Towards Ubiquitous Health with Convergence

Welcome to this special section of Technology and Health Care. This contains a collection of the best papers from various authors submitted. Economic growth and policy changes have led to an increased interest in medical services, leisure activities, and culture. In particular, an increasing number of people are showing a keen interest in health and happiness, which is due to the emergence of new diseases and an increase in life expectancy caused by economic growth and technology development. The search for an efficient way to respond to this increasing interest in health and wellness puts ubiquitous health services in the spotlight [1–4]. The main goal is to be a timely vehicle for publishing selected research papers on this emerging topic from practitioners and academia in different industries. This covers some of the hottest topics in Technology and Health Care, including: health computing for convergence; bioelectronics, biomechanics, telemedicine; medical imaging, bio-imaging; surgical technology, medical physics; innovative applications for convergence healthcare; medical and hospital informatics; telemedicine, ehealth, and home care methods; public health services. The paper by Cho et al. [5] proposes a potential therapeutic mechanism for action of extremely lowfrequency high-voltage electric fields on a cell. They reviewed relevant papers from several aspects to determine the important factors to consider when preparing to experimentally verify whether an artificial system has a potential therapeutic effect and to determine its mechanism of action on a cell. This study was of extremely low-frequency (ELF) field-induced diverse alterations of membrane proteins, such as transporter and channel protein changes in ion influx or efflux, and alterations in ligand-receptor interaction. It contributes to developing a detailed understanding of a high-voltage electrotherapeutic apparatus for consumers and suppliers of such devices.