May 08 Past Paper

1.)
(a) Identify two features of a sensor.

A sensor can detect when there is a physical change in the patient; such as change in heart rate. It also can take information that it finds and turn it into a signal that can be recorded by another device.


(b) Describe two advantages of using a USB memory device for the storage of
medical information.

It is a cheap method of storage; the price of USB memory device's can vary from very expensive to very inexpensive. This makes it a tool that patients and doctors alike can use to store their medical data.
USB sticks are also very small making them portable; this allows them to be carried around in a pocket or bag very conveniently.

(c) Explain two advantages for the hospital of having a patient at home using
these monitoring devices.

It is cheaper for a patient to be monitored from home then at the hospital because they do not have to pay for taking up space at the hospital.
This also gives the doctors more time to work on people that need immediate care while also leaving the other patients constantly monitored.
 
(d) Evaluate possible solutions to overcome the issues of reliability and
privacy of data when patients use this technology.

To overcome the issue of security the hospitals should password protect their USBs.   They should also only allow certain personnel to know the passwords so that only people that need to know certain information do. They could also encrypt their information when transferring it from when area to another. They could use biometric security for accessing files.
For Reliability they could back-up all of they should back up all of the files from the USBs onto a hard drive. They should have anti virus software to make sure no viruses get onto their USBs. When the device is being set up they should compare its readings with readings from the devices at a hospital to make sure they are the same. The devices should be regularly updated and reolaced to make sure they always are working properly. They should also have maintenance done on the watch frequently to check if the watch is still operating properly.