Updated on 2026/05/19

Information

 

写真a

 
ISLAM RAFIQUL
 
Organization
Data-Driven Innovation Initiative Academic Researcher
Kyushu University Hospital Medical Information Center（Concurrent）
Kyushu University Institute for Asian and Oceanian Studies （Concurrent）
Title
Academic Researcher
Contact information
メールアドレス
Tel
0926426994
Profile
I have been involved in research and development of ICT-based solutions to enhance social services across sectors such as agriculture, information systems, healthcare, mobility, and waste management. My current focus is on developing sustainable telehealth systems for underserved communities in developing countries. As part of this effort, we have developed the Portable Health Clinic (PHC)— a modular telehealth platform featuring specialized healthcare modules, including basic care with an emphasis on non-communicable diseases (NCDs), maternal and child health, eye care, and communicable diseases such as COVID-19. A dental care module is also under development. The PHC system has been successfully implemented in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Thailand, and Zambia, contributing to improved healthcare accessibility and outcomes in these regions.
Homepage
  • https://www.gphchealth.com

    This website describes the core Portable Health Clinic (PHC) activities and shows the updated service statistics of various modules in Bangladesh.

  • http://portablehealth.clinic

    This website contains the research activities on the Portable Health Clinic (PHC) system which is jointly developed by Grameen Communications, Bangladesh and Kyushu University, Japan. It also shows our global collaborative activities with other countries.

External link

Research Areas

  • Informatics / Software

  • Informatics / Life, health and medical informatics

  • Informatics / Computer system

Degree

  • Bachelor (Applied Physics & Electronics) University of Dhaka, Bangladesh

  • Master (Applied Physics & Electronics) University of Dhaka, Bangladesh

  • Doctorate (Information Engineering) Hokkaido University, Japan

Research History

  • 2009.09 - Director, Global Communication Center, Grameen Communications, Bangladesh 2017.09 - Left 2000.03 - Technical Manager, Overseas Business Development Team, Softfront Inc., Japan 2009.08 - Left 1997.06 - System Engineer, Development Team, Softbrain Co. Ltd., Japan 2000.02 - Left 1991.12 - Programmer, Software Development Team, Flora Limited, Bangladesh 1992.12 - Left

Education

  • Hokkaido University   Graduate School of Engineering   Information Engineering

    1994.4 - 1997.3

    　 More details

    Country：Japan

    Notes：Dr.Eng.

Papers

  • Digital Health Technologies in Low-Income Countries: Bridging Gaps in Personalized Preventive Care Through Telemedicine, Electronic Health Records, and AI-Driven Nursing Informatics

    Islam Rafiqul, Sherif Nesnawy, Ashir Uddin Ahmed, Nishikitani Mariko, Kikuchi Kimiyo, Nakashima Naoki, Arwa Aboelmaged

    Proceedings of International Exchange and Innovation Conference on Engineering & Sciences (IEICES)   11   913 - 920   2025.10   （ ISSN:24341436 eISSN:24341436 ）

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    Language：English   Publisher：International Exchange and Innovation Conference on Engineering & Sciences  

    This review examines the role of digital health technologies in enhancing personalized preventive care in low-income countries (LICs), where non-communicable diseases continue to rise amidst chronic limitations of healthcare infrastructure, workforce, and data system. It explores telemedicine, open-source electronic health records, AI-driven analytics, and nursing informatics within LIC settings, drawing on recent evidence from 2020–2025. Real-world implementations, such as offline-first platforms and portable health clinics, demonstrate feasibility and clinical impact. However, barriers such as algorithmic bias, fragmented systems, and digital illiteracy persist. The review proposes an integration framework addressing contextual relevance, interoperability, workforce development, and ethical governance. It concludes with actionable strategies to design equitable, sustainable digital solutions for under-resourced healthcare systems.

    DOI： 10.5109/7395621

    Scopus

    CiNii Research

  • An evaluation of the commonly used portable medical sensors performance in comparison to clinical test results for telehealth systems Invited Reviewed International journal

    Islam RM, Tou S, Izukura R, Sato Y, Nishikitani M, Kikuchi K, Yokota F, Ikeda S, Islam R, Ahmed, Ashir, Miyazaki M and Nakashima N

    Journal of Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine Update   V5   2024.3

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    Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine Update  

    Background and Objective: One of the primary challenges faced by telehealth systems is the accurate transmission of patient information to remote doctors. In this context, portable medical sensors deployed at the remote patients' end play a crucial role in measuring vital information. There are many sensors available in the market. However, the accuracy of the sensors has been always a concern. The objective of this study is to verify different sensors and create awareness for using accurate sensors to avoid misdiagnosis for the patients’ safety. Methods: This study considered the test result of a Japanese clinical pathology laboratory as the reference gold standard. The clinical pathology laboratory uses 1) Hexokinase UV method for blood glucose, 2) Enzymatic Determination method for cholesterol, 3) Automatic Analyzer (EDTA-2 K) of Hemoglobin, and 4) Uricase POD method for uric acid. To assess the performance of a medical sensor, its test results were compared to the gold standard test results obtained from the laboratory using the same sample. A Normalized Root Mean Square Error (NRMSE) threshold of less than 0.2 was established as the criterion for determining whether the medical sensor's performance fell within an acceptable range. Results: Among the eight most commonly used blood glucose devices in the Asian market, only one device was deemed acceptable with NRMSE less than 0.2. However, all four devices found in the Japanese market showed their acceptability. In the case of cholesterol, hemoglobin, and uric acid devices, only a limited number of items were available in Asian markets. Some of the hemoglobin and uric acid devices were found to be somewhat acceptable, while all the cholesterol sensors were found erroneous. Conclusions: This study has clearly shown the issues with the portable medical sensors and recommends the device approval authority of each country to approve sales of the quality sensors only for patients’ safety.

