How to develop Telemedicine solutions with Couchbase
By Damiano Giusti
In a time of sanitary emergency like this, the need to be able to access all databases interactively and on the move, has become a priority, particulary in Telemedicine. This also emerges especially in view of the overload to which communications are subjected and the consequent network coverage deficiencies. Therefore, having a smart device, as powerful as it can be, isn’t enough for emergency operators such as healthcare professionals, security personnel and technicians. It is, instead, critical to use mobile applications capable of always keeping up-to-date the data with which operators interact, even offline.
The reliability of Couchbase for mobile app development
Couchbase is a NoSQL database which offers catchy features for every developer. It is available for the most relevant mobile platforms with its embedded version: Couchbase Lite. This version makes available all the main features of the Couchbase Server version directly into a mobile device. Both Android and iOS are supported.
Couchbase Lite shines when it comes to mobile apps. It allows to provide to the end user a complete and reliable user experience. Thanks also to Couchbase Sync Gateway, syncing real-time data between the client and Couchbase Server has never been so easy. This grants that data are always updated, and allows to work even without internet connection on the device. Hence, the synchronization runs automatically when the device gains connection.
This replication job towards Couchbase Server makes that such data are immediately available not only for other devices but also for softwares that are able to talk with the database. Since the replication is fully integrated in the Couchbase infrastructure, it happens consistently, it is strongly tested and fully reliable, minimizing the error conditions. So let’s see some use cases in which those requirements are crucial.
Couchbase: medical solutions
The medical field is so sensitive. It involves people completely, and most of the times is crucial for the human condition. A technology that will be applied in this scope must respect the requirements that we just listed. It must be consistent and well tested, but above all it must be reliable.
Couchbase in Telemedicine
So, how can we apply Couchbase in the medical field? The simplest example concerns Telemedicine. It is an innovative weapon that now more than ever proves useful.
Let’s analyze the condition of a diabetic. Who is suffering from diabetes must make a measurement of the blood glucose on a weekly (or even daily) basis. Then, from this self-diagnosis, the patient finds out the glucose value and writes it down into a diary. The measurements trend defines the improvement or the aggravation of the pathology. If the patient takes advantage having those reports on a diary, also the doctor will find useful to consult them. And it will be really useful to receive those measures automatically and, why not, in real-time.
Telemedicine: example of a mobile app to monitor blood glucose values
So let’s involve the modern technology for finding a solution to this need. We can think to a mobile app that talks with self-diagnosis instruments and then gets the glucose value out of them. This communication between devices and app may happen over Bluetooth or using a physical connection. Once obtained, the data can be transmitted to the doctor’s management software thanks to the Couchbase Server infrastructure and Couchbase Lite. Such software may be directly connected to Couchbase, or may use data-migration solutions.
This is only one of the infinite possibilities. Let’s think then to apply this “smart” Telemedicine even to patients that suffer from unstable blood pressure or heart illness. Using Bluetooth-enabled blood pressure meters, we can apply the same flow we described to the measurements that they are already used to make. A connected mobile application stores data using Couchbase Lite. Then, thanks to the automatic synchronization with Couchbase Server, the doctor will immediately see the data using his management software.
Telemedicine: operation flow of devices with Couchbase
Flow chart of the mobile app with Couchbase to monitor the glucose values of a diabetic patient
This diagram shows an idea on how the flow we talked about may be built. The self-diagnosis device (in this case a glucometer) sends the measurement to the smartphone over Bluetooth. Then, the mobile app installed into the smartphone stores the data into Couchbase Lite. The process is really simple. Once stored, data are synchronized towards the cloud, thanks to Couchbase Server and Couchbase Sync Gateway. Here we can perform all the data manipulations we need. We are also absolutely free to choose the best backend infrastructure that fits best our needs, like serverless. Eventually, the doctor can access such data autonomously, as simple as accessing the management software.
Conclusions
MOLO17 is a reference partner in Italy for Couchbase and has developed several projects using its technologies. Solutions capable of optimizing them have been used in sectors ranging from Healthcare with Zulu Medical, to Industry 4.0 with MobileBridge, and finally to consumer products such as Leads Collector. Our Mobile Team developers have organized and participated in meetings, events and seminars in partnership with Couchbase staff, expanding their theoretical know-how over the time and perfecting it with their constant experience in the field.
Do you have a project that needs to communicate dynamically and reliably with measurement devices also offline?
Do you want to integrate your database with the most common mobile platforms?
Are you planning a solution for real-time monitoring of patients, processes or machinery?
Whether it be in the Healthcare, IoT for Industry 4.0, Automotive or other sectors, don’t hesitate. Contacts our experts.
Damiano Giusti
Software Engineer @MOLO17
I’m a passionate Software Engineer always ready to improve. I started developing for the Android platform back in 2013. Often I write some stuff for iOS, and I maintain some backend weekend projects.
Never stop learning!
