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Centralized Blood Bank Database and Management System
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DOI: 10.1007/978-981-15-8297-4_10
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Centralized Blood Bank Database and Management
System
Osunlana Ismail1, Sanjay Misra1, Jonathan Oluranti1, Ravin Ahuja2
1
Covenant University, Ota, Nigeria
2Shri Vishwakarma Skill University, Gurgaon, India
[email protected],
{Sanjay.misra,jonathan.oluranti}@covenantuniversity.edu.ng,[email protected]
Abstract. A blood bank is a place where blood is collected and stored to be used by
other individuals who need them either due to health emergencies or blood shortages.
Blood banks are scattered all over places, and not easily assessable to donors and
patients who need them. So, it is important to have an organized database to help in
allowing donors easily locate the nearest blood banks and donate blood, and also to
make patients easily access blood when they need them within the shortest possible
time. The aim of this research is to build a feasible system to help in the efficient
management of Blood Bank activities and also provide easy platforms for patients to
easily access blood during emergencies. This app would be built on the android
platform connected with a secured online cloud-based database to keep both the
patient, donors and blood banks details safe. This is an efficient management system
for blood banks as their strenuous process is now being made easy using technology.
Keywords: Blood, Blood Banks, Hospitals, Donors
1. Introduction
Blood is the one of the most important element in life, it is often referred to as the
“Essence of Life” [1]. Easy access to blood by patients is a major challenge in Nigeria.
During Emergencies, a patient search through his family members first for matching blood
type, if he is not able to find, he then starts contacting different blood banks. It is a strenuous
and time consuming process and the patient may not get the blood within the shortest
possible time. The task of a blood bank is to organize and manage blood received from
blood donors and ensure those blood is properly kept and then distributed efficiently to
patients who need them. Nigeria currently has about 1.7 million pints of blood as yearly
deficits. Out of about 1.8 million pints of blood being required every year, only 66,000 pints
of blood are being met which makes the deficit about 1.7 million pints [2]. This means a lot
of patients are dying daily due to the unavailability of blood. The blood is majorly used for
hemostatic resuscitation [3]. In developing countries especially Nigeria, it is very difficult
getting access to blood from blood banks as most of their processes is manual. The blood
banks do not have an organized database and they need to manually check all the blood they
have on request and this may be time consuming for patients who are on emergencies. [4]
A lot of research papers have been written about centralized blood banks systems, with
each of them suggesting different models. Most of the suggested models have been focused
on other countries with none focused on Nigeria [5]. Also the existing papers have only
been proposing models that are not real-time and not focused on security. Also in Nigeria,
a major factor that needs to be considered is logistics, we have poor transportation and
logistics systems that could impede on blood delivery time and may be very dangerous for
patients who require blood instantly such as cases of accident victims or bleeding of delivery
women [6]. No existing model is robust enough to cover the challenges peculiar to the
Nigerian environment.
Our New System is an android app with a cloud based database to efficiently managed
all collected data especially client and donor data. Through this system, a blood donor can
easily create an account as a donor, locate the nearest Government approved blood bank to
go for screening and if successful, he would donate his blood [7]. Also the patients can also
find matching blood types on the app and locate the nearest blood banks to get blood [8].
The system is real-time platform such that when new blood data are being uploaded, it gets
updated immediately in the database and can be accessed by both the donors, patients and
blood banks. All blood banks on this system are government approved which means that no
illegal purchase of blood would be made. The system is also hosted on a secured online
cloud system to ensure it is not being infiltrated [9] .
There are 4 classifications of blood with each having both positive and negative
variations. All these variations and other relevant blood data like sugar content, packed cell
volume, diseases conditions, antibodies are considered when matching donors to patients
[10]. There need to be proper frameworks in place for the storage of all this information,
there also need to be proper structures in place to ensure these data can be easily searched
and sorted especially by those who are in need of blood. This project would make blood
available for patients in emergencies and would be of great benefits in saving lives.
The work is sectioned as follows Section one contains the introduction and provides
justification for the paper. section two contains the literature review and motivation for the
study. Section three covers the methodologies and materials used in the work. Section four
talks about the design of the work. Section five shows the demonstration and results. Section
six covers the comparison with other systems while section seven is the conclusion
2. Literature Review
A lot of Research papers have been written about blood bank management systems with
each of them proposing a model that’s entirely different from the Nigerian Environment.