    DOI： 10.1016/j.cmpbup.2024.100147

    Scopus

  • Mask-Wearing Behavior Among Individuals Newly Diagnosed With Type 2 Diabetes: Insights From Community Health Screenings During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Indonesia Invited Reviewed International journal

    Yokota F, Anai A, Lazuardi L, Majid N, Wulandari H, Nishikitani M, Kikuchi K, Sato Y, Ikeda S, Ahmed A, Islam RM and Nakashima N

    Indonesian Journal of Community Engagement (Jurnal Pengabdian kepada Masyarakat)   Vol. 10 ( No. 1 )   30 - 37   2024.3

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    Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

  • Concept of Micro Healthcare Entrepreneurship (MHE) to facilitate Universal Health Coverage (UHC): Prospects and Challenges Invited Reviewed International journal

    Hossain F, Islam R, Osugi T, Shah F, Mine T, Nakashima N and Ahmed A

    Journal of Sustainability   16 ( 6 )   2024.3   （ eISSN:2071-1050 ）

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    Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Sustainability Switzerland  

    In the pursuit of Universal Health Coverage (UHC), developing countries with limited resources face significant hurdles. Traditional top-down approaches, spearheaded by governments, often entail lengthy planning periods and substantial costs to reach underserved communities. This paper proposes a bottom-up, cost-effective, and preventive approach aimed at empowering local human resources and using advanced technology. We call it the Micro Healthcare Entrepreneurship (MHE) model. The MHE model comprises four primary components: (1) utilization of local human resources, (2) disruptive healthcare technology, (3) continuous training, and (4) available funds. Extensive testing of the digital health and social business elements across diverse contexts underscores their efficacy. Furthermore, the viability of social business funds has been established. To solicit feedback and refine the MHE concept, three workshops, conducted in phases, engaged 60 community healthcare service providers. This paper elucidates both the potential advantages and the challenges inherent in implementing the MHE model. By shifting the paradigm toward grassroots empowerment and leveraging existing community assets, this approach offers promise in advancing healthcare accessibility and sustainability in resource-constrained settings to achieve UHC.

    DOI： 10.3390/su16062268

    Web of Science

    Scopus

  • Performance Evaluation of the Commonly-used Portable Cholesterol Sensors for Telehealth Services in the Unreached Communities Invited Reviewed International journal

    Islam R, Tou S, Izukura R, Sato Y, Nishikitani M, Kikuchi K, Yokota F, Ikeda S, Islam R, Ahmed A, Miyazaki M and Nakashima N

    MEDINFO 2023: The Future Is Accessible, International Medical Informatics (IMIA) and IOS Press   310   309 - 313   2024.1   （ ISSN:0926-9630 ISBN:978-1-64368-456-7 eISSN:1879-8365 ）

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    Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)   Publisher：Studies in Health Technology and Informatics  

    Portable medical sensors play an important role in healthcare services, especially in rural communities. Many telehealth systems use these devices for providing patients' vital information from a distance to remote doctors. Erroneous data will not only mislead the remote doctor for correct diagnosis but it will cause health threats to these unreached community people. Therefore, it is very important to identify good sensors with an acceptable level of accuracy but within the affordable price of the available sensors in the market. This study aims to identify quality portable cholesterol sensors with high accuracy with the reference of the Japanese clinical pathology laboratory as a gold standard. We have considered cholesterol sensors that measure total cholesterol for this study that are commonly used in the developing countries of Asia. We found that out of four, three of them were very much erroneous and cannot be recommended even for primary healthcare.

    DOI： 10.3233/SHTI230977

    Web of Science

    Scopus

    PubMed

  • Performance Evaluation of Portable Medical Devices - A Comparative Study of Blood Glucose Sensors and Cholesterol Sensors Invited Reviewed International journal

    Islam R, Tou S, Izukura R, Sato Y, Nishikitani M, Yokota F, Kikuchi K, Ikeda S, Ahmed A, Miyazaki M, Nakashima N

    Japan Journal of Medical Informatics   Vol 43   521 - 526   2023.11

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    Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

  • Potential Improvement in a Portable Health Clinic for Community Health Service to Control Non-Communicable Diseases in Indonesia Invited Reviewed International journal

    Wulandari H, Lazuardi L, Majid N, Yokota F, Sanjaya GY, Dewi TS, Meliala A, Islam R and Nakashima N

    Open Access: Applied Sciences 2023 (Medical Intelligence with Interoperability and Standard (APAMI 2022))   Volume 13 ( Issue 3 )   2023.1   （ eISSN:2076-3417 ）

