ANIMAL HEALTH CARE MONITORING AND MANAGEMENT USING MOBILE APP

SOLUTION FOR THE PROVINCIAL VETERINARY OFFICE OF TARLAC

A MIT Concept Paper

Presented to the
College of Computer Studies
Graduate Studies Program
Tarlac State University
Tarlac City

REGINA P. ARCEO
January 2020
I. Introduction
Animals play a profoundly important and intricate role in our lives today. They have been
human companions for thousands of years, but they now work closely with us to assist the
disabled, and in combat and search and rescue situations. Farm animals are a critical part of the
global food supply chain, and there is increasing consumer interest in organically fed and
humanely raised livestock, and how it impacts our health and environmental footprint. In many
remote areas, access to a veterinary professional is often restricted. Farmers are often confronted
with an animal displaying signs of illness, injury or distress and are forced to wait for the arrival
of a vet. In some cases the person responsible may be unsure whether it is necessary to call for a
vet, which can be a costly exercise. The delay in the arrival of medical attention can often be
very distressing for both the animal and people involved. A mobile based system accessible in
remote areas capable of diagnosing ailments and sickness affecting animals or advising on the
necessity of calling a vet could greatly assist farmers.

II. Project Context

The livestock farming industry is an important sector of the Philippine economy sharing
16.67percent in the total agricultural output. The livestock sector grew by 1.88 percent. Hog
production was up by 2.81 percent. The subsector’s gross earnings at current prices amounted to
Php 79.0 billion, up by 9.85 percent from the previous year’s record. In the first half of 2018, the
subsector’s gross output increased by 1.95 percent. Knowing those statistics, it is always
desirable to implement a health monitoring program to observe the condition of animal as well as
to prevent the outbreaks of animal diseases. Also, animals are produced intensively and
maintained under optimal conditions for growth and production within current technological
limits. The majority of animals are constrained within a building or stockyard for most of the
times. As they are prevented from foraging for their own food, the farmer/ owner of the animals
has to take care for all aspects of their husbandry. Therefore, monitoring and management related
to feeding, environment, reproduction, health, growth, marketing, transport and quality becomes
the responsibility of the farmer. A proper, suitable and safe environment has to be provided to
them with appropriate care and responsibility.
III. Purpose & Description
Smart computing and sensing have become common terms to describe next generation
computing, communication and sensing technologies and systems, with a broad range of Internet
and cloud-based applications and connectivity, including integration of various paradigms.
Examples of the basic components of smart computing and sensing today are networked devices
for wearable computing, wireless and wire line sensor and next generation cellular networks,
energy efficient computing and sensing systems, and big-data processing and visualization. One
of the sectors expected to benefit from the smart computing and technologies is animal welfare
in consideration of animal basic needs, health, whether animals are free of pain and suffering,
and also positively stimulated in their environment, – all for which smart sensing and computing
technologies can play a significant role. The full-service aspect of technology makes it an
invaluable tool for any farmer who raises livestock. The proposed system will make use of
fitness trackers, noting an animal’s body temperature, heart rate and blood pressure. The moment
the owner sees that an animal’s core temperature has risen, he can administer medication much
sooner, allowing for treatment of the illness before the animal even becomes outwardly
symptomatic. This also prevents the rest of the herd from catching the illness. Moreover, service
announcement of the Provincial Veterinary Office of Tarlac is also included in the proposed
system allowing owners to avail medications needed by the animals. The proposed system also
comes with a livestock shipping module and poultry health module for other transactions offered
by the office. Using the proposed system, farmers will save money in the long run as farmers
won’t have to suffer as many losses to the herd from predators and illness. This will also benefit
the Provincial Veterinary Office of Tarlac by having reliable, accurate, complete, and reusable
information that may free up their time and resources to allocate them doing veterinary services.
It could also improve the work efficiency of the department. Using this application, information
handling will be easy and fast.
 
