04-02-2013, 04:17 PM
Monitoring Patients’ Signs Wirelessly
Monitoring Patients’.doc (Size: 540 KB / Downloads: 37)
Abstract
Recent developments in off-the-shelf wireless embedded computing boards and the increasing need for efficient health monitoring systems, fueled by the increasing number of patients, has prompted R&D professionals to explore better health monitoring systems that are both mobile and cheap. This work investigates the feasibility of using the ZigBee embedded technology in health-related monitoring applications. Selected vital signs of patients are acquired using sensor nodes and readings are transmitted wirelessly using devices that utilize the ZigBee communications protocols. A prototype system has been developed and tested with encouraging results.
INTRODUCTION
The increasing cost of in-bed hospitalization and the recent technological advances in low-power integrated circuit sensors coupled with the introduction of power efficient protocols such as Bluetooth and ZigBee has tempted researchers to study the establishment and usage of wireless networks as a vehicle for transmitting patients’-related information without the need to confine them to a premise [1, 2]. Wireless-based non-confining monitoring systems improve the quality of life for the patients while serving as a cost effective solution to the problem of health care monitoring that is worsening with the increase in the aging population. The rapid development in the telecommunication field and mobile technology has accelerated the introduction of telemedicine as a viable and reliable alternative. Recent work [3, 4] includes using Bluetooth technology coupled with the GSM technology to report signs to PDAs held by the patient or his doctor. Monitoring based on ultra wideband-based personal area networks was reported in [5]. Sneha and others [6] presented an architectural framework for a system that utilizes mobile techniques to wirelessly monitor the ECG of cardiac patients. The work reported in [7] discusses the implementation issues, and describes the overall system architecture of a Bluetooth sensor network for patient monitoring.
SYSTEM HARDWARE DESCRIPTION
The system is designed and built using the ZigBee modules (Nodes) from Jennic Corporation [11]. Vital signs’ sensors attached to the patient’s body are interfaced to these Nodes (hereafter P-Node). The complete P-Node is packaged in a light form and carried by the patient. Sensed data is transmitted to a ZigBee coordinator (Z-Coor) with a wide LCD display that is carried by the supervisor nurse on the hospital floor.
CONCLUSIONS
The paper discusses the implementation of a monitoring system targeting patients on a hospital floor. The system consists of end units carried by patients that collect sensed data (health sign readings) and transmit it to a coordinator unit at the hands of the floor nurse. This is implemented using a ZigBee-based network. Such wireless environments provide patients with the ability to move around and feel confident