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    Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Applied Sciences Switzerland  

    The COVID-19 pandemic has limited routine community health services, including screening for non-communicable diseases (NCDs). An adaptive and innovative digital approach is needed in the health technology ecosystem. A portable health clinic (PHC) is a community-based mobile health service equipped with telemonitoring and teleconsultation using portable medical devices and an Android application. The aim of this study was to assess the challenges and potential improvement in PHC implementation in Indonesia. This study was conducted in February–April 2021 in three primary health centers, Mlati II in Sleman District, Samigaluh II in Kulon Progo, and Kalikotes in Klaten. In-depth interviews were conducted with 11 health workers and community health workers. At the baseline, 268 patients were examined, and 214 patients were successfully followed-up until the third month. A proportion of 32% of the patients required teleconsultations based on automatic triage. Implementation challenges included technical constraints such as complexity of applications; unstable networks; and non-technical constraints, such as the effectivity of training, the availability of doctors, and the workload at the primary health center. PHCs were perceived as an added value in addition to existing community-based health services. The successful implementation of PHCs should not only be considered with respect to technology but also in terms of human impact, organization, and legality.

    DOI： 10.3390/app13031623

    Web of Science

    Scopus

  • Telehealth Care for Mothers and Infants to Improve the Continuum of Care: Protocol for a Quasi-Experimental Study

    Yokota Fumihiko, Ikeda Subaru, Sultana Nazneen, Nessa Meherun, Nasir Morshed, Ahmed Ashir, Kato Kiyoko, Morokuma Seiichi, Nakashima Naoki, Jahan Nusrat, Kikuchi Kimiyo, Islam Rafiqul, Izukura Rieko, Sato Yoko, Nishikitani Mariko

    JMIR Research Protocols   11 ( 12 )   e41586   2022.12   （ ISSN:1929-0748 eISSN:19290748 ）

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    Language：English   Publisher：JMIR Publications  

    Background: Ensuring an appropriate continuum of care in maternal, newborn, and child health, as well as providing nutrition care, is challenging in remote areas. To make care accessible for mothers and infants, we developed a telehealth care system called Portable Health Clinic for Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health. / Objective: Our study will examine the telehealth care system’s effectiveness in improving women’s and infants’ care uptake and detecting their health problems. / Methods: A quasi-experimental study will be conducted in rural Bangladesh. Villages will be allocated to the intervention and control areas. Pregnant women (≥16 gestational weeks) will participate together with their infants and will be followed up 1 year after delivery or birth. The intervention will include regular health checkups via the Portable Health Clinic telehealth care system, which is equipped with a series of sensors and an information system that can triage participants’ health levels based on the results of their checkups. Women and infants will receive care 4 times during the antenatal period, thrice during the postnatal period, and twice during the motherhood and childhood periods. The outcomes will be participants’ health checkup coverage, gestational and neonatal complication rates, complementary feeding rates, and health-seeking behaviors. We will use a multilevel logistic regression and a generalized estimating equation to evaluate the intervention’s effectiveness. / Results: Recruitment began in June 2020. As of June 2022, we have consented 295 mothers in the study. Data collection is expected to conclude in June 2024. / Conclusions: Our new trial will show the effectiveness and extent of using a telehealth care system to ensure an appropriate continuum of care in maternal, newborn, and child health (from the antenatal period to the motherhood and childhood periods) and improve women’s and infants’ health status.

    DOI： 10.2196/41586

    Web of Science

    Scopus

    PubMed

    CiNii Research

  • HUMS Ohidas Toolkit, the PHC, and HUMS Tanya Pakar: A multi-level, vertically integrated digital health Promotion, Primary Prevention and telemedicine provision programme Invited Reviewed International journal

    Pang N , Lasimbang HB, Hijazi MHA, Hamild MNB, Dris MAB, Shoesmith W, Islam RM, Nakashima N and Yokota F

    Azerbaijan Medical Journal   Volume 62 ( Issue 07 )   3053 - 3062   2022.9

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    Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

  • Feasibility and acceptability of telepathology system among the rural communities of Bangladesh: A pilot study Invited Reviewed International journal

    Rahman MJ, Rahman MM , Matsuyama R, Tsunematsu M , Islam R , Ahmed A, Banu B, Hossain SM, Sarker MHR , Monjur F, Roshid MM, Islam MR , Kakehashi M

    Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care   Vol 11 ( Issue 6 )   2613 - 2619   2022.6

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    Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

  • Portable health clinic COVID-19 system for remote patient follow-up ensuring clinical safety Invited Reviewed International journal

    Islam R, Yokota F, Nishikitani M, Kikuchi K, Sato Y, Izukura R, Rahman MM, Chowdhury MR, Ahmed A and Nakashima N

    Journal of Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine Update   2   100061   2022.6

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    Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine Update  

