Secure medical tele-consultation based on voice authentication and realtime audio/video encryption

Medical tele-consultation is made possible in parallel with the rapid convergence of telecommunication networks and increasingly powerful handheld devices. It improves access to medical services that would often not be consistently available in distant rural communities. In this manner, healthcare is evolving from reactive to preventive, from hospital-centric to patient-centric. Our project aims at providing an on-the-move consultative tool for medical staff in which security, interactivity, mobility and compatibility with open standards are essential requirements. By implementing speaker recognition, remote network camera control and two-way video/audio streaming over secure communication protocols, our integrated system acts like a proof of concept for low-cost medical tele-consultation solutions. The system consists of Android tablet application, central processing server and lightweight client software at a patient´s PC. The processing server can be embedded in future cloud-based health solutions and client software can be ported to Smart-TV platforms. Initial experiments are promising, paving the way for the full implementation in future.