ABSTRACT
A mobile communication device (MCD), such as a smartphone or a tablet, nowadays becomes a bionic extension of ourselves. Medical uses of an MCD consist of two intimately connected major areas: data collection and data storage and processing. This chapter addresses the area—sensing the health-related signals. Perhaps the most important feature an MCD sensor should have in general, and for medical applications in particular, is a full integration with other supporting components, including data processing and communication circuits. The infrared (IR) sensing module operates in concert with the MCD’s internal digital imaging camera that functions as a viewfinder for the IR lens. The real purpose of a medical MCD is to become an in-pocket personal health watchdog and provide an ability for a quick, easy, and accurate medical data collection and processing, something like a tricorder from the Star Trek science fiction series. A portable medical MCD by its very nature and definition has a clearly limited field of applications.
