Contribution to the Setting of an Online

Platform on Practical Application

for the Science, Technology, Engineering
and Mathematics (STEM): The Case
of Medical Field

Kéba Gueye(&), Ulrich Hermann Sèmèvo Boko,

Bessan Melckior Degboe, and Samuel Ouya

LIRT Laboratory, Higher Polytechnic School, University of Dakar,

Dakar, Senegal
mamekeb@gmail.com, bulrich91@gmail.com,
samuel.ouya@gmail.com, bessan@degboe.org

Abstract. The objective of this paper is to contribute to the improvement of

distance education in medicine by offering a platform for practical work. To do
this, we combine the intelligence of WoT with the power of WebRTC. This
platform, based on the WebRTC Kurento multimedia server and the Web of
Things (WoT), allows teachers and students to do remote labs. Kurento Media
Server (KMS) allows you to create media processing applications based on the
pipeline concept. The Web of Things (WoT), considered a subset of the Internet
of Things (IoT), focuses on standards and software frameworks such as REST,
HTTP and URI to create applications and services that combine and interact
with a variety of network devices. To prove the relevance of our approach, we
described a scenario where the teacher initiates a medical consultation TP with
any patient on which sensors are placed. Patient data is visible in real time for all
students who follow the teacher’s comments/explanations and also interact.
However, our experimental results may be relevant for other STEM disciplines.

Keywords: Practical work
E-learning
Medicine
WoT
KMS
WebRTC

1 Introduction

Nowadays, the ability to do practical work online has become vital in science, tech-
nology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). That’s why in recent years, research on
remote or online labs has become very popular.
Previous research has shown that laboratory experiments in engineering disciplines
have a real impact on a student’s practical knowledge [1, 2]. Therefore, considerable
attention has recently been given to remote laboratories in STEM. Several authors have

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

M. E. Auer and T. Tsiatsos (Eds.): ICL 2018, AISC 916, pp. 297–307, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11932-4_29
298 K. Gueye et al.

concluded that real laboratory experiments play an important role in STEM [3, 4]. The
main problem is how to provide effective STEM training in e-learning.
In the literature, several approaches have been proposed to implement laboratories
[5, 6]. Each approach solves a specific problem [7]. There are some STEM disciplines
such as medicine and biology where it is difficult to do e-learning due to lack of remote
laboratory equipment. The literature on remote laboratories in medicine and biology is
poor. Our contribution applies first to distance education in medicine. However, our
experimental results may be relevant for other STEM disciplines under certain
conditions.
The paper aims to contribute to the establishment of a platform of practical work in
the distance education of medicine. This platform, based on the WebRTC Kurento
multimedia server and the Web of Things (WoT), allows teachers and students to do
remote labs. Kurento Media Server (KMS) allows you to create media processing
applications based on the pipeline concept. The Web of Things (WoT), considered a
subset of the Internet of Things (IoT), focuses on standards and software frameworks
such as REST, HTTP and URI to create applications and services that combine and
interact with a variety of network devices. To prove the relevance of our approach, we
described a scenario of practical experiences in medicine. Students and professors
could interact interactively on the platform.

2 Related Works

In the literature, studies have shown that web-based infrastructures can be used to
conduct clinical consultations. The authors [8–11] propose solutions based on old
communication technologies, not including real time and requiring the installation of
third-party software. For this study, we focus on recent work, some of which uses
WebRTC.
The authors [12] focus their work on audio/video communication and data
exchange between the patient and the caregiver. In addition, patients have medical
sensors for taking vital parameters. To provide specific services to type I diabetic
patients, [13] offer an e-health platform. The latter involves medical sensors and a
robot. The robot interacts with the patient to collect the data and sends it to the health
care staff. Article [14] provides an API for integrating sensor data into a web
application.

