wilamowski-b-m-irwin-j-d-industrial-communication-systems-2011

Communications in Medical Applications 30-11
communicate with each other and with the PAN coordinator. Furthermore, cluster heads can route
packets from/to their own cluster, other clusters, or the PAN coordinator. Sensor nodes, cluster heads,
and the PAN coordinator communicate with each other and with the outside world by employing a
superframe structure containing an active part, used for contention-based (CSMA/CA) or contention-free
communications, and an inactive part where the transceiver can be turned off for power saving.
This superframe is bounded by beacon frames periodically transmitted by the PAN coordinator,
which conveys the sensor network information to other systems by means of a (PC) gateway enabled
with TCP/IP communications. Additional information regarding the beaconed mode of the IEEE
802.15.4 standard can be found in [42].
30.5.2 Healthcare Robotics
The initially slow acceptance of robotic technology in medicine has been motivated by psychological,
technical, and economic reasons. However, given the current high safety insurance of medical robots,
their application has spawned a broad set of medical areas, such as orthopedic and cardiac surgery,
laparoscopy, endoscopy, among others [43]. Some current healthcare domains where robots are being
employed include use in multiple types of surgery (image-guided, minimal invasive, etc.), rehabilitation
robots, rehab-manipulators, and mobile systems (for hospitals, smart homes, etc.). In the following
paragraphs, healthcare robotic systems are introduced with focus on the employed communication
technologies.
Ozkil et al. [44] propose a robotic automation system for transportation of goods in hospitals, specifying
mobile robots for carrying containers, and stationary robotic stations for loading/unloading operations.
Three layers of decision are defined: supervisory control, traffic control, and vehicle control. The
first is responsible for generating and combining transportation requests, and assigning tasks to mobile
robots. The second plans the movements of containers in order to cope with required schedules and to
avoid conflicts resulting from different user requests. The third generates movement set points that are
transmitted to mobile robots in order to meet the planned movements of containers. Besides robots, the
systems’ architecture encompasses a server providing fleet supervision (storage of order and container
information) and a Wi-Fi AP enabling TCP/IP data communication with the mobile robots (transmission
of movement setpoints). In addition to Wi-Fi communications, mobile robots also encompass a
CAN network allowing high-level set points to be conveyed to the low-level controller, responsible for
sensing bumps and emergency events (activated by a switch), while driving the servo motors and brakes.
Regarding cooperative teams of robots, Choi et al. [45] introduced a robotic (BioRobot) platform
for clinical tests in small to medium-sized laboratories using mobile agents (MAs) with the ability to
transport blood samples, reagents, microplates, and medical instruments. The system architecture
includes MAs for transport, SCARA robotic manipulators for handling samples and reagents, an elevator
module to supply microplates to the MA, an incubator module, and a photometry scanner. These
components are orchestrated to perform a set of tests in an efficient way by managing the available
resources according to laboratory requirements. The analysis workflow is initiated by loading samples
and reagents in individual tubes, and having each microplate identified by an RFID tag (A clinical
module includes a microplate, an RFID tag and a reader). Then, the operator specifies the required test
sequences and the schedule. From this moment on, the BioRobot platform operates automatically by
having MAs collecting and transporting samples between system modules (SCARA robot, incubator,
spectrophotometer, etc.), until the scheduled test sequences are completed. During this process, samples
are tracked by the RFID tags embedded in clinical modules. The BioRobot platform employs Bluetooth
technology for supporting communications among MAs and a central unit (PC), which enables the provision
of updated MA status information (position, samples being carried, etc.) and the transmission of
supervisory commands to MAs.
The use of robots in domestic settings is also becoming popular. For example, Dengler et al. [39]
present a family of robots (Robertino) allowing the support and the maintenance of smart home
© 2011 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC