1/1/2016

AndroidistheBestOperatingSystemChoiceforManyMedicalApplications

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Home>AndroidistheBestOperatingSystemChoiceforManyMedicalApplications

AndroidistheBestOperatingSystem
ChoiceforManyMedicalApplications
AlanCohen,LogicPD
Created2010122011:11
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AndroidistheBestOperatingSystemChoicefor
ManyMedicalApplications
[2]

December20,2010
By:AlanCohen,LogicPD
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Findmorecontenton: Business/MarketTrends[4] Design[5] Feature[6]

OperatingSystems[7] Software[8]
Androidstacksupwellagainstthetraditionalcompetitorswhendevelopingmedical
devices.
Interestinheaviermainstreamoperatingsystems(OSs)suchasWindows,Windows
CE,andLinuxforuseinmedicaldeviceshasgrowndramaticallyinthepastdecade,
andparticularlyinthepastfewyears.Thisinterestisdrivenbyseveralfactors.Todays
deviceusersdesirerich,sophisticatedinterfacesandmanydevelopersareexperienced
inusingtheseOSsandrelatedtoolsondesktopPCsandservers.Untilrecently,ifone
wantedtouseafullfeaturedOSformedicalembeddeddevelopment,thereweretwo
typicalchoices:MicrosoftWindowsCE(andoccasionallydesktopWindowsitself)or
Linux(orotherUnixvariant).
Ofthesetwo,WindowsCEhastheadvantageofbeingafullyintegrateddevelopment
platform,fromdevicedriversallthewayupthroughtheapplicationframework.Some
developersmaynotbeenamoredofWindowsCE,butfewwouldargueagainstitbeing
afastandeasywaytogetaprojectstartedwithminimalhassle.CEhasdisadvantages
aswell:theresaroyaltyforuseandthecodebaseiscontrolledbyMicrosoft.Notethat
thelattercarriessomebenefitsaswell.
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LinuxandotherUnixvariantshavetheadvantageofbeingfreeandopensource,but
therehavetraditionallybeensignificanthurdlesfortheiruseinembeddeddevices,
particularlyindeviceswithsophisticateduserinterfaces.Linuxisdesignedasa
desktop/serverOS,andtypicaldistributionscontainlotsoffeatures(megabytesand
CPUcycles)thatarerarelyifeverneededinembeddedsystems.Thus,startinganew
embeddedprojectinLinuxhastraditionallyrequiredseveralpersonweeksofcreatinga
lightweightsoftwareimagewiththedesiredsubsetoffunctionality,andwithadditions
appropriateforembeddeduse.AndwhilehandcraftingtheLinuximagegoesagood
waytowardsoptimizingthings,theresultisstillnotfullyoptimizedmanyimportantbits
cantbepareddownfromtheirdesktoporientationandareinefficientintheiruseof
memory,CPU,and/orpower.
So,thechoicehasbeentouseaproprietarysystemthatseasytogetstartedwith
(WindowsCE),orafreeandopensystemthatrequiresagoodbitofworktogetstarted
(Linuxandbrethren).
GooglesAndroidOSisarelativelynewplayerintheembeddedspace.Fundamentally,
AndroidspurposeistobuildontheLinuxOSbyprovidingafullfeaturedembedded
systemsframework.Inshort,AndroidaimstobringtotheLinux/freesoftwareworldthe
sameoutofthebox,easeofusefoundinWindowsCE.
AndroidwasfirstreleasedbyGoogleinNovember2007,asanOStargetedatsmart
phones.Itssuccesshasbeenphenomenal:inlessthanthreeyears,itsbecomethe
mostpopularOSforsmartphones,currentlyshippingonalmosthalfofthesephones
worldwide.Androidphonesareshippingatarateofalmost100millionperyear.
DevelopersquicklyrecognizedthatAndroidhasmuchtoofferinembedded
applicationsbeyondphones.Mostoftodaysembeddeddevicesshareseveral
attributeswithphones:smallformfactorLCD/touchscreens,richGUIs,lowpower
processors,broadconnectivityoptions(cellular,WiFi,Bluetooth,etc),batteryoperation,
etc.
Becauseofreliabilityconcerns,medicaldevicedevelopershavetraditionallylagged
slightlybehindintheadoptionofnewtechnologies.Itoftenmakessensetowaitfora
technologytomatureabitbeforecommittingitsuseintoanFDAregulateddevice.But
Androidrepresentsahybrid:whileitsrelativelynew,itsbasedontriedandtrueLinux
technologythatswellunderstoodinourindustry.
WhatisAndroid?
AndroidisanoperatingsystemandcompleteapplicationframeworkdesignedforARM
basedprocessors.Thatcanbeclearlyobservedintheschematicdiagram(Figure1).

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1.AschematicdiagramofAndroiddepictsitsframework.Thisimageisreproduced
fromworkcreatedandsharedbyGoogle[9] andusedaccordingtotermsdescribedin
theCreativeCommons3.0AttributionLicense[10] .
AndroidfundamentallyusesLinux,butGooglehasupdatedandextendeditina
numberofwaystobuildacompleteframeworkforrapiddevelopment:

