Digital Health Technologies
Research Assignment
Introduction
Digital technologies have become ubiquitous in daily life. Most of you carry a smartphone,
some of you wear a smartwatch, and you may even drive cars that can steer and brake
autonomously. All of these solutions exist because of rapid advances in computing power and
data that are being captured and curated constantly. Brought together, we now have the ability
to capture and analyse data, quite literally, in the blink of an eye. This encroachment of
technology into our lives is also seen in healthcare. Or at the very least, and especially where
it concerns so-called big data, is desired in healthcare.
Health data is part of your digital shadow; that unique amorphous collection of data each
individual is constantly creating through their traceable digital activities and online interactions,
often without realising it. Health data is created both within and outside the healthcare setting.
That smartwatch you are wearing? Most smartwatches today capture your physical movement
and exercise patterns, your heartbeat, your peripheral body temperature and in some cases,
your blood oxygen saturation and a rudimentary form of capillary blood pressure. Newer cars
have driver-facing cameras that capture images of your face and through analysis of where
you are looking and your pupillary size and response, compute values that represent your
alertness level and whether your attention is focused on potential hazards in the road ahead.
Those monitors you connect to a patient in theatre or a neonate in the NICU? Most
manufactured in the last several years have the ability to interconnect with other hospital
computing systems, and many can record telemetry data directly into suitably configured
electronic health records systems. Already today we see cardiotocograph (CTG) monitoring
in the maternity unit recording directly into platforms such as those provided by K2 and
Badgernet. These digital health tools are also capable of identifying and alerting midwives to
suspicious and abnormal changes in the foetal heart trace through intelligent data analysis
using Dawes-Redman and other established algorithms.
The following work from the literature could set the groundwork for the issues that you may
want to investigate in your assignment:
• Manteghinejad A, Javanmard SH. Challenges and opportunities of digital health in a
post-COVID19 world. J Res Med Sci. 2021 Feb 16;26:11. doi:
10.4103/jrms.JRMS_1255_20. PMID: 34084190; PMCID: PMC8103966.
Digital health as a rapidly growing medical field relies comprehensively on human health data.
Conventionally, the collection of health data is mediated by officially diagnostic instruments,
operated by health professionals in clinical environments and under strict regulatory conditions.
Mobile health, telemedicine, and other smart devices with Internet connections are becoming the
future choices for collecting patient information. Progress of technologies has facilitated
smartphones, wearable devices, and miniaturized health-care devices. These devices allow the
gathering of an individual's health-care information at the patient's home. The data from these
devices will be huge, and by integrating such enormous data using Artificial Intelligence, more
detailed phenotyping of disease and more personalized medicine will be realistic. The future of
medicine will be progressively more digital, and recognizing the importance of digital technology
in this field and pandemic preparedness planning has become urgent.
This Assignment
For this assignment you are required to identify and investigate a problem related to an
application of one of the following in a front-line or clinical healthcare setting:
1. medical data - large collections of a specific type of health-related or medical data
2. patient records - large collections of electronic health or medical records (EHR/EMR)
3. an application of digital health technology used in patient care within the NHS or a
similar national health service that incorporates:
a. machine learning
b. artificial intelligence
c. internet of things (IoT)
The problem should relate to and affect or impact your area of clinical practice. However, if
you are unable to identify a suitable problem specifically within your practice area, you may
consider one that is peripheral to your practice - but should be something for which you can
identify people who can describe the impact or effect the issue has had on their clinical
practice.
Part A
To successfully complete this part of your assignment, you should achieve the following:
1. Identify a problem or a challenging issue in one of the three areas specified above and
provide:
a. an introduction to and background for the problem (what, when and where),
and;
b. a description of the problem from the perspective of its effect on your practice
(how and why).
2. Propose an approach, methodology or experiment for the investigation you will
undertake in Part B of this assignment.
Word Count (this part): ................................................................................................... 1,000
Proportion of final grade: ................................................................................ weighting 30%
Component pass mark: .................................................................................................... 50%
Important Dates - Part A:
Submission Date: ...................................................................................... 17
th
February 2025
Handback Date: ........................................................................................ 28
st
February 2025
Part B
To successfully complete this part of your assignment, you should achieve the following:
1. Using the academic literature, demonstrate whether the problem or challenging issue
relating to digital health technology:
a. has been previously described and, if so, provide a review and summary of that
literature;
b. the scope and breadth of the problem in your and other areas of healthcare.
2. Provide a critical evaluation of the potential and actual issues that arise from the
problem or challenging issue including discussion of the possible causes for and
impact of the problem on clinical practice, patient care and outcomes.
3. Suggest ways that the identified impact/s could be reduced or mitigated.
4. Discuss any ethical issues that might apply to the identified problem or issue and the
impact on clinical practice and patient care, with a focus on realising the impact on
individual stakeholders (doctor, nurse, patient, patient’s family).