3 Technology

The first part presents the technology used to establish communication between the
different users of the system. Then, the Web of Things allows controlling and inter-
acting with different intelligent objects of architecture.
 Contribution to the Setting of an Online Platform on Practical 299

3.1 Kurento Media Server (KMS)

Traditional WebRTC applications are standardized so that browsers can communicate
directly without the mediation of third-party infrastructures. This is sufficient to provide
basic multimedia services, but features such as group communications, stream
recording, streaming, or transcoding are difficult to implement. For this reason, the
most interesting applications require the use of a multimedia server.
There are many other services we can offer with media servers: augmented reality,
computer vision and alpha blending. These services can add value to applications in
many scenarios such as e-health, e-learning, security, entertainment, games or adver-
tising. Kurento Media Server (KMS) is an evolution of traditional media servers that
provides a modular architecture where other features can be added as modules.
Kurento is an open source WebRTC multimedia server that allows you to create
media processing applications based on the pipeline concept. Media pipelines are
created by interconnect modules called Media Elements. Each Media Element provides
a specific feature. KMS contains Media Elements capable of recording and mixing
streams, computer vision, etc.
From the point of view of the application developer, Media Elements are like Lego
pieces: just take the necessary elements for an application and connect them according
to the desired topology. This type of modularity is new in the field of RTC multimedia
servers.
Kurento Media Server offers the capabilities of creating media pipelines through a
simple JSON-RPC-based network protocol. However, to further simplify developer
work, a client API that implements this protocol and directly leverages Media Elements
and pipelines is provided. Currently, the Java and JavaScript client API is ready for
developers [15].
Taking into account the integrated modules, the Kurento Toolbox is detailed in
Fig. 1.

Fig. 1. Kurento Elements toolbox

300 K. Gueye et al.

3.2 Web of Thing

The Web of Things (WoT) is a specialization of the Internet of Things (IoT). On the
one hand, it provides an abstraction of the connectivity of smart objects. On the other
hand, WoT adds a standard web standards-based application layer to simplify the
creation of IoT applications. In IoT, the communication protocols are multiple (MQTT,
CoAP, ARMQP …), which creates groups of users.
The main interests of using WoT instead of IoT are the simplicity of development
using APIs, standardization and simple coupling. The idea is that all intelligent objects
can communicate using a Web language through an API. This API can be present in the
intelligent object itself or in an intermediary that can act on behalf of the intelligent
object [16]. This has become possible with the improvement of embedded systems.

4 Presentation of the Proposed Architecture

To exploit the advanced features of the webrtc, the proposed architecture integrates
Kurento Media Server (KMS). During a WebRTC multimedia session, the solution
provides access to the information collected by the sensors and sends it to the other end
of the communication in real time. Figure 2 describes the architecture of the proposed
system.

Fig. 2. Proposed system architecture

For a good understanding of the architecture, a scenario applicable in the field of

telehealth (health services, online, information, training, social networks, serious
games) is proposed. This scenario consists of making Practical Work (PT) possible as
the clinical examination.
Distance education in medicine, biology, etc. is faced with many technical and
 Contribution to the Setting of an Online Platform on Practical 301

logistical difficulties. Indeed, the students are geographically dispersed and do not have
virtual laboratories for Practical Work.
The proposed solution allows the teacher to initiate a live medical consultation TP
via the KMS-IoT platform. The goal of TP is to teach students how to perform a
clinical exam. To do this, the professor uses the connected medical devices (stetho-
scope, thermometer, electrocardiogram, sphygmomanometer, etc.) to collect the con-
stants of a student taken as a patient. This data is directly transmitted to the application
and then shared in real time with the other students via the platform. With the help of a
connected computer, tablet or smartphone, any student can view the constants and
follow in real time the comments/explanations of the teacher. Each student can also
interact by asking questions.

5 Implementation

A platform using Node.js and KMS is implemented in this paper. On the one hand, it
allows establishing a multimedia communication between two users by simply using
their browser. On the other hand, it allows users to access data from predefined con-
nected objects. The proposed architecture consists of three distinct entities: Internet of
Things, API and Web Application.