Ali et al. [11] developed a web application and an android application that allows blood
recipients to be able to search for donors around them. The system makes use of google
map to detect the nearest donor around the blood recipients. The system gives the recipients
all the information about the donors including their phone numbers and Email Address. This
is a system that cannot be applied in a developing country like Nigeria where Google Map
is not efficient due to irregularities in our housing planning [11]. Most places in Nigeria
have not been mapped to google map yet. Also, there are a lot of privacy and security issues
with this model as private information are shared. Nigeria is known for its highest Numbers
of frauds; fraudsters can use such personal information in perpetuating their evil acts.
Makau et al. [12] proposed a web based model for the implementation of a blood bank
repository system in Kenya. Their proposition lacks feasible implementation strategies and
their solution is majorly tailored at assisting the Kenya National Blood Transfusion Services
effectively manage their operations and not really focused on helping blood recipents get
access to blood in the shortest possible time.Ibrahim et al. [10] developed an android based
system that helps in coordinating the activities of blood banks and donation centers. Their
android app allows blood banks and hospitals to be able to manage records of Blood Donors
and also to send them requests should incase their blood type is being needed. This system
is not as efficient as there is a delay in getting blood across to the recipients.Ashita et al.
[13] built an inventory management system for blood banks to be able to easily gather and
manage all blood donor’s information. Their system was majorly based on information
submitted by the donors and its divided into three modules: The patient module, the donor
module and blood bank module. Their system lacks a sustainable administration system.
Muddu et al. [14] created a system to aggregate all blood donor’s information in a database
and also to consistently inform them of patient who needs matching blood via sms. There
is no administration module to completely monitor the entire system and its purely
autopilot. Morrisa et al. [3] conducted a study to investigate the major causes of blood
usage during emergencies in South Africa. They were able to come to a conclusion that
Trauma accounts for the highest reason for blood transfusion. The study was conducted on
three secondary emergency centers in cape Town, and the data was recorded over three
months. A total of 210 emergency situations was recorded and 329 blood units was used.
Trauma makes up a total of 39% (81), Surgical Conditions accounts for 22%(47), upper
gastrointestinal diseases accounts for 11% (24) while bleeding accounts for 8%(16).
Medical conditions accounts for 15% (31). The majority of the emergency blood was used
during emergency surgical operating theaters; this was about 77% (n = 253). Anitha et al.
[15] designed and developed an embedded system that brings blood donors and blood
recipients together. The system allows blood patients to easily source for blood all over the
country. They designed a low cost GSM Based Rasberri pi that allows blood donors and
recipents to be able to communicate via SMS. Their platform aggregates blood donors
together and then allows blood recipients access matching blood donors and communicate
with them via SMS.
Selvamani et al. [16] proposed a Novel approach for the management of online blood
banks Databases. Their system connects blood donors and recipients in real time during the
urgent need of blood. They created an online database that aggregates details of blood banks
and donors from a variety of sources including Ngos, Medical centers, Online Mediums,
etc. Their platform was created such that the communication barriers between the blood
banks and donors was minimized. Their blood bank central database platform is being
managed by appointed online Administrators. Their system is also being embedded with an
algorithm that search the list of blood donors and recommend the most suitable one to the
patients thereby reducing time spent searching for donors. The variables considered for
recommending suitable blood donors includes nearness to patient’s locations, blood
compatibility, availability of donors. After the selection is being made, the patients can also
make a call to the donor from the app. Clemen et al. [17] designed an information
management system that assist blood banks in effectively manageing and optimising their
operations. It is a central database system with a powerful search and sorting algorithm that
enables you filter through blood bank database records easily. Muhammad et al. [18] created
a blood donor recruitment platform that allows blood banks to easily recruit donor. In some
other related work authors have presented electronic health record and e healthcare
access[31,32].
Based on the above, the motivation for this project is due to the fact that there are no
existing blood bank management systems in Nigeria, and this system if implemented would
improve existing blood banks efficiency and optimization. This would also make blood
banks more accessible especially during emergencies.
3 Methodologies
Our system would be a mobile app that allows hospitals and patients to be able to get
access to blood in the shortest possible time. The front end which is being accessed by the
hospitals, blood banks and patients is an android based application. While the backend
which allows for the storage of data and information is being implemented with Firebase
Real-time Database. This system is designed to ensure seamless searching and sorting of
blood information. It is also designed to maintain privacy and data security.