IV. Statement of Objectives
This study is intended to design and develop the Animal Health Care Monitoring and
Management Using Mobile App Solution for the Provincial Veterinary Office of Tarlac. This
system will allow farmers the ability to monitor their livestock’s health, the Provincial
Veterinary Office the ability to manage their records, issue permits and certificate and other
information that can provide multiple benefits.
Specifically, this study aimed to achieve the following objectives:
1. To design and develop the Animal Health Care Monitoring and Management Using Mobile
App Solution for the Provincial Veterinary Office of Tarlac.
2. To validate the Animal Health Care Monitoring and Management Using Mobile App Solution
for the Provincial Veterinary Office of Tarlac in terms of:
2.1 Evaluation of IT Experts
2.1.1 User Interface
2.1.2 Database Design and;
2.1.3 Security
2.2 Evaluation of Users
2.2.1 User Interface and;
2.2.2 Usability
2.2.3 Functionality
2.2.4 Reliability

V. Scope
This study aimed to design, develop and validate the Animal Health Care Monitoring and
Management Using Mobile App Solution for the Provincial Veterinary Office of Tarlac. The
proposed system has the following features and functions: Veterinary Account Management,
User Account Management, Login Module, Service Announcement Module, Animal Health
Care Monitoring Module, Animal Shipping Module and Poultry Health Module. All the features
available to the member of the system can be access by the administrator, while the member user
has a limited view of the system. The administrator that is logged in the system can approve all
the users who attempt to create an account on the mobile app. The member user on the other
hand can use and view the Service Announcement Module and Livestock Health Care Module.
The researcher will use the Rapid Application Development as the software engineering
paradigm. The researcher will used Google Android SDK 1.0, Java Eclipse 3.5, XML and Adobe
Photoshop for the development of Animal Health Care Monitoring and Management Using
Mobile App Solution for the Provincial Veterinary Office of Tarlac.
 The system will be validated by IT Experts and Users. Tests and dry-runs will be
conducted to validate the system using the functional testing method. Experts will look into the
technical architecture / non- functional requirements while Users will test the system for the
application architecture / functional requirements.

VI. Related Literature and Studies

This section presents a brief review of research works, books, journals, articles that have
a significant relation to the study. The following literatures and studies was indeed a very useful
tool for the researcher in the analysis of the study that will serve as a foundation of overview and
points in the discussion of the topic that will be undertaken by reviewing all articles from the
book, internet and leaflet study.

Related Literature

In recent years, the average age of the world’s population has been increasing, and
healthcare monitoring devices have received a lot of attention because they improve the length
and quality of people’s lives. Healthcare monitoring includes caring for the welfare of every
person, which includes early diagnosis of diseases, real-time monitoring of the effects of
treatment, therapy, and the general monitoring of the conditions of people’s health. As a result,
wearable electronic devices are receiving greater attention because of their facile interaction with
the human body, such as monitoring heart rate, wrist pulse, motion, blood pressure, intraocular
pressure, and other health-related conditions (Wang, X. 2014). Unlike conventional health-
monitoring systems (e.g., blood pressure meters), wearable electronic devices are portable,
wearable, and they provide real-time, continuous, recorded data related to complex health
conditions in a timely manner. Furthermore, in order to maximize the portable and wearable
advantages of the wearable devices, energy harvesting devices were integrated instead of rigid
and bulk batteries (Dagdeviren, C. 2016).
The cattle are affected by various kinds of diseases. These diseases can be identified
through use of non-invasive, low cost, sensor technology. These diseases can been mapped to
specific aspects of animal behavior that have been mapped to the sensors which are most
significant to identify these diseases. This helps the farmers to monitor the activity of cattle and
interpret whether it is affected by any disease if there are changes in the sensor data. (Amruta
Helwatkar 2014).
The use of digital technologies in agriculture is not an entirely new concept even in
developing countries despite many researchers focusing on the limitation of the digital divide in
developing countries. Based on these predictions, it is inevitable and
reasonable to consider that, critical systems, such as livestock systems will be transforming to
accommodate ICTs as they become embedded in everyday life even in rural communities
(Hearn et al., 2014).