Fig. 3. Architecture WoT

5.1 Internet of Things

The first part is the WoT part. Each endpoint is considered a gateway to its set of smart
objects. In addition, each user has control over these objects. The NODEMCU
ESP8266 aggregation node is not responsible for reading the sensors. It simply pro-
vides a gateway between the user and the sensor network, and then performs data
analysis. The sensor node is the lowest level of a sensor network. It is responsible for
gathering information from sensors, performing user actions, and using communication
mechanisms to send data to the aggregation node (see Fig. 3).
302 K. Gueye et al.

The ESP8266 gateway can then communicate with the sensors using one of the
well-known communication protocols (Lora, Zigbee, Bluetooth, WIFI…). In the cur-
rent platform, a DHT11 humidity and temperature sensor is used. The latter is con-
nected to the NodeMCU gateway (ESP8266) which sends the sensor data using WIFI.

Fig. 4. Wiring the ESP8266 with the DHT11

In the case of e-health scenarios, all we need is portable medical sensors. They can
communicate via any protocol, since the WoT summarizes the complexity of the
connectivity of objects.
Using the current architecture, an implementation of the remote clinical examina-
tion is possible, where a doctor communicates with students using Kurento Media
Server. The teacher has access to a set of sensors. Then he can send the information
collected by these sensors to students in real time using the KMS-IoT platform. Finally,
these data can be analyzed and commented by the actors. Figure 4 shows the wiring of
the Node MCU Gateway with the DHT11 temperature and humidity sensor.

5.2 Api
We have developed a REST API capable of retrieving information collected by a
connected medical device and storing it in a MongoDB database. MongoDB belongs to
the NoSQL family Document-store, developed in C ++. It is based on the concept of a
key-value pair. The document is read or written using the key. MongoDB supports
dynamic queries on documents. Since this is a document-oriented database, the data is
stored as JSON, BSON style [17].
According to recent work [18–20], NoSQL database systems are non-relational
databases designed to provide great accessibility, reliability and scalability to huge
 Contribution to the Setting of an Online Platform on Practical 303

Fig. 5. Authentication and login on the KMS-IoT-E-health

Fig. 6. Communication between teacher and students: teacher side

data. NoSQL databases can store unstructured data such as e-mails and multimedia
documents. MongoDB has many security risks that can be overcome by a good, secure
cryptographic system [21].

5.3 Web Application

To set up the web application, we use the NodeJs and Kurento Media Server tech-
nologies. This platform allows teachers and students to register and authenticate
themselves to access Kurento Media Server features. Once connected, students can
304 K. Gueye et al.

Fig. 7. Communication between teacher and students: student side

Fig. 8. Authentication flow

view the sensor data and the media streams of the teacher in charge of the TP. Figure 5
shows the authentication and login principle on the KMS-IoT platform.
The web application can also collect information from the database and display it.
Connected users can then view sensor data. Figures 6 and 7 show that actors can access
the temperature and humidity sensor information. The same mechanism is applicable to
any other sensor.
 Contribution to the Setting of an Online Platform on Practical 305

Fig. 9. Communication flow between students and the teacher on the KMS-IoT platform.

Figures 8 and 9 show the authentication and communication steps between the
students and the teacher on the KMS-IoT-E-Health platform.

6 Conclusion

In this article, we propose the platform KMS-IoT which allows to do TP in the distance
education of medicine. This platform is built around a WebRTC Kurento multimedia
server, an API, a Web application and connected objects. This allows STEM students,
in the context of e-learning, to access remote labs and conduct hands-on experiments.
Adopting the proposed approach could change distance learning activities for students
in STEM disciplines such as medicine and biology.

Acknowledgment. The authors kindly thank colleagues who helped them to achieve this paper,
especially the members of RTN laboratory.
306 K. Gueye et al.

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