    Background: A developing country like Bangladesh suffers very much from the sudden appearance of the COVID-19 pandemic due to the shortage of medical facilities for testing and follow-up treatment. The Portable Health Clinic (PHC) system has developed the COVID-19 module with a triage system for the detection of COVID-19 suspects and the follow-up of the home quarantined COVID-19 patients to reduce the workload of the limited medical facilities. Methods: The PHC COVID-19 system maintains a questionnaire-based triage function using the experience of the Japanese practice of diseases management for early detection of suspected COVID-19 patients who may need a confirmation test. Then only the highly suspected patients go for testing preventing the unnecessary crowd from the confirmation PCR test centers and hospitals. Like the basic PHC system, it also has the features for patients’ treatment and follow-up for the home quarantined COVID-19 positive and suspect patients using a telemedicine system. This COVID-19 system service box contains 4 self-checking medical sensors, namely, (1) thermometer, (2) pulse oximeter, (3) blood pressure machine, and (4) glucometer for patient's health monitoring including a tablet PC installed with COVID-19 system application for communication between patient and doctor for tele-consultancy. Results: This study conducted a COVID-19 triage among 300 villagers and identified 220 green, 45 light-yellow, 2 yellow, 30 orange, and 3 red patients. Besides the 3 red patients, the call center doctors also referred another 13 patients out of the 30 orange patients to health facilities for PCR tests as suspect COVID-19 positive, and to go under their follow-up. Out of these (3 + 13 =) 16 patients, only 4 went for PCR test and 3 of them had been tested positive. The remaining orange, yellow and light-yellow patients were advised home quarantine under the follow-up of the PHC health workers and got cured in 1–2 weeks. Conclusions: This system can contribute to the community healthcare system by ensuring quality service to the suspected and 80% or more tested COVID-19 positive patients who are usually in the moderate or mild state and do not need to be hospitalized. The PHC COVID-19 system provides services maintaining social distance for preventing infection and ensuring clinical safety for both the patients and the health workers.

    DOI： 10.1016/j.cmpbup.2022.100061

    Scopus

    PubMed

  • Women’s health status before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in rural Bangladesh: A prospective longitudinal study Invited Reviewed International journal

    Kikuchi K, Islam R, Nishikitani M, Sato Y, Izukura R, Yokota F, Khan NJ, Nessa M, Ahmed A, Morokuma S and Nakashima N

    PLOS ONE   17(5): e0266141 ( 5 )   e0266141   2022.5   （ ISSN:1932-6203 ）

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    Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Plos One  

    The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has widely spread worldwide since 2020. Several countries have imposed lockdown or stay-at-home policies to prevent the infection. Bangladesh experienced a lockdown from March 2020 to May 2020, and internal travel was restricted. Such long and strict confinement may impact women’s health. Herein, we aimed to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on women’s health by comparing their health status before and during the pandemic. We conducted a prospective longitudinal study in two zones in the Chhaygaon union, rural district Shariatpur, Bangladesh. The study population comprised non-pregnant women aged 15–49 years. We visited the household of all eligible women and invited them for health checkups. The survey staff examined their health status at the checkup camps and conducted questionnaire interviews. In total, 121 non-pregnant women received health checkups both from June 2019 to July 2019 and in October 2020, before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, respectively. Compared with those during the 2019 health checkup, the medians of body mass index, systolic blood pressure, and diastolic blood pressure were significantly higher (22.7 kg/m<sup>2</sup> to 23.6 kg/m<sup>2</sup>; 110.0 mmHg to 111.0 mmHg; and 73.0 mmHg to 75.0 mmHg, respectively, p<0.05) during the 2020 health checkup. In contrast, urine glucose levels were significantly lower (10.1% to 3.4%, p = 0.021). The lack of physical activity and other inconvenience accumulation caused by the prolonged confinement might have affected their health status. This necessitates local health workers to promote physical activity to prevent health deterioration during the pandemic.

    DOI： 10.1371/journal.pone.0266141

    Web of Science

    Scopus

    PubMed

  • Standardization of Personal Health Records in the Portable Health Clinic System Invited Reviewed International journal

    Islam R, Yokota F, Kikuchi K, Nishikitani M, Izukura R, Sato Y, Rahman M, Sultana N, Nessa M, Ahmed A, Nakashim N

    IMIA MEDINFO 2021: One World, One Health: Global Partnership for Digital Innovation   2021.10

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    Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)  

  • Maternal and child healthcare service by portable health clinic system using a triage protocol Invited Reviewed International journal

    Islam R, Kikuchi K, Sato Y, Izukura R, Jahan N, Sultana N, Nessa M, Yokota F, Nishikitani M, Ahmed A, Nakashima N

    IMIA NURSING INFORMATICS: Nurses and Midwives in the Digital Age   2021.8

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    Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)  

  • Portable health clinic for sustainable care of mothers and newborns in rural Bangladesh Invited Reviewed International journal

    Kimiyo Kikuchi, Yoko Sato, Rieko Izukura, Mariko Nishikitani, Kiyoko Kato, Seiichi Morokuma, Meherun Nessa, Yasunobu Nohara, Fumihiko Yokota, Ashir Ahmed, Rafiqul Islam Maruf, Naoki Nakashima

    International Journal of Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine   ( 207 )   2021.5

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    Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

    DOI： doi:10.1016/j.cmpb.2021.106156

  • Comparisons of anthropometric obesity indicators for predicting hypertension among male factory workers in Rajasthan, India Invited Reviewed

