Institute of Biomedical technology (Inbit.gr)

Project Title: Design and development of the INBIT Web site (http://www.inbit.gr/) and network presence of the following applications: Medical Engineering Listed Education & Training Information (MELETI - Leonardo da Vinci Programme), Multimedia Health Information for Citizens (Melic -Ten-Telecom) and iMED (INBIT Medical Equipment Database).

Start Date: 1/10/1998

Duration: 2 months

Assigned by: Biomedical Technology Institute (ΙΝΒΙΤ)

UNIX Operating System (RedHat Linux).

DataBase server under UNIX (MySQL server ver 3.23).

The application was developed using the Perl and C++ programming languages.

The Inbit.gr site was created in order to serve as a focus of attraction for the Greek and international Medical Community, presenting the goals and activities of INBIT, as well as a powerful communication forum concerning the INBIT database. These two elements are fully aligned with the philosophy and orientation of the Internet as a “medium”.

A network- based service aiming to provide information and guidance for education, training and ongoing vocational training in the field of Biomedical Technology and its individual subspecialties in Europe.

MELETI is a project under the Leonardo da Vinci Programme, aiming to promote education and vocational training in Biomedical Engineering and its related subspecialties. The project's outcomes will help meet the information needs of students and professionals in this field by establishing an electronically based documentation point for information on training and educational activities.

Increasing quantities of information are created and stored in digital form, but access is frequently dependent on a number of factors. This web based service aims to offer information and guidance on education, training and continuous professional development activities in biomedical engineering and its related subspecialties.

The types of information provided by the MELETI service includes:

This service is being developed within the framework of the MELETI project, under the Leonardo da Vinci Programme. MELETI is co-ordinated by INBIT with the participation of 5 partner organisations from 5 European countries.

This area is password-protected (restricted area), with a different password for each one of the partners of the MELETI project, so that the partner may be allowed to modify only the information that he has already entered.

This is a database used for storing documents, sent by each partner via a special form. The documents are classified by subject area.

This is a database used for storing the contacts entered by each partner together with all related information.

This is a database used for storing “useful references”, which in turn are classified by subject area.

This section is the most vital part of the site, since it stores the “key information” contained in the project, which is also a deliverable.

Updating of the information in the following databases shall be performed by the system administrator.

This is a database used for storing documents in plain text format.

This is a database used for storing “useful links to other sites”.

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iMED is an Internet-based service having as its aim to provide an up-to-date information service for the Greek Market of Medical Technology Products.

iMED has been evolved from the database on representatives – manufacturers of medical technology products (ELVIT). This database was redesigned and further developed by INBIT, with the aim to offer up-to-date information on the Greek Market of Medical Technology Products.

The iMED database contains information on suppliers, manufacturers, groups, types and technical features of medical equipment that is in circulation in the Greek market. It also contains standards and surveillance reports on medical technology products.

iMED is addressed to hospitals (Purchase Departments, Clinical Engineering Departments) and to all the Health Care professionals involved in the decision-taking procedure concerning the acquisition of medical equipment in the public or private sector.

IMED is also addressed to suppliers/manufacturers of medical technology products, who may use it as a means for promotion of their products and services.

The “guest” is able to access the database information without modifying them, through the use of criteria-based searches.

The guest – product representative shall obtain a personal username and password, which from that time the user shall have to utilise every time he/she logs into the system. On the basis of this type of authorization, the registered user shall be able to directly access a list containing the products that he/she represents. Each one of these shall refer the user to the corresponding product record, where modifications (of the “modify”, “delete” and “add-new” type) shall be possible.

All modifications made by the registered user are carried out only after approval by the system administrator. In order to approve each modification in the database, all the system administrator needs to do is designate as “valid” the corresponding action, by activating a check box displayed on screens accessible only by himself/herself and using a special username and password. For each modification in the database, the administrator is notified automatically via e-mail, so that he/she may proceed to approving or not such modification. After that, the user is also notified about whether the data entries that he performed have been certified.