Related Studies

A. Foreign
In a study by Byeong Wan An et. al (2017) entitled, “Smart Sensors for Wearable
Electronic Devices” the researchers reviewed various smart sensors and wireless systems, the
current state of research related to such systems is reported, and their detection mechanisms are
compared. The researchers summarized recent advances in wearable electronic devices,
including smart sensors and wireless systems, for real-life applications in monitoring people’s
activities and their personal healthcare. Smart sensors that have various configurations, such as
piezo-resistive, piezo-electric, and capacitive types, can monitor various human physiological
signals. The recently developed smart sensors are flexible and stretchable so that they can resist
external deformation generated by human activities. These smart sensors can be classified into
individual sensors that measure only one signal and multiplexed sensors that measure two or
more signals, depending on the number of physiological signals being measured. Also, the
individual sensors can be classified as physical sensors, which are those that measure
temperature, pressure, and strain, chemical sensors, which are those that measure gases and ions,
and biosensors, depending on the type of physiological signals being measured.
In another study conducted by Amruta Helwatkar et. al (2014) entitled, “Sensor
Technology for Animal Health Monitoring”, their research has been undertaken in order to
establish specific sensor technologies as a significant means to monitor animal health and ensure
animal well-being in the fast-changing conditions of automated farms. Due to the high demand
and supply of dairy products, dairy cattle are in constant demand for high yield, leading to the
need of continuously monitoring of their health to ensure their fitness as it directly affects the
health of the consumers. Moreover, the overall economy in the dairy farming industry depends
on the herd’s health.
Several cattle diseases have been studied in depth and analysis with these conditions.
These conditions were then mapped to the type of sensors that would be able to measure the said
behavior.
The research has identified three primary sensors; Temperature, Accelerometer and
Microphone that are essentially required to determine the health quotient of the cattle.
Methods within service design, agile development and interaction design has been used
and combined to construct and analyses interviews, workshops, question sets, and app tests with
the coaches in Uganda and Zambia. In total, three months were spent testing and iterating on
low-detailed and high-detailed prototypes. The result is a launched hybrid app for Android, iOS
and web. The app did seemingly improve the quality of entrepreneurship education for the
coaches in this specific developing world context. The app is an effective compliment and
assistance to the physical training.
In another study by Georgios Kambourakis et. al(2016) entitled, “CyberAware: A Mobile
Game-based app for Cybersecurity Education and Awareness” , they discussed the development
of a novel mobile app called CyberAware, destined to cyber security education and awareness.
The game is designed for K-6 aged children and can be used to support either or both formal or
informal learning. The design of the app is in contrast to classical approaches that require the
student to follow a full reading process and then answer a series of questions, which is well-
known to cause boredom to students. Further, its main aim is for the student to discover new
knowledge entirely by himself. Another key goal of CyberAware is to enhance learner’s
motivation towards an autonomous and self-directed learning process. In such an environment,
the student is motivated to not only understand the various concepts being taught, but also to
recognize their application in various real-life situations as well. The researcher showed that
CyberAware is simple to use and lightweight in terms of system resources. Also, it is multi-
platform enabled making it ideal for the BYOD model.

B. Local
 Based on Gain Carlo U. Monzon et.al (2016) on their research entitled,” A Mobile Learning
Android Application for Beginner Reader in Filipino” , the project guide the children by showing
a picture and listening to an audio provided by the application. It is is a tool that helps the
children learn how to read in their early age and guide them in proper pronunciation. The
contents of the application are the basic reading manuals like Abakada. The application can help
the young age’s excel in class and at the same time practice while they are at home. This will
encourage further reading and understanding of the application and will create interesting mobile
learning application. The mobile application is developed as user friendly which the user
understand the content of the application easily. The application is for children, for them to be
able to learn basic Filipino language. It has also buttons that have its own designated functions
that make the application run smoothly.

VII. Conceptual Framework

The study will be based on three major processes that will be guided to the development
of the Animal Health Care Monitoring and Management Using Mobile App Solution for the
Provincial Veterinary Office of Tarlac. The Paradigm of the Study as shown in Figure 1 will be
used as a foundation to produce the Animal Health Care Monitoring and Management Using
Mobile App Solution for the Provincial Veterinary Office of Tarlac.
The researcher started with the Analysis and Design, in this phase the researcher carefully
observed and analyzed the need of a certain area that was a covered on the study in the field of
Information Technology.
The proposed system will be based on the design. It will be followed by the testing and
validation by the Users and IT Experts. By the approval of the Users and IT Experts based on the
results of the testing and validation Animal Health Care Monitoring and Management Using
Mobile App Solution for the Provincial Veterinary Office of Tarlac will be finalized.