This project aims to further develop a new type of telephone, Omniphone, and then demonstrate its practicality. Omniphone technology is fully compatible with existing telephone equipment, but in addition is capable of communicating over a single telephone line both voice and data simultaneously. This can provide the flexibility of patient-physician dialog concurrently with the transfer of medical data from existing remote out-patient monitoring equipment. Coupled to such devices, Omniphone would make current information available to the physician, who could directly control, calibrate, or reprogram the devices via telephone during conversation with the patient. Such new capabilities could accelerate advances in remote monitoring equipment and could encourage more widespread use of existing equipment. Additional commercial applications are possible wherever the concurrent transfer of computerized data during conversation would be useful. The current prototypes, which require external support from a next computer, are to be redesigned as stand-alone units with enhanced speed and reliability. Generating the required software is anticipated to be the primary effort of this project. A comprehensive understanding of how Omniphone signals interact with the Public Switched Telephone Network is to be established as a prerequisite to the formulation and eventual adoption of formal telecommunications protocols.
