Handheld Technology: Hardware, Applications, and Practical Implementation in Clinical Education

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Handheld Technology Hardware, Applications, and
Practical Implementation in Clinical Education

• Robert B. Trelease, Ph.D.
• Associate Professor and
• Associate Director,
• Instructional Design and Technology Unit Deans
  Office, UCLA School of Medicine

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Handheld Generations I

• Generation 1 The Apple Newton (RIP 1998)
• MessagePad 2000/2100 Specifications
• Size 1.12" x 4.7" x 8.3".
• Weight 22.4 ounces
• Processor/Chip 160 MHz StrongARM SA-110 RISC
• RAM 5MB (2100 has 8 MB)
• ROM 8MB
• Power/Battery 4 AA alkaline batteries (optional
  rechargeable)
• Screen Type transflective backlit LCD, Touch
  Screen Resolution 100 dpi Size 480 by 320
• PCMCIA Slot(s) Two Type II PC Card slots
• Ports Serial, sound I/O

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Handheld Generations II

• Generation 2 Palm (Pilots) and Their Siblings
• Size 0.67 " x 3.17 " x 5.06 " (IIIc)
• Weight 6.8 ounces (IIIc)
• Processor/Chip Motorola 68328(EZ) 16-33 MHz
• RAM 2-8 MB
• ROM 2MB
• Power/Battery 2 AAA alkaline batteries (optional
  rechargeable)
• Screen Type TFT active matrix, Touch Screen
  Resolution 100 dpi Size 160 by 160, grayscale
  or color (to 16 bit)
• Expansion Slot(s) SpringBoard, TRG, m505, CLIE
• Ports Serial/USB and IRdA and speaker

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Handheld Generations III

• Generation 3 WinCE (3.1) Pocket PCs
• Size 0.68" x 3.28" x 5.11" (iPAQ bare)
• Weight 6 ounces
• Processors/Chips 133-206 MHz RISCs
• RAM 16-32 MB
• ROM 16 MB
• Power/Battery rechargeable
• Screen Type TFT active matrix, Touch Screen
  Resolution 100 dpi Size 240 by 320
• Expansion Slot(s) CF, Expansion Pack (iPAQ)
• Ports Serial/USB and IRdA
• Built-in CD-quality stereo (speaker/outputs) and
  microphone

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Useful Resources for Medical Education and
Clinical Development

• Personal Information Manager (PIM) utilities
• PDA-dedicated Web sites (e.g., HandHeldMed)
• Programming Environments (CodeWarrior, etc) and
  the PalmOS Simulator (POSE)
• Document Readers (TealDoc, AportisDoc, iSilo,
  MobiPocket, HandHeldMed Reader, Acrobat!)
• Database managers (Jfile, HanDBase)
• Web (Clipping) browsers (e.g. AvantGo)
• Patient records (PatientTracker, PatientKeeper, 5
  Minute Clinical Consult)
• Pharmacopeiae (ePocrates qRx, Tarrascon, PDR)
• Decision Support (e.g. MedRules)
• Reference Books (e.g. Harrisons)

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Useful Resourcesm for Medical EducationDoc
Readers
Document Readers (use DOC PDB files) TealDoc,
AportisDoc, iSilo, MobiPocket, HandHeldMed Reader
Document can be prepared with standard programs
(e.g., Word) and converted to PDBs (e.g., with a
Word filter or MakeDocW.exe)
DOCs can contain internal links and indexing
Some DOC readers multifunction (e.g., iSILO
handling HTML) DOC PDBs can be downloaded from
Web sites for loading at synchronization
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Useful Resources PDAs Adobe Acrobat
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Did We Have to Program PDA Applications from
Scratch?

• Processor code crafting (e.g., C with
  CodeWarrior) takes plenty of time AND it would
  tend to be fairly platform specific
• Code crafting also takes considerable lead time,
  SO
• Wasnt there any way to take advantage of
  existing Web development expertise AND repurpose
  existing Web content for more portable use on
  PDAs?
• Could essentially the same content be used for
  different types of PDAs (e.g., Palm OS and Pocket
  PC)?

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Did We Have to Program PDA Applications from
Scratch? NO!

• Processor code crafting (e.g., C with
  CodeWarrior) takes plenty of time AND it would
  tend to be fairly platform specific
• Code crafting also takes considerable lead time,
  SO
• Wasnt there any way to take advantage of
  existing Web development expertise AND repurpose
  existing Web content for more portable use on
  PDAs? YES!
• Could essentially the same content be used for
  different types of PDAs (e.g., Palm OS and Pocket
  PC)? YES!
• AvantGo was an answer.

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Useful Resources for Medical Education - AvantGo
What is it? Client- and server-side software for
downloading and clipping content from Web
servers AND interacting with online databases
through Web Uis. AvantGo can be used with
PalmOS, Pocket PCs, and RIM Blackberry 2-way
wireless email pager devices Whats on the
Client side? A streamlined, graphics-capable PDA
Web browser (offline AND online) and workstation
sync software (Channels Manager) that downloads
Web pages filtered by the AvantGo Server Whats
on the Server side? A modified Apache Web server
that maintains a database of user- selected URLs
and delivers this selected content to Clients at
synchronization
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Useful Resources for Medical Education - AvantGo
How do I get AvantGo? The free (public) Client
software is downloadable from www.avantgo.com.
Some PDAs ship with it. Commercial
(Enterprise) Server and Client software can be
purchased from AvantGo Whats kind of content can
the public AvantGoClient deliver? Basic text and
graphics Web pages, including tables and menus,
but NO FRAMES standard HTML, ASP, and Cold
Fusion pages What else is included in the
Enterprise AvantGo client? ECMA 2 compatible
Javascript capability (ECMA 3 coming), registered
SSL key, ability to deliver PDB and PRC files,
XML compatibility in next release
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Special HTML Coding for AvantGo Pages (Not much!)
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Useful Resources for PDAs AvantGo and PalmOS
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Useful Resources PDAs AvantGo and Pocket PC
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Negotiating Secured Servers with AvantGo
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Accessing Online Databases with AvantGo
Via HTML forms, ASP, or Cold Fusion (below)
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AvantGo Direct Connection to WebServers Via
Wireless Ethernet
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Current School of Medicine PDA Curriculum Page
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Current School of Medicine PDA Admin Channels Page
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Current School of Medicine PDA Curriculum Page
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Default AvantGo Public Login Page
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Default AvantGo Public Channel Page
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Default AvantGo Enterprise Home Page
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Default AvantGo Enterprise Client Download Page
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Default AvantGo Enterprise Palmos Client Download
Page
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Default AvantGo Enterprise Conduits (Channels)
Page
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What Next?

• Pocket PCs push Palm OS PDA manufacturers to
  enhance device capabilities
• Increasing power and capability of handheld
  devices
• Convergence of Phone, Page, and PIM technologies
• Wearable computer technology evolves
• Enhanced display technologies (e.g., ocular
  displays)
• More flexible high-speed networking

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The End (or the Beginning)

• Thanks for your interest!