakensuchastypesofsuitablemedications
ortreatmentsneeded.Notonlythemedicalstaff,thepatientsthemselvescangetaccesstotheirmedicalstate
[7].

Astheinformationareallinthecloud,itcanbeeasilysharedineverycorneroftheworldforsuch
cases where the patients need to be transferred for supervision of another expertise across the country. It
supportssuchmobilitytofacilitateotherorganizationstoreferthecurrenthealthstaterecordsofthepatients
withjustaclickandremotely.

Figure6.BenefitsofCloudComputinghttp://www.technavio.com/blog/exploringthebenefitsofcloud
computinginthehealthcareindustry

Anotherhugedifferencesthatcloudcomputingoffersislargedatastorage.Neednomoreofbigspace
tokeeptheaccumulatedofallsortsofdetailinformationofthepatientsuchastheprescriptionrecords,the
consultationschedule,thehistoryofthetreatment,theresultsofdiagnosticsessionandmuchmore[6].Inother
words,itincreasesstoragecapacityandsavespace!Eventhedatawillbepreservedwhenanyoccurrence
happensonsiteaswearegoingpaperless.

In addition, with webbased storage the expenses usually spent on the hardware, software and
maintenanceoftraditionalITsystemoveraperiodoftimecanbecutoff.Ontheotherside,patientsdontneed
toenduresuchsamecostnomorefortherepetitivetestwithdifferentpractitioner[10].

VI.DISADVANTAGES
 Nodoubtthatinadoptingcloudcomputinginhealthmonitoringsystem,theresthedownsidethatwe
needtotakeaseriouslookonit.Clientssecurityandprivacyareatriskandhaspotentialtofalltothirdpartys
handtobemanipulatedorusedagainstthepersonconcerned.Confidentialityoftheinformationstoredisat
stake.

SincethewebbasedhostingrelyontheInternetconnection,thereishugepossibilitiesofconnectivity
problemsandaffectedthewholesystemofavailabilityoftheinformationatthatinstance.Slowconnectioncan
interferetheperformanceofattainingthedatafromtheserverhencetheserviceprovidedisnotachievingits
optimumefficiencyandeffectiveness.

Likeanyothertechnologies,cloudcomputingexposetosystembreakdownaswellwhichprobably
cancausemajorproblemssuchaslossofdataacrossthecloud.Regardlessofthesimplicityofthistransition
technology,itstillcountingonthebackupwhichactuallygoingtocostmoreexpenses.

REFERENCES

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