The era of the digital world has opened a vista of opportunities in the health sector, particularly as it relates to healthcare delivery to remote and under-served areas. This is evident in the emergence of many Bluetooth or Wi-Fi-enabled medical devices such as infusion pumps, smart beds, MRI scanners and HoloLens devices, inter alia, currently in use in various hospitals and health facilities. However, the shortage of competent operators and lack of specialized physicians and other health workers, especially in rural and remote areas that lack specialist medical services and major hospitals, still poses a great challenge to high-quality health delivery. This research project was to develop a proof-of-concept system by implementing an E-Consultation System leveraged on holographic and augmented reality systems, in a typical ICU environment, for the prompt and safe delivery of remote consultancy services. The overall system was implemented as a Data Centre controlling a network of devices and a HoloLens Consulting System. This E-Consultation approach created an interactive platform between a patient and a doctor and was tested at the surgical ICUs of Buddhachinaraj Hospital, Phitsanulok, Thailand, with 6 cardiothoracic patients and 14 other accident patients, participating in the study. The adaptability of the system was tested developmentally over a period of 1 month. Analysis of the results of a satisfaction survey of the collaboration amongst the medical practitioners (doctors and nurses) and the development team showed that the average satisfaction was 4.37 for system usability and 4.5 for the benefits identified and average satisfaction with the development team was 3.87, both out of a maximum score of 5 points. The findings from this research demonstrate the reliability and efficiency of deploying HoloLens and Hologram devices and justifies their use in E-Consulting systems in ICU centers.

This work demonstrates a novel method to deposit an antibacterial TiO₂ thin film on a polymer substrate at room temperature. A combination of sol–gel and photon assistance was used in the experiment in order to avoid any thermal processes of thin film crystallization. The morphological photograph of samples indicated that the TiO₂ thin film was perfectly coated on the PVC substrate without any cracks or pinholes. Chemical analysis by EDS and XPS reported that the thin film consisted of titanium (Ti), oxygen (O), and carbon (C). The Raman spectrum proved that the thin film was the anatase phase of TiO₂ and, furthermore, that it was contaminated with carbon remaining from the photon assistance process. In addition, the optical band gap of the thin film was 3.35 eV, suggesting that the photocatalytic activity of TiO₂ should occur under UV-A radiation. The bacteria viability assay was examined using E. coli and S. typhimurium as indicator strains under UV-A irradiation (365 nm) at different times. The data from OD and CFU count revealed that >97% of bacteria were killed after 60 min of irradiation, and the bacteria were completely killed at 120 min for E. coli and 180 min for S. typhimurium.