Firebase Database-Firebase is a real-time online database hosting platform created and
maintained by Google. This database is targeted at mobile platforms and apps. Firebase is
a backend platform that allows data to be sync in real-time across multiple devices. Unlike
Mysql database, Firebase is a Nosql Database that makes real-time syncing of data possible
across all users, thereby making collaboration easier. Also it has an offline cache capability
which means users can still access information without internet connection [19].Firebase
has a lot of modules or database, but we are making use of three of it modules including
Firebase Authentication: The firebase authentication modules allow us authenticate users
who make use of our app. It allows the implementation of signup and login in for our users.
The users are being authenticated uniquely with their email address and password
Firebase Database: The firebase database allows us store data to be accessed real-time.
We use it to store blood donors, hospitals and blood bank details. It is used to store and sync
all our app data.
Firebase Cloud Messaging: We make use of the firebase cloud messaging module to
message blood donors of their blood testing appointments, pass information to donors and
blood banks, etc. [20].
PHP:PHP is one of the most popular server-side scripting language mostly used for web
application development. It is designed as a general-purpose programming language and
widely used all over the world. PHP powers most of the online websites and its currently
active on about 240 million websites and 2.1 million web servers.
While php is a server site programming language, it is commonly used with other
programming and markup languages like Html, Javascipt, xml, css, etc. In this app, we
would use php to create a json api output to enable our mobile app communicate with our
online Firebase Database. Our Android app needs an api gateway to be able to communicate
with the online database to perform functions like adding data to the database, fetching data,
updating data, etc. The Json api is the most efficient api gateway to use and Php is a
programming language that can be used to create such json api [21].
Android Java:Android is a mobile operating system (OS) used majorly for touch screen
mobile devices. It is based on the Linux kernel and currently developed and maintained by
Google Engineering Team. We would be designing the front end of this app on the android
platform as mobile phones are the easily assessable platforms. This would allow for patient
and hospitals to get access to blood banks and blood information in real time on their mobile
devices [22] [23].
4 Design
The design of the proposed system and flow chart of the blood management application are
given in Figures 1 and 2 respectively.
ADMIN
HOSPITA BLOOD
LS/USERS DATABA BANKS
SE
LOGISTI
CS
DONORS
Fig. 1. Database Design for The Blood Bank Management App
System Architecture
Start
Main Page
no yes
Existing
Users
Register Login
no yes
If
Hospital/Patient
Blood Bank View Profile
Profiling List
Figure. 2. Flow Chart of the Blood Management Application
Admin Module-The admin module is the centralized module that’s in charge of all admin
activities which Includes: Blood Banks Approval, Blood Donors Approval ,Logistic
Companies Approval,Data Managements and Analysis,Blood Banks and Users
Management.
Blood Donors Module-The blood donor’s module is an important aspects and allows for -
User’s Authentication (Registration and Login),Data and Information Upload,and Blood
Screening Appointment Booking
Hospitals / Users Module-The hospitals or patients who need blood would be able to
perform the following processes through their module-Users Authentication,Data &
Information Upload, Search Blood Banks, Search Donors and Request for Blood
Blood Banks Module-The major function of the blood banks is to be able to manage and
organize all blood donors data. The blood bank is also in charge of scheduling and
conducting tests for blood donors to ensure they meet blood donation requirement and are
fit to donate blood. The blood bank module would contain the following-Blood Bank
Authentication,Schedule of Blood Test Date for Donors,Blood Data & Information Upload
and Blood Donors Information Update
Logistics Module-The logistics company is in charge of delivering blood in the shortest
possible time. The logistics company would get requests from the blood banks, then they
pick the blood up and deliver to the hospitals or patients who needs the blood. The logistics
company would be able to perform the following functions through their module-
Authentication (Registration and Login),Receive Delivery Requests from Blood
Banks,Manage Deliveries in Real-time.
In the following Table 1 shows the database table structure for the blood donors. This table
contains all blood donors information. It also keeps tracks of donors login seasons, donation
days and their personal details. Table 2 shows the database table structure for all registered
blood banks. This table majorly contains the contact details of the blood banks and also
keeps records of the blood banks available bloods. Table 3 shows the database table
structure for blood screening and donation appointments bookings. It keeps records of all
appointments dates. This table is used by the blood banks to send reminders to blood donors.
