Low-Cost Telemedicine Technology: Challenges and Solutions

Dear Colleagues,

The World Health Organization defines telemedicine, in a broad sense, as “the delivery of health care services, where distance is a critical factor, by all health care professionals using information and communication technologies for the exchange of valid information for diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease and injuries, research and evaluation, and for the continuing education of health care providers, all in the interests of advancing the health of individuals and their communities”, but it can be summarized as “the use of ICT to improve patient outcomes by increasing access to care and medical information”. Health care services in developed countries already use telemedicine technology in clinical routine, having it become an indispensable tool to achieve the efficiency of the system. The telemedicine market is an important sector already within the global economy. However, in developing countries, probably where telemedicine is most necessary due to the lack of specialists in rural areas, telemedicine systems and services do not take off. The main cause is probably the budgetary constraints to invest in the initial CAPEX, as well as the greater difficulties found due to the lack of infrastructures for power supply or Internet access. In these countries, telemedicine is probably the only alternative to bring quality medical care to an important part of the population by closing the distance between rural areas and specialized hospitals located in big and distant cities. For this, though, we need to promote three fundamental aspects: 1) the development of telemedicine technology specially designed to meet the needs of rural areas of developing countries (appropriate and low-cost technology); 2) the rigorous evaluation of the efficacy and the cost-effectiveness of telemedicine services in rural areas of developing countries compared with conventional health care; and 3) more flexible public policies that allow staff present in isolated rural areas (nurses and health technicians) to perform health care using telemedicine peripherals. This Special Issue on “Low-Cost Telemedicine Technology: Challenges and Solutions” in the MDPI Journal Electronics aims to find a consensus about the needs in the primary health care system of developing countries that can be met with telemedicine and known new appropriate and low-cost telemedicine technologies and verify the impact that these new solutions have on the health of the population.

We invite review/research papers of topics related to new telemedicine peripherals, how different health systems are using new technology in health care, telemedicine cost effectiveness and health care savings, how to power and connect telemedicine equipment in isolated areas, and telemedicine policy and regulation in developing countries. The topics include but are not limited to:

• New sensors and equipment for the capture of biomedical signals;
• New systems for processing and sending biomedical signals;
• Clinical trials to verify telemedicine effectiveness and health care savings;
• Telemedicine services for rural areas of developing countries;
• Telemedicine policy and regulation in developing countries.

Prof. Dr. Andrés Martínez Fernández
Prof. Dr. Ignacio Prieto
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Electronics is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• New sensors and equipment for the capture of biomedical signals
• New systems for processing and sending biomedical signals
• Clinical trials to verify telemedicine effectiveness and health care savings
• Telemedicine services for rural areas of developing countries
• Telemedicine policy and regulation in developing countries