The Remote Patient Monitoring System project from the Next Generation Intelligent Networks Research Center (nexGIN RC) at the National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences (FAST-NUCES) was selected as one of the winners of the World Summit Youth Award (WSYA) out of over 600 submissions from 102 countries. The project uses mobile phones and wearable sensors to remotely monitor rural pregnant women and reduce maternal and infant mortality rates. It was recognized for its role in helping achieve UN Millennium Development Goals. The lead researcher, Ajay Kumar Tanwani, will receive the World Summit Youth Award in Monterrey, Mexico.

1. Remote Patient Monitoring System ranked in top
3 worldwide
The project "Remote Patient Monitoring System" of Next Generation
Intelligent Networks Research Center (nexGIN RC), National University of
Computer and Emerging Sciences (FAST-NUCES) marks its impact at the
global level by getting among the winners of the World Summit Youth
Award (WSYA). The project has been selected out of 612 submissions
from 102 different countries after extremely competitive evaluation by 20
experts and social entrepreneurs during a three-stage judging process.The
World Summit Youth Award for the project will be presented to the young
brain of nexGIN RC, Ajay Kumar Tanwani, before the center stage of the
world in Monterrey, Mexico. The WSYA provides the global initiative to
select and promote the world's best e-content and innovative ICT
applications. The contest helps to raise awareness and resolve the UN
Millennium Development Goals of ending poverty, hunger, disease,
empowering women, improving mother and child health, and saving the
environment. The WSYA showcases the young developers and serves as a
platform for people from all UN member states to work together on the
efforts of reaching the Millennium Development Goals. The event brings
together Ministers, policymakers, business leaders, and young content
innovators in the field of information and communication technologies for
development from around the world. Together they join the development
community under the umbrella of the Global Alliance, enter the dialogue
with focus on emerging issues and challenges in the areas of Education
and Innovation, and fostercooperation among governments, private sector
and civil society.For youth of Pakistan to be a part of these next generation
policies is indeed a matter of pride for the whole country.
"Let ICT save our mothers for our better future" -- the vision developed by
Dr. Muddassar Farooq at nexGIN RC -- is now being realized to provide
low cost, efficient and effective antennal care to poor underprivileged
women of Pakistan living in remote rural areas. The technological
advancements in ICT and rapid penetration of mobile networks happen to
be at the core of the project. The low-cost patient monitoring system
provides point-of-care decision support to the rural women at their door
step in order to reduce the alarming rates of Maternal Mortality and Infant
Mortality - important Millennium Development Goals (MDG's) planned by
United Nations. The hardware involved in the system is a data gathering

2. module containing wearable medical sensors and a mobile phone. The
Lady Health Workers are trained to gather the physiological data of the
patients and then transmit it via mobile phone to a remote web server in a
tertiary care hospital. The server stores the data in an electronic medical
database and invokes the services of an intelligent clinical decision support
system to scan for anomalies. The medical consultant can access the
generated inferences on his smart phone and give his specialized opinion
about the patient. The proper implementation of this system, therefore,
guarantees a reliable, safe and efficient maternal care routine.
The PKR 26.9 million project is in part (PKR 14.66) funded by National ICT
R&D Fund (Ministry of IT). The project is being executed by a team of
researchers of "nexGIN RC FAST-NU" headed by Dr. Mudassar Farooq
(http://rpms.nexginrc.org). The main collaborators of the project are: (1)
Human Development Foundation (HDF) (http://www.hdf.com), and (2) Obs
& Gyane department of Benazir Bhutto Hospital (BBH) headed by Prof Dr.
Asma Usmani. Recently MCH department of Pakistan Institute of Medical
Sciences (PIMS) headed by Prof. Dr. Ghazala Mehmood has also joined
the project team. HDF, a US based NGO, is the deployment organization
that currently covers seven rural centers throughout Pakistan. Dr. Abul Aziz
Awan from HDF is leading the team of field doctor and lady health workers.
The medical expertise for developing the system is being provided by the
senior registrar of BBH -- Dr. Sadia Khan -- and her postgraduate trainee --
Dr. Ayesha Basharat. The active collaboration of engineers and
researchers with doctors,sociologists,Lady Health Workers and patients is
playing a key role in making this project a true success.
This is a global recognition for Pakistan and specifically motivated team of
nexGIN RC FAST-NU. This win at the international stage will open up a
new chapter for young and innovative minds in Pakistan to use technology
in a novel fashion to bring much needed 'change' in the lives of the
underprivileged rural population of Pakistan. We wish the nexGIN RC team
best of luck for the finals in Monterrey, Mexico.
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