Date of Award

6-2018

Document Type

Thesis

Publisher

Santa Clara : Santa Clara University, 2018.

Departments

Bioengineering; Computer Engineering

First Advisor

Unyoung Kim

Second Advisor

Silvia Figueira

Abstract

Access to medical care and health screenings is a necessity for patients around the globe, but it can be difficult to provide this without screenings becoming costly or convoluted. In rural and underdeveloped areas, patients are often disadvantaged when it comes to finding reliable and affordable healthcare. The isolation provided by their location and the rising costs of physicians makes it impossible for most impoverished communities to attain personalized care. Because of this, treatable diseases often go unaddressed, allowing diseases to progress to a critical condition. Mortality rates have shown to be higher in communities located in rural areas and among destitute economies. Telemedicine is one solution to improve rural health care by allowing patients to have remote access to health services. Our goal for this project would be to provide simple and fast diagnosis to detect urine albumin levels, urobilinogen, nitrite, as well as pH and glucose levels combined with telemedicine to provide reliable results.

Thus far, we have completed tests for the previously mentioned parameters and have reached out to the World Health Partners in order to propose collaboration on the project. We have also reached out to the Computer Engineering team in order to normalize the images captured by the diagnostic device. Once the project reaches its conclusion, we believe that the introduction of this device into rural areas would effectively monitor patient health as well as improve the overall quality of life for those in impoverished conditions.

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