SN Computer Science (2021) 2:334
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SN Computer Science
wearable devices. User data is mapped with their existing
health records and this can help track their current condi-
tions, localize
them during emergencies, etc. To underline
the practicality provided by biometric technologies and big
data analytics, we consider an Indian hospital scenario. The
Apollo hospital was established in 1983 and has success-
fully achieved many advanced scientific breakthroughs in
the medical sector. The success of Apollo hospital relies
heavily on big data and biometric functions. For instance,
the hospital is using the
Askapollo application, which is an
Online appointment scheduler to
streamline the management
of its patients [
17
,
42
]. The virtual scheduler can help the
patients or any user book appointments for normal health
check-ups, doctor consultations, or any other medical ser-
vices, e.g., X-rays, etc. If a patient registered with the Apollo
hospital faces an emergency, the patient’s record will be
sourced from the hospital’s database to expedite medical
procedures. Using this optimized and patient-centric data-
base, people with rare blood groups
or people who are will-
ing to donate their organs can be effectively tracked during
emergencies. In addition, one-to-one doctor-patient consul-
tation (via video) is also provided for the registered hospital
patients. During such consultations, the patients’ records are
revoked from the Apollo database, including case sheets,
medical
conditions and medications, and other relevant that
can help doctors conduct their diagnosis. The practicality
of this feature was emphasized during the COVID-19 crisis,
since patients were able to reach their doctors without jeop-
ardizing their health (e.g., if they had to visit the hospital
in-person) [
42
].
In the healthcare environment, touchless technologies can
assist in preventing the cross-contamination of hospital facil-
ities. Aspects such as hygiene, safety, and accessibility are
of great importance for the healthcare sector. To overcome
potential issues, the Yale New Haven hospital (YNHH) has
installed touchless holographic switches, replacing tradi-
tional tactile switches. The touchless
holographic switch is
operated by passing a finger through a holographic image
that is floating in the air in front of the switch’s bezel.
Unlike tactile switches, the touchless switches do not need
to be physically touched. Such technologies allow people to
intuitively enter commands by simply accessing a virtually
displayed hologram image, which could be in the form of
keys or buttons or PIN projected from an embedded holo-
graphic signal emitter. Light detectors, using optical or infra-
red
beams can capture, classify, and diagnose the selected
keys and transmit them to the embedded processing unit for
analysis [
42
,
43
].
