Medical data transmission using mobile satellite communication

A “mobile telemedicine” is attempted where the mobile satellite communication and remote medicine are applied. This study aims at improving emergency care in a ship on the ocean or in an aircraft flying an international route. The problem has several special points which differ from the usual data communication or telemedicine. These points must be overcome to realize the system. This paper presents first the analysis, investigation and design for mobile telemedicine, and indicates its feasibility. Based on these results an experimental transmission system is constructed. The fundamental transmission characteristics are measured through the satellite link. By the measurement, the threshold of operation for this system for deteriorated C/N0 is determined, and it is verified that even an experimental system can realize a reliability which is sufficient in practice. Then a transmission experiment is made from a ship navigating close to the shore of Japan, and the basic operation as the mobile telemedicine is verified.