Overcoming the digital divide: Assessing and developing video conferencing-based tele-health solutions in bandwidth-constrained rural and remote Areas

随着加拿大人口老龄化和对优质医疗保健需求的不断增长，预计未来几十年的医疗保健成本将大幅上升。远程医疗解决方案在降低成本和改善医疗保健的可及性方面具有巨大的潜力。然而，在农村社区或偏远地区，现有的互联网连接不足以实现高质量的视频传输，而且现有的视频会议技术缺乏在极低带宽条件下在低成本可访问移动消费设备上有效工作的能力。在这个项目中，我们将分两个阶段应对上述挑战。首先，我们将评估最先进的视频会议解决方案在移动和基于网络的平台上的性能。将在受控环境和实地环境中进行评价。其次，基于定量测量研究和从第一阶段获得的定性见解，我们将开发自适应技术，使用带内信令(例如，通过RTCP)以及带外测量(例如，分组对)自动选择编解码器和通信模式，以在低带宽条件下优化MOS。该项目的成果不仅有利于将优质医疗服务扩展到加拿大的偏远社区，还可以使总部位于加拿大的公司在全球医疗保健市场上更具竞争力。

With aging population and growing demands in quality healthcare in Canada, healthcare costs are expected to significantly increase in the coming decades. Tele-health solutions have great potentials in reducing the cost and improving the accessibility of health care. However, in rural communities or remote areas, existing Internet connectivity is inadequate to allow for high-quality video transmission, and existing video conferencing technologies lack the ability to work effectively under extremely low bandwidth conditions on low-cost accessible mobile consumer devices. In this project, we will address the afore-mentioned challenges in two stages. First, we will evaluate the performance of a state-of-the-art videoconferencing solution on mobile and web-based platforms. Evaluations will be conducted in both controlled as well as field environments. Second, based on the quantitative measurement study and qualitative insights gained from the first stage, we will develop adaptation techniques that automatically select codecs and communication modalities using both in-band signaling (e.g., via RTCP) as well as out-band measurements (e.g., packet pairs) to optimize MOS in low-bandwidth conditions. The outcome of the project not only is beneficial in extending quality care to remote communities in Canada but also can make Canada-based companies more competitive in global healthcare markets.