Niihama City, Ehime Prefecture, adopts the online medical support platform Medicapture for its health and welfare MaaS vehicle.

We are pleased to announce that we have delivered an online medical treatment system to a health and welfare MaaS vehicle in Niihama City, Ehime Prefecture.

In this initiative, the online medical treatment support platform Medicapture provided by the Company was adopted to establish a system that enables doctors to provide prompt and high-quality medical treatment online to patients living in areas such as doctorless areas.

Features and advanced technology of ‘Medicapture’

ShareMedical Inc.'s online medical support platform Medicapture is a state-of-the-art system for which the company has obtained Japanese distribution and Japanese-language rights through a partnership with PARSYS Telemedicine of France and features a robust and sophisticated UI used by the French military.

The system uses a proprietary protocol that ensures stable operation even in low communication bandwidths, enabling stable medical treatment even in areas with inadequate communication environments, such as mountainous regions and remote islands. The system is equipped with the following advanced technologies

1. Remote auscultation function using the digital auscultation device ‘Nexstetho.’

   Nexstetho is a state-of-the-art medical tool that uses digital auscultation technology developed by the company to enable remote auscultation of heart and respiratory sounds. It enables the acquisition of highly accurate auscultation data.

2. Linkage with a wide variety of examination equipment

   Necessary examination data can be acquired in real time during online medical treatment by linking with various examination devices such as blood pressure monitors, thermometers and blood glucose meters. This enables objective diagnosis based on examination data, which is a step beyond the conventional subjective diagnosis based on video and voice, and significantly improves the accuracy and safety of medical treatment.

3. Patented technology ‘real-time remote auscultation’

   Our ‘real-time remote auscultation’ technology enables accurate assessment of pathological conditions such as respiratory diseases, which are difficult to ascertain using video alone, either before or during the examination. This technology is also compatible with the ‘D to P with N’ model that will be newly established in the 2024 revision of medical fees and contributes significantly to improving the accuracy of doctors' diagnoses.

4. Seamless medical information collaboration through support for HL7 FHIR standards

   Medicapture is the first online medical care tool that supports the HL7 FHIR standard, an international standard for standardizing the linkage of medical information data, enabling seamless linkage with hospital systems such as electronic medical records. This enables centralized management of medical information and efficient provision of medical care.

Impact on local healthcare and future development

This initiative has enabled the rapid provision of medical care to areas such as doctorless areas, which are becoming increasingly difficult to deal with under the conventional medical care system. The Health and Welfare MaaS vehicle combines the latest ICT technology with a mobile medical system to create an environment in which doctors can accurately assess patient conditions from a distance. High expectations are placed on the vehicle as part of a regional collaboration to solve the problem of access to medical care in Niihama City.

'We are aiming to build a total healthcare platform, from prevention to medical care and nursing care, with the keyword “Connecting medicine and health”. We are confident that the introduction of Medicapture will enable us to provide high-quality medical care in regions where it will be difficult to provide medical care in the future. We will continue to promote technological innovation and contribute to the development of regional healthcare across the country,’ said Keishin Mine, Representative Director of ShareMedical Inc.

In the future, ShareMedical Inc. intends to further deepen its cooperation with Niihama City and strive to build a sustainable healthcare provision system. It will make use of the medical ICT expertise it has cultivated to date to provide comprehensive solutions to resolve issues in regional healthcare.

Future prospects

Starting with this initiative, ShareMedical Inc. will promote research and development for further advancement of online medical support technology and the spread of medical MaaS. In particular, further enhancements are planned, including support for Starlink satellite communications and an expanded cloud data storage function for chronically ill patients. Through this, we aim to realize a medical environment in which patients can receive medical care with peace of mind, even in doctorless areas, remote medical regions, and remote island medical regions across the country.