This book is an introduction into methodology and practice of analysis, design and implementation of distributed health information systems. Special attention is dedicated to security and interoperability of such systems as well as to advanced electronic health record approaches. In the book, both available architectures and implementations but also current and future innovations are considered. Therefore, the component paradigm, UML, XML, eHealth are discussed in a concise way. Many practical solutions specified and implemented first in the author's environment are presented in greater...

Human body and the world in which it functions is a changing complex adaptive system. We are able to collect data about it, but the challenge is to infer local dynamics from that data. Intelligent Caring Biomechatronic Creatures and Healthmaticians have a better chance of inferring the dynamics that needs to be understood than human physicians.

The studies in the Ogawa Forest Reserve (OPR) were initiated by a group of plant ecologists and gradually expanded into a comprehensive project covering various aspects of biology, soil science, and silviculture. The project was integrated as part of the Forest Ecosystem Team under the BIO-COSMOS Program funded by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. As the coordinators of the Forest Ecosystem Team, we are pleased that reports of the long-term studies carried out in the OFR are being published in this first volume on Japanese ecosystems in the Ecological Studies series....

The advent of the Single European Market and new developments in computing technologies and telecommunications will facilitate the flow of health information. This work looks at the present and future situation and covers legal, technical and managerial aspects.

In Europe, standardization activities in healthcare informatics officially started in the 90s. The papers featured in this publication were presented at a conference which presented the current standing of important activities connected with healthcare informatics/telematics standards and to explore the ways of ensuring international coordination and cooperation worldwide. The publications shows interest from communities from Europe, United States, Australia and Japan. This guarantees the elaboration of high quality implementable healthcare informatics standards, which play an important role...

Although we can recognize further progress in educating health and a considerable number of educational programs for health informatics / medical informatics specialists have been set up, there is still a need to enhance these educational activities world wide, considering global developments as well as new curricular concepts.

Telemedicine and telehealth development has brought hope to developing countries and their most remote areas, yet leaves very significant questions and anxiety among those hoping to maintain status quo of current medical practices. When it comes to telemedicine and its applications, most countries are actually in the same boat. Even in the most developed countries' hospitals, telemedicine is still not practiced. Advanced technology such as computers, diagnostic imaging, robotics, voice activated machines, and remote controls have changed the hospital and operating room theaters around the...

Proceedings of Healthgrid 2005. This publication provides a forum for projects in the medical, biological and biomedical domains as well as for grid projects that seek to integrate these. The overall objective is to reinforce and promote the awareness of the deployment of grid technology in health. The emphasis is on results of current grid projects in health care. This will show in the outcome of field tests and will identify deployment strategies for prototype applications in health care. In addition outstanding problem areas and technological challenges are identified and new solutions to...

Cybertherapy, the integration of telehealth technologies with the Internet and shared virtual reality, is used for two reasons: either because there is no alternative, or because it is in some sense better than traditional medicine. Nevertheless, the benefits of cybertherapy, due to the variety of its applications and their uneven development, are not self-evident. However, the emergence of cybertherapy is supporting the cost-effectiveness of certain applications, such as assessment, rehabilitation and therapy in clinical psychology and neuroscience. Its key advantage is the possibility of...

This book consists of presentations made at the conference held on May 14-15, 2002 at the University of Missouri-Columbia, USA, by professionals from clinical areas, health care management, payer institutions, information technology industry, government and health care quality research. Chapters are a cross-section of various business perspectives of health information technologies. Together, they discuss the challenges facing the widespread implementation of information technology, possible solutions to economic, structural, cultural, and institutional barriers in the use of these...