Projecte final de carrera fet en col.laboració amb Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Department of Telematics

Català: Les necessitats sanitàries evolucionen de manera constant; algunes d?aquestes necessitats ja estan cobertes per la tecnologia actual entre que altres encara no. Aquesta tesi ofereix una anàlisi crítica de la recerca existent en temes de ICT i hospitals, avaluant les necessitats dels hospitals des d'un punt de vista de comunicacions i examinant les alternatives mes rellevants per proporcionar comunicacions sense fil en un entorn sanitari. També es proporciona un anàlisi del sistema d'avis a personal sanitari que actualment s'està fent servir a l'hospital de St. Olav (Trondheim, Noruega), així com diverses opcions per a refer-lo amb altres tecnologies. El sistema abans esmentat ha estat totalment caracteritzat i modelat emprant UML 2.3 i la versió resultant ha estat discutida amb detall. Dues noves funcionalitats que podrien millorar la satisfacció dels usuaris han estat identificades (trucada d'assistència i pausa per dinar) i incloses de manera que les modificacions fetes al sistema han quedat minimitzades per tal de facilitar una possible implementació en el sistema existent a l'hospital de St. Olav. Una qüestió que queda per resoldre son els endarreriments: ja que totes les opcions per comunicacions sense fils analitzades els tenen (de 20 segons a 2 minuts, depenent de la tecnologia), la qual cosa els fa poc adients per situacions d'emergència on el temps es primordial. De totes maneres això no significa que no tinguin cap utilitat, simplement que cal un altre sistema de comunicacions per les situacions abans esmentades, que podria ser emprat per complimentar el sistema sense fils afegint-hi un nivell de redundància.

Castellano: Healthcare needs are evolving constantly, some of these needs are already being covered by current technology but some are still not. This thesis offers a critical review of former work relating to ICT and hospitals, evaluating the hospital needs from a communication point of view and examining the most relevant alternatives to provide wireless communication in healthcare. An analysis of the nurse call system currently in use at St. Olav's Hospital (Trondheim, Norway) is also provided along several viable alternatives to reengineer it. The aforementioned system has been fully characterized and modeled from scratch using UML 2.3 and the resulting reengineered version has been discussed in detail. Two new features that could enhance the user's satisfaction with the system have been identified (assistance call and lunch break) and implemented into it in a way that minimizes the modifications made to the system, in order to facilitate a possible implementation on the existing system at St. Olav's Hospital. One issue that remains to be solved are the delays: all the wireless communication options reviewed have them (from 20 seconds to 2 minutes, depending on the technology), which makes them unsuitable for emergency situations where time is of the essence. Although that doesn't mean that they are useless, it simply means that an alternate communication method is necessary for those situations, which can be used to complement the wireless system by adding a level of redundancy to it.

English: Healthcare needs are evolving constantly, some of these needs are already being covered by current technology but some are still not. This thesis offers a critical review of former work relating to ICT and hospitals, evaluating the hospital needs from a communication point of view and examining the most relevant alternatives to provide wireless communication in healthcare. An analysis of the nurse call system currently in use at St. Olav's Hospital (Trondheim, Norway) is also provided along several viable alternatives to reengineer it. The aforementioned system has been fully characterized and modeled from scratch using UML 2.3 and the resulting reengineered version has been discussed in detail. Two new features that could enhance the user's satisfaction with the system have been identified (assistance call and lunch break) and implemented into it in a way that minimizes the modifications made to the system, in order to facilitate a possible implementation on the existing system at St. Olav's Hospital. One issue that remains to be solved are the delays: all the wireless communication options reviewed have them (from 20 seconds to 2 minutes, depending on the technology), which makes them unsuitable for emergency situations where time is of the essence. Although that doesn't mean that they are useless, it simply means that an alternate communication method is necessary for those situations, which can be used to complement the wireless system by adding a level of redundancy to it.