    Fumihiko Yokota, Rajshri Nagar, Deepak Tiwari, Manish Biyani, Mariko Nishikitani, Kimiyo Kikuchi, Ashir Ahmed, Rafiqul Islam Maruf, Yasunobu Nohara, Rieko Izukura, Naoki Nakashima

    Journal of Kyushu University Decision Sciences   ( 8 )   91 - 104   2021.3

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    Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

  • Awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension and type 2 diabetes among male industry workers in Jaipur, India Invited Reviewed

    Fumihiko Yokota, Mariko Nishikitani, Manish Biyani, Rajshri Nagar, Suresh Yadav, Deepak Tiwari, Kimiyo Kikuchi, Ashir Ahmed, Rafiqul Islam Maruf, Yasunobu Nohara, Rieko Izukura, Naoki Nakashima

    Journal of Kyushu University Decision Sciences   ( 8 )   77 - 90   2021.3

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    Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

  • Mobile health checkup intervention to improve factory workers’ health awareness, attitudes, behaviors, and clinical outcomes in Jaipur District, India Invited Reviewed

    Rajshri Nagar, Fumihiko Yokota, Deepak Tiwari, Suresh Yadav, Mariko Nishikitani, Kimiyo Kikuchi, Ashir Ahmed, Rafiqul Islam Maruf, Rieko Izukura, Yoko Sato, Yasunobu Nohara, Manish Biyani, Naoki Nakashima

    Journal of Kyushu University Decision Sciences   ( 8 )   65 - 76   2021.3

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    Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

  • Body mass index and sociodemographic factors associated with type 2 diabetic complications in vegetarian outpatients in the city of Jaipur, India Invited Reviewed

    Yunmei Mu, Fumihiko Yokota, Mariko Nishikitani, Kimiyo Kikuchi, Ashir Ahmed, Rafiqul Islam Maruf, Rieko Izukura, Yoko Sato, Yasunobu Nohara, Suresh Yadav, Rajshri Nagar, Manish Biyani, Naoki Nakashima

    Journal of Kyushu University Decision Sciences   ( 8 )   23 - 36   2021.3

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    Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

  • Monitoring seasonal differences in non-communicable disease outcomes using telemedicine and health checkups in Bangladesh Invited Reviewed

    Rajib Chowdhury, Fumihiko Yokota, Ashir Ahmed, Mariko Nishikitani, Rafiqul Islam Maruf, Raisa Tasneem, Kimiyo Kikuchi, Rieko Izukura, Yoko Sato, Yasunobu Nohara, Naoki Nakashima

    Journal of Kyushu University Decision Sciences   ( 8 )   9 - 22   2021.3

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    Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

  • A Predictive Model for Height Tracking in an Adult Male Population in Bangladesh to Reduce Input Errors Reviewed International journal

    #Hasan M, Yokota F, Islam R, Hisazumi K, Fukuda A, Ahmed A

    International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health   2020.3

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    Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

    DOI： 10.3390/ijerph17051806

  • Redesigning Portable Health Clinic Platform as a Remote Healthcare System to Tackle COVID-19 Pandemic Situation in Unreached Communities Reviewed International journal

    #Sampa MB, Hoque MR, Islam R, Nishikitani M, Nakashima N, Yokota F, Kikuchi K, Rahman MM, Shah F, Ahmed A

    International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health   2020.2

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    Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

  • Influence of factors on the adoption and use of ICT-based eHealth technology by urban corporate people. Reviewed International journal

    #Sampa MB, #Hossain MN, Hoque MR, Islam R, Yokota F, Nishikitani M, Fukuda A, Ahmed A

    Journal of Service Science and Management   2020.2

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    Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

  • Blood Uric Acid Prediction Model through Machine Learning Approaches Reviewed International journal

    #Sampa MB, #Hossain MN, Hoque MR, Islam R, Islam RM, Yokota F, Nishikitani M, Ahmed A

    Journal of Medical Internet Research   2020.1

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    Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

  • Portable Health Clinic: An Advanced Tele-Healthcare System for Unreached Communities Reviewed International journal

    Rafiqul Islam, Yasunobu Nohara, @Md Jiaur Rahman, Nazneen Sultana, Ashir Ahmed, Naoki Nakashima

    Ebook: MEDINFO 2019: Health & Wellbeing e-Network for All   2019.8

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    Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

  • Growth Characteristics of Age and Gender-based Anthropometric Data from Human Assisted Remote Healthcare System Reviewed International journal

    #Hasan M, Islam R, Yokota F, Nishikitani M, Fukuda A, Ahmed A

    International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications   2019.2

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    Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

  • School-based educational intervention to improve children’s oral health-related behaviors in rural Bangladesh Reviewed International journal

    #Yusuke Furukawa, Fumihiko Yokota, Rafiqul Islam Maruf, Mariko Nishikitani, Kimiyo Kikuchi, Ashir Ahmed, Naoki Nakashima

    South East Asia Journal of Public Health   2018.11

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    Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

    DOI： http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/seajph.v7i2.38853

  • Relationships among hypertension, diabetes, and proteinuria and their risk factors in rural adults from Bheramara Upazila, Bangladesh - Findings from portable health clinic data Reviewed International journal