1. TheAndroidkernelsupportsextensionsformoreaggressivepowermanagement
andmodifiedinterprocesscommunications.
2. GlibclibraryisreplacedwithAndroidsownBionic,whichissmallandfast,and
supportstheBSDlicenseratherthanGPL,therebykeepingtheGPLoutofuser
space.
3. Severallibrariescommonlyneededforembeddeduseareincluded,suchas
WebKit(webpagerendering),MediaFramework,SQLLite,andothers.
4. Theresahardwareabstractionlayerthatdefinestheinterfaceneededby
hardwaredrivers.
5. AndroidRuntime,whichconsistsofDalvik,aJavavirtualmachineoptimizedfor
embeddeduse,andcoreJavaAPIsforapplicationdevelopment.While
applicationdevelopmentunderJavaisAndroidsdominantparadigm,
applicationscanbewritteninCandotherlanguagesandthencompileddownto
nativeARMcodeusingtheNativeDevelopmentKit.
6. TheAndroidApplicationFrameworkthatsusedtoimplementthestandardobject
orientedstructureofJavaAndroidapplications.
Androidisopensource,butadesigngoalwastobetterinsulatecommercialdevelopers
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againsttheviralnatureoftheGPL.TheLinuxkernelremainsundertheGPLbutmost
oftherestofAndroidisreleasedunderthemorerelaxedApachelicense,whichallows
ittobeusedinbothproprietaryandopensourceendeavors.Theshortstoryisthat
AndroidmakeslicensingsimplerandcleanerascomparedtostandardLinux.
Googlealsoproducesasuiteofclosedsourceapplications,includingtheAndroid
MarketandGPS.Theseareprimarilyshippedwithcellphones.
CanIuseAndroidformymedicaldevice?
Toalargedegree,selectinganOSforamedicaldeviceislikeselectinganOSforany
otherdevice:wepicktheOSthatwebelievewillmaximizethevalueofthedeviceover
itslifecycle.Thatincludessuchconsiderationsas:

Howquicklycanwegettomarket?
Whatwillbethecostofdevelopment?
Howdoesthisselectionaffectourcostofgoodssold?
Whatarethelicensingcosts?
Howmuchwillsustainingengineeringcostoncewereonthemarket?
Howconfidentareweofourtime/costestimates?
Thehallmarkofamedicalprojectincludesthefollowingadditionalquestion:

Willthisselectionyieldadevicethatpresentsanacceptablerisktothepatient
andusers?
Asweallrecognize,medicaldevicesaredifferentthanmostotherdevicesinthatthey
canposeasignificantrisk,particularlytopatients.TheFDAclassifiesallmedical
devicesinoneofthreeclasses,basedontherisktothepatientandthedegreeof
regulatoryscrutinyitbelievesiswarranted.
ClassIdevicespresentminimalriskandincludeproductsliketonguedepressors,
bandages,andbasicsurgicalinstruments.ClassIIdevicespresentmoderateriskand
includeproductslikeelectrocardiographs,xrayunits,bloodgasanalyzers,andinfusion
pumps.ClassIIIdevicesposethehighestriskandincludeimplantabledefibrillators,
replacementheartvalves,andimplantedcerebellastimulators.
HeavyweightOSssuchasAndroidaresubstantiallymorelikelytoexperiencefailures
thanaresmaller,moretestableOSsdesignedprimarilyforreliability.Thatsnottosay
thatheavyweightOSsnecessarilyfailoften.Needingtorebootonceayeartofixa
softwarelockupmaybeokayformanydevices,andsotheinconvenienceofan
occasionalrebootcanbeweighedagainstthebenefitsofabetterUI,fastertimeto
market,andotherbenefitsofaheavyweightOS.Butayearlyrebootforafrozen
implantabledefibrillatorisprobablyanonstarter.
Asageneralruleofthumb,AndroidandsimilarOSsareappropriateforuseinClassI
andClassIIdevices,whereasClassIIIdevicestypicallyrequireasmallerhighreliability
OS.However,everydeviceisdifferent.Inanymedicaldevicedevelopmenteffort,we
mustthoroughlyconsiderandunderstandtherisksintroducedbyOSselection.
Onemethodthatsemployedtogetthebestofbothworldsistosplitprocessingtasks
intotwoparts:aprocessorwithahighreliabilityOStoperformcriticalfunctionsanda
processorwithaheavyweightOStosupportlesscriticaltasks.Anexamplecouldbean
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infusionpumpwhereoneprocessorwithahighreliabilityOScontrolsthemotorduring
infusion,whileanotherprocessorrunningAndroidrunstheGUI,communications,and
soforth.Notethatthistwoprocessorsolutionisnotastraightforwardpanacea,andthis
specificapproachmaynotbeappropriateforaninfusionpump.Agooddealofthoughtandplanning
areneededtoensuresafetyandtestability.
Thebenefitsofubiquity
IfyouselectAndroidforyourembeddeddevice,tensofmillionsofhandsetsrun
essentiallythesameAndroidstackthatyourdevicewillrun.Theresahugepoolof
usersfindingbugs,andalargedevelopercommunitydedicatedtofixingthem.While
AndroidcantmatchthereliabilityoflighterweightpurposebuiltOSs,itisathoroughly
debuggedsystemascomparedtocobblingtogetheraLinuxstackfromscratch.In
addition,morethan100,000applicationsarecurrentlyavailableforAndroid,andmany
oftheseapplicationseaseandspeeddevelopment.Thatsaid,Androiddevelopmentis
notoverlycomplexandalargepoolofdeveloperscansupportAndroid.
Androidisastrongcontenderforuseinmedicaldevicesthatdontrequirethehighest
levelofsoftwarereliability,andwhosepricingcansupporttherequiredhardware.It
strikesagoodbalancebetweenfunctionality,resourcerequirements,andproductivity,
andhastheadditionaladvantageofbuildingonthehugeandthrivingLinuxecosystem.
AlanCohen,LogicPDsmedicalpracticeteamleadanddirectorofsystems
engineering,hasmorethan20yearsexperienceindevelopingproducts,withmore
thanadecadeofthisinmedicaldevices.HeholdseightU.S.patents,andearnedhis
bachelorsdegreeinelectricalengineeringfromCornellUniversity.ContactAlanat
alan.cohen@logicpd.com.
Author:
AlanCohen,LogicPD
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manymedicalapplications
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