Computer Computer Applications Applications

in Health in Health CareCare

Exploring Biotechnology

December 2013

Computers are EVERYWHERE

• Doctors use computers to record progress notes.• Nurses use computers to transmit orders to other

departments and in patient care• Pharmacists use computers to order medication

and view a patient profile.• For the most part, ALL HEALTHCARE

WORKERS use computers.

2. Information Systems

• Accounting – saves time and money• Scheduling – appointments• Monitoring – blood pressure, heartbeat• Databases

– A database is an organized collection of information

– Information entered in areas called fields– Extensive use of databases in biotech

3. Confidentiality

• Confidentiality of patient information must be strictly enforced.

• Access codes and passwords are used.

• Only authorized workers have access to patient information.

• Confidentiality- the principle in medical ethics that the information a patient reveals to a health care provider is private and has limits on how and when it can be disclosed to a third party.

4. Medical Laboratory

• Computers used to analyze DNA– Blood– Urine

• Used to test for disease and genetic disorders

• Can run as many as 500 specimens per hour

5. Electrocardiogram (EKG or ECG)

• Computer provides a printout of electrical activity of patient’s heart

• Computer can also “read” the EKG – tell the reader what the EKG means. This used to be done by the doctor.

• An EKG can be done at a remote location and sent to a doctor thousands of miles away.

5. Echocardiogram

• Computer directs sound waves into the heart, then converts the reflection of the waves into an image of the heart.

• Used to reveal heart problems – valve problems, – defects in the heart wall, etc.

6. Computerized Tomography (CT)

• It’s a computerized body scanner

• Shows cross-section views

• Allows us to see bone and body tissues

• Helps us find tumors

7. Magnetic Resonance Imaging

(MRI)

• It’s a body scanner that uses nuclear magnets instead of x-rays

• Patient is placed in a large, circular magnet that measures the activity of hydrogen ions and converts it to a picture

• Can see tumors, blood moving through veins

8. Ultrasonography

• Uses high frequency sound waves

• Body parts are viewed on a computer screen and printed on photo paper

• Used during pregnancy

9. Telemedicine

• Includes remote monitoring devices and videoconferencing

• Used to connect specialists to patients in remote locations

• Can transmit information from prisons, an ambulance, and other challenging locations

• Families can watch the care of high-risk newborns who are still in the hospital

10. Bioinformatics

• The use of computers to store, retrieve, analyze or predict the composition or the structure of biomolecules.

• "Biomolecules" include your genetic material---nucleic acids---and the products of your genes: proteins.

Human Genome Project• Computers play an important role in the Human

Genome Project.• The goals of the Human Genome Project are:

– identify all the approximate 30,000 genes in human DNA,

– determine the sequences of the 3 billion chemical base pairs that make up human DNA,

– store this information in databases, – improve tools for data analysis.

Computers in Biotech

• IBM is working on a supercomputer called Blue Gene which may decipher some of the mystery behind how proteins work.

• “Computational biology," or "bioinformatics," can collect information "without having to do the experiment” This could make it easier to design drugs because we can make a reasonable prediction of the structure with a computer.

Bioinformatics

• Bioinformatics is the term coined for the new field that merges biology, computer science, and information technology to manage and analyze data, with the ultimate goal of understanding and modeling living systems.

Computers Play an Important Role in Healthcare –

Today and in the Future