    Yokota F, Ahmed A, Islam R, Nishikitani M, Kikuchi K, Nohara Y, Okajima H, Kitaoka H and Nakashima N

    International Journal of Medical Research Health Science   2018.2

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    Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

  • Lessons learned from co-design and co-productionin a portable health clinic research project in Jaipur District, India (2016-2018) Reviewed International journal

    Yokota F, Biyani M, Islam R, Ahmed A, Nishikitani M, Kikuchi K, Nohara Y, and Nakashima N

    Sustainability   2018.1

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    Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

  • The relationship and risk factors associated with hypertension, diabetes, and proteinuria among adults from Bheramara Upazila, Bangladesh: Findings from Portable Health Clinic Data, 2013-2016 Reviewed International journal

    Yokota F, Ahmed A, Islam R, Nishikitani M, Kikuchi K, Nohara Y, Okajima H, Kitaoka H and Nakashima N

    International Journal of Medical Research and Health Sciences   2018.1

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    Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

  • Factors associated to online shopping at the BoP community in rural Bangladesh Reviewed International journal

    # Hossein MK, Yokota F, Nishikitani M, Islam R, Kitaoka H, Okajima H and Ahmed A

    2017.10

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    Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

  • Health Checkup and Telemedical Intervention Program for Preventive Medicine in Developing Countries: Verification Study Reviewed International journal

    Yasunobu NOHARA, Eiko KAI, Patha GHOSH, Rafiqul ISLAM, Ashir AHMED, Masahiro KURODA, Sozo INOUE, Tatsuo HIRAMATSU, Michio KIMURA, Shuji SHIMIZU, Kunihisa KOBAYASHI, Yukino BABA, Hishashi KASHIMA, Koji TSUDA, Masashi SUGIYAMA, Mathieu BLONDEL, Naonori UEDA, Masaru KITSUREGAWA, Naoki NAKASHIMA

    Journal of Medical Internet Research   2015.1

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    Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

  • Multi-clustering Network for Data Classification System Reviewed International journal

    Rafiqul Islam, Yoshikazu Miyanaga and Koji Tochinai

    IEICE Trans. on Fundamentals   E80-A ( 9 )   1647 - 1654   1997.9

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    Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

  • Parallelization of Self-organized Clustering System Reviewed International journal

    Rafiqul Islam, Yoshikazu Miyanaga and Koji Tochinai

    Journal of Neural Network World   6 ( 6 )   921 - 936   1996.12

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    Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

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Books

  • Digital Healthcare and a Social Business Model to Ensure Universal Health Coverage (UHC): A Case Study of Bangladesh

    Ahmed A., Hossain F., Abedin N., Islam R., Shah F., Hoshino H.

    Base of the Pyramid and Business Process Outsourcing Strategies in the Age of Sdgs  2023.1    （ ISBN:9789811981708, 9789811981715 ）

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    Poverty, Rurality and Disability are three major vulnerabilities to deliver quality healthcare services and ensure universal healthcare coverage (UHC). Disruptive technologies and a social business model can deliver healthcare services to non-UHC communities in a faster, affordable and sustainable manner. This chapter of the book investigates the status of UHC in Bangladesh, categorizing out of coverage communities. Kyushu University and Grameen Communications have developed an affordable, user-friendly, and sustainable digital healthcare delivery system, which we call Portable Health Clinic (PHC). A community-based micro healthcare entrepreneur can take the PHC to visit an elderly person, pregnant woman, or person with disability at their doorstep, and provide real-time primary health services connected to licensed healthcare professionals. Annual health checkups are a long-standing institutional practice in Japan, but not as prevalent in emerging countries including Bangladesh. Small organizations cannot afford a health center at their premises, thereby remaining out of coverage of healthcare services. Health insurance is not prevalent, which exposes not only well-being but savings or assets to risk in catastrophic situations. Regular health checkups are known to provide an early alert of any diseases, which can reduce health risks, save medical costs and increase productivity. We categorize five different rural and urban communities in which PHC pilot studies have been carried out over the last 12 years. We have designed five different delivery models and evaluated their financial sustainability, as well as social impact. This chapter describes this experience and identifies major challenges with the purpose of ensuring that UHC approaches can assimilate advanced technologies, mainstream them in national healthcare policy in the country, and train healthcare workers.

    DOI： 10.1007/978-981-19-8171-5_3

    Scopus

  • Technical Requirements to Design a Personal Medical History Visualization Tool for Doctors

    Hossain F., Islam R., Ahmed M.T., Ahmed A.

    Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics International  2022 

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    A doctor needs to know the patients’ medical history to investigate the root cause of symptoms. Traditionally it is done by a questionnaire at the clinic’s reception desk, or the doctor asks a series of questions to obtain a relevant medical history. An incomplete or wrong medical history affects the doctor’s decision. The challenge for a busy doctor is to obtain all the relevant medical history in a short period of time accurately and without missing any important history. Affordable clinics employ an assistant or junior doctor to sort out all the paper-based medical history and mark the important points. It increases doctors’ work performance by saving doctors time and making rooms for consulting more patients. But not all the small clinics can afford such assistants. This paper lists the technical requirements to develop a personal medical history visualization tool to increase doctors’ productivity.