Word Count (this part): ................................................................................................... 3,000
Total Word Count (incorporating content from both Part A and Part B): ........................ 4,000
Proportion of final grade: ................................................................................ weighting 70%
Component pass mark: .................................................................................................... 50%
Important Dates - Part B:
Submission Date: .......................................................................................... 28
th
March 2025
Handback Date: ................................................................................................. 7
th
April 2025
However, when submitting your response to Part B you are required to present your final
complete assignment incorporating the material corresponding to your responses to both Part
A and Part B as an academic paper. The IEEE conference proceedings template for Microsoft
Word in A4 must be used, and can be found at:
https://www.ieee.org/content/dam/ieee-org/ieee/web/org/conferences/conference-template-
Submission Requirements and Suggestions
Thereis no set template for submissions to Part A.
a4.docx
Additional Resources
The Assignment area on KEATS will provide you three additional resources (reproduced with
permission)
The total word count (4,000 words) is derived fromincorporation and aggregation of both your
Part A(Introduction, Description/Motivation and Method) and Part B (Results, Discussion and
Conclusion) responses. References and Abstract are not included in the word count.
To improve the quality of your write-up and to succinctly present a complex aspect of your
workyou should use at least one visual aid, such as a diagram.
:
1. Professor Fenton’s guide: Improving Your Technical Writing Skills
This short document describes the basic principles of good writing, targeted towards
students and researchers who are preparing technical reports and academic research
documents.
2. Professor Norris’ guide: The Literature Review
This short guide provides a basic and easy to understand explanation of how to
undertake the type of literature review necessary to most academic research.
3. Professor Bettany-Saltikov’s guide: How to do a Systematic Literature Review in
Nursing
An extract from this text will be provided to further guide and develop your skills in
evaluation of sources and writing up your results.
Assessment Criteria
The following table provides the assessment criteria and marking rubric that will be applied when
grading your submissions:
Quality
Criteria
Score
(QCS)
Research Report Content Knowledge
(60 marks)
Ability to Communicate
(15 marks)
Academic Discourse
Skills
(20 marks)
Basic Language Skills
(5 marks)
Excellent
(100%)
You have shown outstanding research
work and outstanding understanding of the
issues. Research work, content knowledge
and contributed
framework/approach/method is thoroughly
evaluated and goes beyond the scope
required by the assignment task. All the
requirements were satisfied.
The reader understands the
research report completely. The
diagrams used excellently
communicate the intended purpose.
If there are any mistakes they do not
interfere with the meaning.
There are clear logical
arguments, with the
points well-ordered and
fully supported with
citations and
references. Your
research paper
responds appropriately
to the question.
A pleasingly broad
range of sentence
structure and
vocabulary is used.
Computing, IT and
other relevant
vocabularies are used
correctly.
Very
Good
(80%)
Your research work has demonstrated
sound basic knowledge and understanding
of the relevant area, proposed a sound
framework/approach/ method as required
and most of the requirements were
satisfied.
The reader understands the
research report, although some
sections need to be read more than
once. The diagrams used
communicate well the relevant
aspects of your topic.
Your research paper
responds to the task of
the assignment. The
use of supporting
evidence in the form of
citations and
references, illustration
using diagrams, the
arguments are relevant
but not necessarily
sufficient.
There is a good range
of sentence structure
and vocabulary with a
number of minor errors
in word formation or
spelling.
Good
(60%)
The group exhibited adequate basic
research output and knowledge of the
topic area AND proposed an adequate
framework/approach/method.
The reader mostly understands the
research report, despite occasional
difficulty. The diagram used are
limited in conveying the meaning of
the proposed
framework/approach/method
The points of view are
presented, but they are
not always clear.
Attempts to include
supporting evidence in
the form of citations and
references, illustrations
or arguments are made
but they are not
sufficient.
While there are
noticeable language
errors, these do not
significantly interfere
with the reader
understanding the
research report.
Poor
(40%)
Your research work, apparent knowledge
and understanding of relevant issues are
limited. The proposed solution is flawed
and of limited apparent applicability.
The reader has difficulty
understanding the research report,
although there are signs of meaning
breaking through. The diagrams
used have difficulty in
communicating the intended
meaning.
The arguments or facts
presented do not
progress smoothly.
Main points and
supporting material in
the form of citations and
references, diagram are
not clearly distinguished
from each other.
The range of sentences
expressed correctly is
limited. Errors in
grammar, word choice,
word formation and
spelling cause difficulty
for the reader.
Very Poor
(20%)
Your research paper shows little evidence
of adequate research work done and of
knowing the relevant issues. The
framework/approach/method proposed is
severely flawed and unsound.
The reader can hardly understand
the research report at all. The
diagrams used hardly expresses the
meaning intended.
The ideas or facts
presented have little
apparent relation to
each other or to the
question asked.
Errors in sentence
structure, word choice,
word forms and spelling
predominate and
prevent communication.
Not Done
EITHER (1) The research report is copied
or substantially copied from materials or
other sources (See TurnItIn Report), OR
(2) The is no evidence of the Group's
attempt to address requirements.
EITHER (1) The research report is
copied or substantially copied from
materials or other sources, OR (2)
The is no evidence of the Group's
attempt to address requirements.
EITHER (1) The
research report is
copied or substantially
copied from materials or
other sources OR (2)
The is no evidence of
the Group's attempt to
address requirements.
EITHER (1) The
research report is
copied or substantially
copied from materials
or other sources,OR (2)
The is no evidence of
the Group's attempt to
address requirements.
