Monitoring Patients’ Signs Wirelessly
Monitoring Patients’ Signs Wirelessly
A. Sagahyroon, F. Aloul, A.R. Al-Ali, M. S. Bahrololoum, F. Makhsoos, N. Hussein
Department of Computer Science & Engineering American University of Sharjah, UAE
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. Keywords: Zigbee, wireless health monitoring.
I.
Compared to Bluetooth, ZigBee provides higher network flexibility and a larger number of nodes, and a better transmission range with low power consumption. Recently, ZigBee-based wireless networks were tested in various applications. In [8], the authors investigate the use of ZigBee and mobile phones in monitoring elderly patients with diabetes mellitus or heart diseases. A ZigBee WiMAX nursery system for patient monitoring was proposed in [9]. An interesting application of ZigBee-based wireless sensor nodes in the real-time monitoring of fruit logistics is discussed in [10]. The work presented here simply attempts to probe into the applicability, usefulness, and practicality of using wireless-ZigBee based network in monitoring the signs of patients on a hospital floor and surrounding area without confining them to a bed. The presented solution is meant to be both simple, cost effective and hopefully causes minimal interference with the patient’s mobility and comfort. A wearable sensor unit, attached to the patient’s body, reads and transmits the patient’s fetal
A. Sagahyroon, F. Aloul, A.R. Al-Ali, M. S. Bahrololoum, F. Makhsoos, N. Hussein
Department of Computer Science & Engineering American University of Sharjah, UAE
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. Keywords: Zigbee, wireless health monitoring.
I.
Compared to Bluetooth, ZigBee provides higher network flexibility and a larger number of nodes, and a better transmission range with low power consumption. Recently, ZigBee-based wireless networks were tested in various applications. In [8], the authors investigate the use of ZigBee and mobile phones in monitoring elderly patients with diabetes mellitus or heart diseases. A ZigBee WiMAX nursery system for patient monitoring was proposed in [9]. An interesting application of ZigBee-based wireless sensor nodes in the real-time monitoring of fruit logistics is discussed in [10]. The work presented here simply attempts to probe into the applicability, usefulness, and practicality of using wireless-ZigBee based network in monitoring the signs of patients on a hospital floor and surrounding area without confining them to a bed. The presented solution is meant to be both simple, cost effective and hopefully causes minimal interference with the patient’s mobility and comfort. A wearable sensor unit, attached to the patient’s body, reads and transmits the patient’s fetal