Next-generation wireless and wireline communication technologies for healthcare applications and services is a new and growing field to facilitate reliable, innovative, personalised, and high-quality healthcare applications and services. Advances in networking infrastructure (e.g., HSxPA/WiMax/LTE, etc) are important in order to deliver healthcare applications and services regardless of a patient's physical location. Furthermore, continuous and personalized care solutions address the participation of patients in care and prevention processes, and respond to the needs of elderly people by using sensors and advanced wireless monitoring tools. Finally, another area where the use of next-generation communication technologies may foster rapid developments in healthcare is the support of the translation of cutting-edge research into clinical practice. The goal of this special issue is to report on cutting-edge research in converged communications solutions for healthcare. Basic research papers are solicited, but papers on systems integration or deployment will also be considered. We seek papers that describe original and unpublished contributions, and that reflect those aspects of communications research for healthcare which are distinctly different from communications research in general.

Topics of this special issue include (but not limited to):

• E-Health
• Telemedicine applications in wireless environments
• Wireless technologies for healthcare applications
• Media coding schemes for medical applications
• Autonomic systems and sensor for healthcare systems
• Tools in wireline/wireless environments for remote patient monitoring
• Innovative ICT-based tools for training, preoperative planning, and computer-aided surgical interventions
• Assistive technology systems for independent living
• Support for clinical decision-making
• Expert systems in healthcare
• Healthcare management systems
• Systems for supporting the translation of research into clinical practice

Before submission authors should carefully read over the journal's Author Guidelines, which are located at http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijta/guidelines/. Prospective authors should submit an electronic copy of their complete manuscript through the journal Manuscript Tracking System at http://mts.hindawi.com/, according to the following timetable: