We, healthy or sick, are always concerned about our health regardless of where we are, what we do, or where we go. The strong concern is related with the quality of our life. We all, healthy or sick, are in the pursuit of happiness and are dreaming to do something important. To live with someone loving, to go somewhere meaningful, and to get something valued by ourselves are all important to us. To touch the moments we really want to join with, our body should be ready to be there.
So, we visit a hospital to check our health. Then doctors usually write a prescription and advise us to exercise regularly in accordance with the directions of a physical trainer except in the case of a severe illness. How simple to be healthy is. Just take medicine and exercise and it is enough.
At first we accept it as easy. But, soon, it becomes so annoying. Especially for patients with chronic diseases like hypertension, diabetes, respiratory illness, or for persons with obesity, the practice of something regular, such as a regular check of vital signs, regular exercise, and regular treatment, is crucial to maintain a normal body condition. Following "regular" instructions is not as easy as it seems to be at first.
So far, advancements in medical and bio technologies reveal many genetic factors behind diseases. Microbiological cure and treatment genes have begun to raise their prominent features. Meanwhile, many results about regular management of health that provide us continuous management is the way to get effective extra gene cures.
Our body has a remarkable capability to increase its own healing ability, and much more quickly than people had once realized, if we simply do something regularly. Ubiquitous health management services are for helping people, healthy or sick, always to check body conditions, and to be consulted by physicians in a regular pattern ordered by doctors to avoid suffering from disease. Of course, the technology never gets tired of taking care of us unlike our physicians, family, nurses or caregivers. The system of u-health service always gives an on signal for us.
In advance, most importantly, it makes us create a effective and new disease-preventing genetic profile. Nowadays, the difference between wellness and illness is whether a friend, diligently reporting and never tired, is nearby. Once you make a ubiquitous health management system a friend, huge differences can occur in your life. Being healthy will not be special but the usual when using real ubiquitous health management services.
The real ubiquitous health management system does not merely mean medical technology combined with IT in terms of convenient handling of data and efficient control of processes. While it can be realized and revitalized by the fusion of multiple technologies, it requires a totally different basis, that is, mobile and personal sensing technology as a powerful tool for transformation of the medical system. Leaving the giant, complex and expensive instruments, which catch clues for diseases in the laboratories in deep corners of huge hospitals, basic vital signs from a human body should be transmitted for oneself anytime and anywhere.
The core for this is the sensing technology at the spot of care without any assistance. To sense human body conditions, various approaches and trials could be brought into play through technologies including electromagnetics, photonics, acoustics, and electrochemistry. Based on the fundamental data of blood pressure, heartbeat, breath, or sugar content, even all those things closely related with chronic diseases, we can further make the directions that we're going to live healthier and we're going to feel better. By advancing the technologies and making their appropriate fusion for disease, we will finally get our new extra genes for health, and finally to be happy.
Dr. Mun Mi-ock is Director of KW-RIBP, the affiliated research institute of Kyeongwon U-Globe. Co. and professor of Ewha Womans University.
