Abstract
AMHTS developed since 10 years ago, has spread throughout the world. Even in Japan, about 40 centers of AMHTS are already functioning. AMHTS based on some special characteristics, such as operation under the idea of systems-engineering and the performance with the distinguished medical engineering technology, in which many items of tests for many persons can be finished within a short time, may be considered as an expanded health care system. The AMHTS centers are specially designed through selection of tests with their methods, consideration of the flow of examinees during the test course, and constructional features of the building.
Automated testing machines and automatic data acquisition system with computers are used. Additionally, automated diagnostic system of ECG and automated history-taking machines are also applied. Data stored in the computer are utilized as the fundamental records of health care of the individuals. The purposes of AMHTS include estimation of normalcy, early detection of disorders and diseases and health promotion according to the results of automated health check-up.
The subjects of AMHTS, in most cases, are middle-aged or old persons, but a few exceptional centers are established exclusively for women or children. Today, there are more than 300 centers functioning in U. S. A. and over 5, 000, 000 persons are accepted for tests. Reduction of the medicalexpenses and correction of imbalance in the requirement and supply of doctors should be accomplished by the application of AMHTS, which is considered as a highlighted method in the health organization maintenance or in the regional medical programs.
There are some differences between the U. S. A. and Japanese AMHTS. While the former, centers are larger in capacity and publicly managed, the latter are rather small and privately managed. The sets of AMHTS tests are almost similar in Japan and the U. S. X-ray examination of upper G-I tract is applied specially to Japanese because of the racial characteristics of the diseases. Recently, a few studies of the evaluation of AMHTS have been reported and significant responses to detecting of heart diseases, cancer and hypertensive diseases through AMHTS are arising. AMHTS will have a function of primary care among health care systems and be considered to play a roll of interface between the fields of clinical medicine and public health.