    DOI： 10.54941/ahfe1002772

    Scopus

  • An Affordable and Standard Digital Healthcare Management as a Service (HaaS) for Small Clinics in Developing Countries

    Ahmed A., Karim M.A.D.B., Islam R., Ahmed M.T., Nakashima N.

    Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics International  2022 

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    Millions of small clinics and pharmacies in developing countries are still using paperbased health records. The clinics do not have the technical expertise to deploy electronic health record (EHR) systems nor can they maintain these systems on their own. Standards such as Health Level Seven (HL7), openEHR, Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine (SNOMED) Clinical Terms, International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) etc. are becoming more reliable and usable yet they do not reach these clinics. This paper proposes a simple and affordable digital healthcare management system to support such small clinics. The proposed architecture provides lightweight, simple, and low-cost front-end applications. The applications also allow individual patients to store and view their own health data independently. Aside from clinical usage, the system also supports secondary use of stored health data for medical research. To maintain privacy protection, patients can give different levels of health data sharing consent, and only anonymized and consented data are shared with researchers through the platform. To add another layer of privacy protection, health data is stored and managed separately by an openEHR compliant server in the platform. All the other data is stored and managed by a FHIR compliant server. For the implementation, we used open-source software for all components of the platform and deployed the platform using Docker on a local computer. We prepared three applications that can register new patients, record health data, and store them respectively. An application that transforms and stores existing non-standard compliant health data is also prepared. We prepared an application that displays consented health data. In our experiment, we tested three major functions-(a) whether personal and clinical data are separately stored at FHIR and openEHR servers (b) whether non-standard compliant data can be fetched and stored to HaaS (c) whether patients’ data privacy is maintained. This implementation showed that the platform works as designed and is configurable to fit different local needs while maintaining privacy. Future tasks include testing the platform with different small clinics and collecting their views to evaluate the effectiveness of the system.

    DOI： 10.54941/ahfe1002786

    Scopus

  • e-Health and Telemedicine: The Bangladesh Story

    Rafiqul Islam Maruf, Ashir Ahmed, Fumihiko Yokota, Kimiyo Kikuchi, Rieko Izukura, Yoko Sato, Mariko Nishikitani, Yasunobu Nohara and Naoki Nakashima（Role：Joint author）

    Springer International Publishing  2021.6 

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    Responsible for pages：(to be published)   Language：English   Book type：Scholarly book

  • Portable Health Clinic as a Telemedicine System with Appropriate Technologies for Unreached Communities

    Rafiqul Islam Maruf, Ashir Ahmed, Fumihiko Yokota, Kimiyo Kikuchi, Mariko Nishikitani, Rieko Izukura, Yoko Sato, Yasunobu Nohara and Naoki Nakashima（Role：Joint author）

    IMIA Publications  2021.6 

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    Responsible for pages：Global Telehealth 2020 eBook (to be published)   Language：English   Book type：Scholarly book

  • Co-design, co-production, and co-evaluation processes for a mobile health check-up research project in Jaipur India: Case study of the Portable Health Clinic, 2016-2020. Decision Science for Future Earth: Theory and Practice

    Fumihiko Yokota, Manish Biyani, Rafiqul Islam Maruf, Ashir Ahmed, Mariko Nishikitani, Kimiyo Kikuchi, Rieko Izukura, Yasunobu Nohara, Naoki Nakashima（Role：Joint author）

    Springer International Publishing  2021.1 

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    Responsible for pages：ISBN:9789811586316   Language：English   Book type：Scholarly book

  • Personal health record in Japan, China, and Bangladesh

    Naoki Nakashima, Yuandong Hu, Rafiqul Islam Maruf and Ashir Ahmed（Role：Joint author）

    The Institution of Engineering and Technology  2020.10 

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    Responsible for pages：Mobile Technologies for Delivering Healthcare in Remote, Rural or Developing Regions, 165-177   Language：English   Book type：Scholarly book

  • Modular expansion of PHC in Bangladesh

    Rafiqul Islam Maruf, Kimiyo Kikuchi, Yoko Sato, Rieko Izukura and Mariko Nishikitani（Role：Joint author）

    The Institution of Engineering and Technology  2020.10 

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    Responsible for pages：Mobile Technologies for Delivering Healthcare in Remote, 123-143   Language：English   Book type：Scholarly book

  • Portable Health Clinic: A Telehealthcare System for Unreached Communities

    Ashir Ahmed, Andrew Rebeiro-Hargrave, Yasunobu Nohara, Rafiqul Islam Maruf, Partha Pratim Ghosh, Naoki Nakashima and Yasuura Hiroto（Role：Joint author）

    Springer International Publishing  2015.1 

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    Responsible for pages：Smart Sensors and Systems, 447-467   Language：English   Book type：Scholarly book

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Presentations

  • Standardization of Personal Health Records in the Portable Health Clinic System International conference

    Islam R, Yokota F, Kikuchi K, Nishikitani M, Izukura R, Sato Y, Rahman M, Sultana N, Nessa M, Ahmed A, Nakashim N