Table 1: Database Design for Blood Donors
Name Data Type Constraints
Email_id varchar(100) Primary Key
Name varchar(100)
Phone Number varchar(100) Allow Null
Sex varchar(100) Allow Null
Religion varchar(100) Allow Null
Location varchar(100) Allow Null
Picture Image Allow Null
Blood Group varchar(100) Allow Null
Blood Type varchar(100) Allow Null
Username varchar(100)
Password varchar(100)
Blood_Donated varchar(100) Allow Null
Date Donated varchar(100) Allow Null
Table 2: Database Design for Blood Banks
Name Data Type Constraints
Email_Id varchar(100) Primary Key
Blood_bank_name varchar(100)
Approval_No varchar(100)
Approval_Details varchar(100) Allow Null
Phone_Number varchar(100) Allow Null
Location varchar(100)
State varchar(100) Allow Null
Table 3: Database Design for Blood Donation Appointment
Name Data Type Constraints
Email_id Int Primary Key
Donor_name varchar(100)
Phone_Number varchar(100)
Location varchar(100)
Blood_Group varchar(100)
Amount_Donated varchar(100)
Appointment_Date varchar(100)
Date Donated varchar(100) Allow Null
The software packages and frameworks Used in this system are Android Studio, Sql Studio,
Phpstorm, Postman, Firebase
5. Demonstration and results
After testing, the blood bank application was able to achieve all its intended purposes.
Fig 3 shows the authentication system that allows users to register. Blood Donors, hospitals
and patients can create account after which they can login to access the dashboard.
Fig. 3. Authentication Page for Blood Donor/Patients. Fig. 4. Search Page
Fig. 4 shows the blood donor page where patients can search for matching donors around
them. The patients can make searches selecting his/her nearest Local Government Area
(L.G.A). All listed Donors are verified donors that have gone through the necessary medical
checkups and are deemed fit by government approved hospitals. Fig 5 is the Blood Request
Page where patients can confirm matching donors and contact them. The patients or hospital
can either contact the donor through phone calls, Sms or Email. After putting a call through
to the donor, the patients can then make negotiations with the donor to come to the hospital
for donation or locate the nearest blood banks for the donation.
Fig. 5. Blood Request Page
Fig 6 shows the appointment booking page for interested donors to book appointments
with the nearest blood banks so as to confirm their eligibility and also donate blood. When
appointments are booked, the respective blood banks receive a notification via mail and can
prepare for the donors visit. An interested donor would need to first book a screening
appointment date, then subsequently he can start booking donation dates.
Fig. 6. Appointment Scheduling Page for Interested Donors
6. Discussion and comparison
There exist similar systems to this work, but most of the proposed systems have been
implemented by developed countries and none has been tailored to developing African
Nations. This system tends to put into considerations African local challenges like logistics
challenges, poor network coverage, etc.
Ibrahim et al. [10] developed a similar system, their project was an android based app
that allows patients to request the blood solely online with gps functionality. This would
not be efficient in the African environment due to poor internet connection and unreliable
gps data.
Muhammad et al. [18] developed a similar system, but their platform is only based on
sms functionality. Their app only send sms messages alone to donors and this is not always
a reliable means of communication in Africa. This project solves this challenge by
providing diverse avenues for patients to contact donors. The avenues this project offers
include Sms, phone calls and Email.
7. Conclusion
A lot of research proposals have been made for the development of online database to
help patients get easy access to blood. All the proposals have been focused on advanced
countries which have different environmental terrain with developing countries like
Nigeria. In this paper, we have discussed about the major issues and different challenges
peculiar to implementing online blood banks solutions in Nigeria, and we have proposed
suitable measures to overcome those challenges. This system allows easy communication
between blood banks, hospitals, patients and blood donors.
On a long-term basis, this project can easily be scaled to integrate a lot of functionalities
that would make it better. Since this project was about the development of the android app,
in future, the iOS app can be developed to cater for iPhone users. Also, gps tracking can be
incorporated into the app to make location reporting possible. This would allow blood banks
see blood donors location in real time and can easily make fast decisions based on the
donor’s location.
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