This document provides an overview of information technology and its uses in medicine and dentistry. It discusses types of computers from mainframes to personal devices. It covers data storage in computers and how digital data is represented. Computer hardware components like the central processing unit and memory are described. The document also discusses computer software including operating systems, applications, and programming languages. Additional topics covered include computer networks, the internet, biomedical computing challenges, and software engineering.

1. Basic Overview of
Information Technology and
uses in Medicine and
Dentistry
Dr Ebtissam Al-Madi

2. Basic Overview of
Information Technology and
uses in Medicine and
Dentistry
1. Types of Computers
2. Data Storage in Computers
3. Computer Hardware and Software
4. Computer Networks
5. Software Engineering
6. Challenges to Biomedical Computing
Al-Madi EM. Basic Overview of Information Technology. Concept of Health Informatics 2
182 DEN

3. Informatics is not about
technology
• Technology is essential for acquisition
and use of the focus: information
• Decisions about technology impact how
information is managed
• Focus should be user-centered, not
technology centered
• “Old” technology is not necessarily bad
if it still meets needs and is supportable
• “New” technology can introduce new
problems
Al-Madi EM. Basic Overview of Information 3
Technology. Concept of Health Informatics 182

4. Types of computers
• Most powerful
– Mainframes – largest and
most expensive
computers that serve
many users
– Supercomputers –
powerful computers
designed for massive
processing and
computation
• Servers
– Computers that serve
many users and handle
many transactions
– Any computer from a PC
to a mainframe can act
as a server
Al-Madi EM. Basic Overview of Information Technology. Concept of Health Informatics 4
182 DEN

5. Batman Laptop 
• Personal computers (PCs)
– Desktop and laptop and
Apple Macintosh computers
– Continue to increase in
power, especially when on
computer networks
– Have essentially become a
commodity
– Intel shipped its one billionth
computer chip in 2003 (Intel,
2003)
• Tablet computers
– Screen and power of laptop
computer but even more
portable
– Touted as beneficial in health
care but penetration remains
modest (Malkary, 2004)
Al-Madi EM. Basic Overview of Information 5
Technology. Concept of Health Informatics 182

6. “Computers” are getting smaller
• Personal digital assistants (PDAs)
– Hand-held computers with high
portability
– Most popular platforms are Palm
OS and Windows forHandhelds
(Windows Mobile)
– Primary form of input is mostly
hand-writing recognition
– Increasingly have wireless network
capability
– Highly popular among clinicians
but limited by screen size,
• Cell phones
– Increasingly have cameras,
Internet access, etc.
– Value outweighs possible risk in
health care settings
Waiting for it 
Al-Madi EM. Basic Overview of Information 6
Technology. Concept of Health Informatics 182

7. How powerful are computers
getting?
• Everything from speed to size to cost per unit of
power doubles every 18 Months.
(Moore, 1965; Intel, 2004)
Al-Madi EM. Basic Overview of Information 7
Technology. Concept of Health Informatics 182

8. Data Storage in Computers
Virtually all modern computers are digital, as opposed to
analog
• Digital means that
– Most fundamental unit is discrete
– Unit is the binary digit or bit, which can assume the values 0
or 1
– Or off/on, false/true, etc..
– A byte is a sequence of 8 bits (and can take on 28 or 256
values)
• In contrast, analog systems have values on continuous
scale
• Examples of digital vs. analog
– Timekeeping
– Calculators vs. slide rules
– Audio – LPs vs. CDs
Al-Madi EM. Basic Overview of Information Technology. Concept of Health Informatics 8
182 DEN

9. Digital concepts – data
representation
• Bit sequences are used to represent
numbers, text, images, and program
instructions
• All these sequences are stored in
memory and architecture determines
which is which.
• Integer numbers are represented by
straight sequences of bits.
• Text is represented by codes (Unicode)
• Images are represented by pixels
Al-Madi EM. Basic Overview of Information Technology. Concept of Health Informatics 9
182 DEN

10. Is a picture worth a thousand
words? Compare storage sizes
Text Image
• For text, each • A high-quality
character is one display of a page
byte requires about 1,200
• A single page may by 800 pixels, taking
have an average of up (in B&W) around
50 characters per 120,000 bytes
line over its 60 lines, • Adding 8-bit color
taking up about would increase the
3,000 bytes size to nearly one
million bytes
Al-Madi EM. Basic Overview of Information Technology. Concept of Health Informatics 10
182 DEN

11. Digital points of reference
• Chest x-ray
1200 x 800 pixels= 960,000 bytes
• Average-sized text book=1-5 megabytes
• Library of Congress= 20 terabytes
Al-Madi EM. Basic Overview of Information 11
Technology. Concept of Health Informatics 182

12. Sizes of storage media
CD
Floppy disks Flash DVD Hard Mainframe &
Disk Memory Disks Disks Server Hard Disk
1,440 K 640- 1-20 4.2 GB 100s Terabyte ++
700 MB GB GB
Al-Madi EM. Basic Overview of Information Technology. Concept of Health Informatics 12
182 DEN

13. Computer Hardware and
Software
Hardware Software
• Physical parts of • Instructions for
Computer computer
– Central processing – Operating system
unit – Applications
(CPU) – Programming
– Memory languages and
– Auxiliary storage development tools
– Input and output
devices
Al-Madi EM. Basic Overview of Information 13
Technology. Concept of Health Informatics 182

14. Auxiliary storage
Active Archival
• Active storage is • Archival storage is
used for information information needed
needed all the time less urgently, e.g.,
backup or older
information
Al-Madi EM. Basic Overview of Information 14
Technology. Concept of Health Informatics 182

15. Input and output devices
Input devices
• Most common device
is the keyboard
• Mouse and trackpad
• Pen input
• Voice input
Output devices
• Monitor and printer
• Computer speech
Input devices
Al-Madi EM. Basic Overview of Information Technology. Concept of Health Informatics 15
182 DEN

16. Computer software – operating
systems
• Provide file, display, • Some operating
networking, etc., systems
services to users and – Windows
programmers – Macintosh OS
• Users get file – Unix
management, set-up – Open-source Linux
and maintenance, – Novell Netware
utilities – PalmOS, Windows for
• Programmers get Handhelds (Windows
standard interface to Mobile)
various services such
as file access,
display, network
connection, etc.
Al-Madi EM. Basic Overview of Information 16
Technology. Concept of Health Informatics 182

17. Programming languages
• Computer programs run in • C, C++ – used in most
machine language, the modern applications
code of bits that gives • MUMPS – used in many
instructions for moving early medical applications
and manipulating data • Basic – used to be
• “High level” computer common in PCs
languages operate at a • Visual Basic used across
higher level of abstraction, Microsoft applications
hiding the complexity of
moving and manipulating • Perl, Python, and others –
data “scripting” languages for
Unix and Web
• Java – attempt to create
standard language for
Web applications
Al-Madi EM. Basic Overview of Information 17
Technology. Concept of Health Informatics 182

18. Open-source software
Open source software in
health care
• Freely available and is • General
managed by some sort – www.sourceforge.net
of standardizing entity • Medical
• Examples: Linux, – Veterans Administration
mySQL, openEHR system Vista –
http://www1.va.gov/CPR
Sdemo/
– OpenEHR –
www.openehr.org
– www.freemedsoftware.or
g
– www.linuxmednews.org
Al-Madi EM. Basic Overview of Information 18
Technology. Concept of Health Informatics 182

19. Computer networks
• Before Internet era, computers were
either
– Standalone (in the case of PCs)
– Hard-wired terminals connected to the
central unit (in the case of mainframes)
• Most rapidly evolving and expanding
technology today is the computer
network
Al-Madi EM. Basic Overview of Information 19
Technology. Concept of Health Informatics 182

20. The Internet
• Worldwide computer network bound together
by TCP/IP
• Not a single network, but many “internetworks”
• Every device on the Internet has an Internet
Protocol (IP) address
• Internet-related terms
– Intranet – Network local to organization that uses
Internet technology
– Extranet – Network limited to associates of an
organization
– Virtual private network (VPN) – the “new” WAN,
allows distant network to appear local
Al-Madi EM. Basic Overview of Information 20
Technology. Concept of Health Informatics 182

21. Software applications on the
Internet
• Electronic mail
• World Wide Web
• Instant messaging
• Application service provider (ASP)
applications – store application and data
remotely
• PC is a terminal:
– Advantage – connect from anywhere on
network, up to- date version, data integrity
– Disadvantage – constrained by network
bandwidth and availability
Al-Madi EM. Basic Overview of Information 21
Technology. Concept of Health Informatics 182

22. • Internet and broadband use is higher
among
– Rich vs. poor
– Younger vs. older
– Developed vs. developing countries
– Urban vs. rural
– Caucasian and Asian vs. other ethnic
groups
• Use growing proportionately among
various ethnic and age groups
Al-Madi EM. Basic Overview of Information 22
Technology. Concept of Health Informatics 182

23. Networking Health
• Nothing about health applications is
unique, i.e., we don’t need a separate
“health Internet,” but current infrastructure
is inadequate for many applications and
priorities
• “Availability” of networks is more important
than “bandwidth” for most clinical
applications
– Can be compromised by the failure of
individual components
– Overload of system
– Hostile attacks (hacking, viruses)
Al-Madi EM. Basic Overview of Information 23
Technology. Concept of Health Informatics 182

24. Important issues for system
design
• Quality and style of interface
– Must be clear and consistent
• Convenience and accessibility
– Devices where needed and in adequate numbers
• Speed and response time
– Essential for busy clinicians
• Reliability
– Crucial as we become more dependent on them
• Security
– Essential as amount of data and connectivity grows
• Integration
– Interoperability of systems and data essential
Al-Madi EM. Basic Overview of Information 24
Technology. Concept of Health Informatics 182

25. Challenges to Biomedical
Computing
• Software reliability and safety
• Software bugs
• General system security
• Spam email
• Passwords
• Persistent data
• Intellectual property and patents
Al-Madi EM. Basic Overview of Information 25
Technology. Concept of Health Informatics 182

26. This weeks assignments
1. View this lecture online for review.
2. Read article:
http://www.grassrootsdesign.com/intro/
This learner's guide is a long term project inspired by twelve years of
teaching computers. The guide is being developed and updated as time
permits.
3. Participate in week 3 discussion.
4. Answer Quiz week 3.
View Read Discuss Quiz
Al-Madi EM. Basic Overview of Information 26
Technology. Concept of Health Informatics 182

27. • Please Post on discussion board as a
new thread or email me at:
ealmadi@ksu.edu.sa
• Good Luck
Dr Ebtissam AL-Madi
Al-Madi EM. Basic Overview of Information Technology. Concept of Health Informatics 27
182 DEN