Transcribed Image Text:A Web Services-Based Distributed System
with Browser-Client Architecture to
Promote Tele-audiology Assessment
Jianchu Yao, Ph.D.,' Gregg D. Givens, Ph.D.,2 and Yongbo Wan, M.S.¹
¹Department of Engineering, College of Technology and Computer
Science and 2Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders,
College of Allied Health Sciences, East Carolina University, Greenville,
North Carolina.
Abstract
The purpose of this research was to extend applications of the Internet
and other telecommunication means to the assessment of hearing. The
newly developed distributed system consists primarily of an application
server and its database, and Web services under browser-server architec-
ture to support remote hearing assessment. A pilot study was conducted:
three independent audiologists assessed hearing of 25 subjects using
testing approaches with different data communication configurations.
Analysis of the results demonstrated the feasibility of replacing conven-
tional "face-to-face" tests with the remote hearing tests using the distrib-
uted system. Because of its distributed architecture, the present system
supports a new service model and separates technical maintenance
and clinical services. Consequently, the system shows great potential to
benefit the clinical hearing care profession. Future research is planned
to apply this system to medical facilities and for distance applications.
Key words: telehealth, audiology
Introduction
t is generally believed that telehealth removes geographical bar-
riers, transportation limitations, infrastructure deficiencies, and
many other resource discrepancies. The healthcare sector has
embraced the advancements of communication technologies since
its first emergence in 1960s using several media including telephone,
ORIGINAL RESEARCH
DOI: 10.1089/tmj.2009.0031
facsimile, e-mail, videoconference, and Internet.¹ The communica-
tions between the patient and the clinical professional are either
unidirectional or bidirectional; data exchanged between the two ends
are transmitted either real-time (synchronously) or store-and-forward
(asynchronously), depending upon factors such as application needs,
infrastructure availability, personnel preferences, and expenditure
concerns. Applications of the Internet in the healthcare industry vary
broadly from remote health status monitoring, disease diagnosis,
treatment assessment, rehabilitation, and counseling. The introduc-
tion of telecommunications to these healthcare services brings signif-
icant benefits to traditionally underserved regions and populations.
Many believe that the adoption of remote operations in medical
areas progresses at a much slower pace than other industries such as
manufacturing, entertainment, online shopping, and distance educa-
tion. More importantly, within the healthcare sector, the embracing
of new technology is not uniform among all medical disciplines.
While specialties that mostly use images (e.g., dermatology) have seen
invigorating successes in taking full advantage of the technology
innovations, relatively few tele-audiology efforts have been reported
on remote hearing assessment. Among these few, Givens, along with
colleagues in the Telemedicine Center at East Carolina University,
devised a system that enables remote hearing assessment over the
Internet and pioneered the effort in the telehearing frontier.² Results
collected with the prototype demonstrated that the remote mode can
obtain performance comparable to that of the conventional in-person
approach. Others such as Krumm et al. have targeted infant's hearing
assessment and demonstrated that telepractice may help traditionally
underserved rural populations. 3,4 A PC-based audiometer developed
by Choi et al. utilized the sound card as the tone/speech generator
and enabled audiometers to be easily connected to the Internet.5
The authors share a common view about the future potential of
telehearing and believe that there are many more opportunities for
MARY ANN LIEBERT, INC. . VOL. 15 NO. 8 • OCTOBER 2009 TELEMEDICINE and e-HEALTH 777
YAO ET AL.
telehealth technologies to support the audiology profession. The
justifications for this observation can be placed in three main areas:
needs, underserved populations, and nature of hearing tests.
• Needs: Hearing loss remains a significant contributor to the
healthcare needs of the world's population. The World Health
Organization stated that hearing loss doubled from 1995 to
2005.6 Cruickshanks et al. (1986) stated that hearing loss is the
third most prevalent chronic condition in older Americans."
Agrawal et al. (2008) state that in 2003-2004, 16.1% (29 million)
of adults in America have hearing loss in frequencies important
to the understanding of speech. Other studies find that 25%-
40% of the population aged 65 years or older have some degree
of hearing impairment. ⁹-11
• Underserved populations: Many of the populations with hearing
loss are underserved due to lack of audiology specialists in rural
regions, which prevents delivery of hearing care, and unafford-
able transportation costs due to the long driving distance, which
is further worsened by the rising fuel prices.¹2
Realizing these challenges, the authors sought more suitable tech-
nology to continue research and development along this direction.
A re-examination of the previous system² identified a few improve-
ment opportunities to broaden applications of the technology. These
include the following:
• Proprietary software for assessment and
communication needs to be installed in the
audiologist terminal computer. Software
installation, like other computer mainte-
nance work, introduces inconvenience to
medical professionals and usually requires
technical support.
• Due to the implementation technology uti-
lized, the prior system required direct con-
nection between the patient and audiologist,
allowing only one-to-one assessment ses-
sions. Therefore, the audiologist would be
required to establish separate connections
before testing each patient.
• The legacy audiometer uses a RS-232 serial
port, a standard communication means that
provides a limited data transmission rate.
This may lead to future interoperability
issues because of the emergence of the latest
communication protocols such as USB, and
fewer newly developed computer systems are
equipped with an RS-232 connection.
778 TELEMEDICINE and e-HEALTH OCTOBER 2009
Server
Patient
Audiometer
• In the prior system, results of hearing assessment were stored in
the audiologist's computer, thus not allowing sharing of clinical
or patient information data. With the rapid adoption of electri-
cal medical records, data stored in standard, online-accessible
databases are desired.
This article presents recent research progress in tele-audiology at
East Carolina University. The purpose of this research was to extend
applications of the Internet and other telecommunication means to
the assessment of hearing. The newly developed distributed system,
primarily consisting of an application server and its database, sup-
ports a new service model and benefits the clinical hearing care
profession, in both private practices and hospitals.
Materials and Methods
Figure 1 illustrates the proposed system with the distributed
architecture. The system consists of subsystems that may be geo-
graphically located in three sites: the application server (and its
database), the clinical professional site, and the patient site. The
application server hosts business operational logics required to
coordinate all the tasks and a database that stores patient informa-
tion and testing results. The functional modules implemented on the
server are scalable: the essential functions include hearing test and
Wireless
connection
Wireless
connection
Internet
Fig. 1. A distributed system for tele-audiology.
Physician
Wired
connection
Audiologist
Wired
connection Audiometer
Patient
Expert Solution
Step 1: Brief Introduction
The provided text presents a case report investigating the feasibility and effectiveness of delivering the Lee Silverman Voice Treatment (LSVT) for individuals with idiopathic Parkinson’s disease (PD) through remote, online sessions. The study addresses access barriers faced by patients with PD, such as the limited availability of specialized healthcare facilities and travel difficulties. By utilizing online videoconferencing technology, the researchers explored whether LSVT could be delivered remotely, enabling patients to receive speech therapy in their homes. The research assesses the therapy's efficacy, participant contentment, and the capacity of this approach to enhance healthcare accessibility. It is essential to note that the study centers on a single case report. Although this report offers valuable insights, it's imperative to approach its findings cautiously due to the limitations of the study's small sample size and methodology.