    IMIA MedInfo 2021  2021.10 

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    Event date： 2021.10

    Language：English  

    Venue：Online   Country：Australia  

  • Maternal and child healthcare service by portable health clinic system using a triage protocol International conference

    Islam R, Kikuchi K, Sato Y, Izukura R, Jahan N, Sultana N, Nessa M, Yokota F, Nishikitani M, Ahmed A, Nakashima N

    IMIA Nursing Informatics 2021  2021.8 

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    Event date： 2021.8 - 2021.10

    Language：English  

    Venue：Online   Country：Australia  

  • Telehealth Service for Ensuring Maternal and Child Healthcare to the Rural Unreached Communities International conference

    R Islam, K Kikuchi, M Nessa, A Ahmed, N Nakashima

    World Health Conference  2021.4 

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    Event date： 2021.4

    Language：English  

    Venue：Online   Country：India  

  • COVID-19 System in Portable Health Clinic for Patient Follow-up Ensuring Clinical Safety of Both Patients and Health Workers International conference

    R Islam, M Rahman, N Sultana, F Yokota, K Kikuchi, Y Sato, R Izukura, M Nishikitani, A Ahmed, N Nakashima

    Int’l Conference of the Asia-Pacific Association for Medical Informatics (APAMI2020)  2020.11 

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    Event date： 2020.11

    Language：English  

    Venue：Hamamatsu   Country：Japan  

  • 携帯型医療機器の性能評価　血糖値センサーおよびコレステロールセンサーの比較研究(Performance Evaluation of Portable Medical Devices: A Comparative Study of Blood Glucose Sensors and Cholesterol Sensors)

    Islam Rafiqul, Tou Saori, Izukura Rieko, Sato Yoko, Nishikitani Mariko, Yokota Fumihiko, Kikuchi Kimiyo, Ikeda Subaru, Ahmed Ashir, Miyazaki Masashi, Nakashima Naoki

    医療情報学連合大会論文集  2023.11  (一社)日本医療情報学会

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    Language：English  

  • 携帯型医療機器の性能評価　ヘモグロビンセンサーと尿酸センサーの比較研究(Performance Evaluation of Portable Medical Devices: A Comparative Study of Hemoglobin and Uric Acid Sensors)

    ISLAM Rafiqul, To Saori, Izukura Rieko, Sato Yoko, Nishikitani Mariko, Yokota Fumihiko, Kikuchi Kimiyo, Ikeda Subaru, Ahmed Ashir, Miyazaki Masashi, Nakashima Naoki

    医療情報学連合大会論文集  2024.11  (一社)日本医療情報学会

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    Language：English  

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Research Projects

  • Evaluation Study of Portable Health Clinic (PHC) for Non-Communicable Disease Patients during COVID-19 Disaster Period, Jogjakarta, Indonesia International coauthorship

    2020.11 - 2022.2

    Indonesia, Japan and Bangladesh 

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    Authorship：Collaborating Investigator(s) (not designated on Grant-in-Aid) 

    The objectives of this cohort study are 1) To evaluate the effectiveness of the PHC service delivery model (as outreach health check-ups and online consultation & monitoring services) among NCDs patients at 3 districts in Jogjakarta region during the covid-19 disaster situations, 2) To prevent NCDs and COVID-19 related comorbidities, complications, and death among NCDs patients 3 districts in Jogjakarta region during the covid-19 disaster situations, and 3) To investigate PHC’s user’s satisfaction, acceptability and other psychological, cognitive, socio-economic factors associated with PHC online healthcare services (telemedicine, online follow-up, and consultation).
    Objective 4: To improve targeted population’s awareness, knowledge, and behaviours related with NCDs during the covid-19 disaster situations.

  • Impact Study of Portable Health Clinic (PHC) for Rural Communities of Sabah, Malaysia International coauthorship

    2020.10 - 2025.9

    Bangladesh, Japan and Malaysia 

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    Authorship：Collaborating Investigator(s) (not designated on Grant-in-Aid) 

    This will be a Cohort study (and Multiple Cross-Sectional study) with the objective of improving Kudat community people’s health awareness, knowledge, behaviors, and health status.

  • Health and social impact of portable health clinic services in Rajasthan, India International coauthorship

    2019.2 - 2022.3

    India, Japan and Bangladesh 

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    Authorship：Collaborating Investigator(s) (not designated on Grant-in-Aid) 

    This research aims to investigate (l) health and social impact of Portable Health Clinic services (technology & services
    effectiveness, acceptance, and satisfaction from local users [patients]) and (2) long term changes of health status and health-related behaviors of users (cohort patients). The secondary objective of this research is to develop a sustainable health service as a social business in Jaipur, India.

  • Maternal & Child Healthcare (MCH) project in Shariatpur, Bangladesh International coauthorship

    2018.6 - 2022.5

    Bangladesh and Japan 

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    Authorship：Collaborating Investigator(s) (not designated on Grant-in-Aid) 

    This project implements 8 stages of antenatal and postnatal care as proposed by WHO to the village women from the early pregnancy stage until 1 year after the birth of the baby and see the impact to reduce the mother and child mortality rate.