Physicians for Peace-Philippines (PFP) recently evaluated 74 amputees at the Santo Niño de Tondo, Manila, health clinic through its Walking Free Program, integrating distance diagnostics and rehabilitation.
Physical therapists used a mobile phone application developed by the Ateneo Java Wireless Competency Center for Smart Communications, Makati, Philippines, to determine the readiness of patients to be fitted with a prosthesis.
“We decided to launch in Tondo because there is a big population of poor people here, so we can serve more,” Lyne Abanilla, executive director of PFP-Philippines, was quoted as saying in an article published in the Manila Standard Today.
The Amputee Screening via Cellphone NeTworking (ASCENT) has mobile and web components, with the cell phone being the primary source of input data. Prosthesis reports-consisting of the patient profile, medical information including images, and contact details-are sent to a central server via GPRS/3G and accessed by extension health workers who come face to face with the patients.
Data in the central server can be accessed directly from the web, enabling physicians to view the reports remotely and evaluate the patient’s condition immediately. They can then provide feedback to the health worker’s mobile phone, including instructions on bandaging, rehabilitation, wound care, and medications to facilitate prosthesis fitting and functional recovery.
Josephine “Penny” Bundoc, MD, coordinator and program head of PFP-Philippines told GMA News.TV that by using cell phones they were able to monitor what happened after a patient was given the prosthesis. “Despite the fact that we are not able to see the patients, we are able to give advice,” Bundoc said.
