Remote delivery and monitoring of health care

A portable apparatus for orthopedic monitoring of a patient, comprising:

• a housing positioned within an orthopedic cast such that at least a portion of the housing is disposed between the orthopedic cast and skin of the patient;
• a reusable diagnostic biomedical device integrated into the housing, wherein the diagnostic biomedical device is an ultrasonography imaging device adapted for obtaining an orthopedic image of a fractured bone portion of the patient treated with the orthopedic cast;
• wherein the ultrasonography imaging device includes an acoustic transducer positioned adjacent to the skin and disposed beneath the orthopedic cast for sending and receiving pulses of sound, an impedance-matching material positioned between the acoustic transducer and the housing, and a processor device contained within the housing and disposed beneath the orthopedic cast for interpreting received pulses of sound and generating the orthopedic image;
• and wherein the diagnostic biomedical device is programmed to automatically obtain additional orthopedic images of the fractured bone portion of the patient at predetermined intervals over a predetermined timeframe, the diagnostic biomedical device placed into a lowered power sleep mode of operation between the predetermined intervals;
• a memory device in communication with the diagnostic biomedical device, wherein the memory device is adapted for storing the orthopedic image;
• and
• a wireless communications interface coupled to the diagnostic biomedical device, wherein the wireless communications interface is adapted to upload the orthopedic image to a remote server to be viewed by a medical professional;
• and wherein the housing further includes:
• a first indicator light activated upon each successful capture of the orthopedic image, and
• a second indicator light activated upon a successful upload of the orthopedic image using the wireless communications interface to the remote server, wherein upon the successful upload, the orthopedic image is automatically deleted from the memory device.