MEDICINSKI GLASNIK

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Medicinski Glasnik, Volumen 9, Number 1, February 2012
The Smart Medical Home actually represents the
controlled environment available for an interdisciplinary
research. The main project goal was the
development of the Personal Health System which
seamlessly integrates different technologies
allowing personal medical care for patients in the
privacy of their own homes. The Smart Medical
Home is equipped with different monitoring devices,
including video cameras and infrared sensors
(for motion detection and patient tracking), biomedical
sensors (for measurements of vital signs
– pulse, blood pressure, respiration) and computers.
The obtained data is continuously provided to
physicians and medical institutions. The concept
of the Smart Medical Home leads to the future
development of a virtual personal medical advisor
which could actively interact with the patient.
AlarmNet
The University of Virginia introduced the
ALARM-NET (Assisted-Living and Residential
Monitoring Network) prototype of the wireless
sensor network intended for the assisted-living
and residential monitoring (53). Its heterogeneous
architecture integrates environmental and
physiological sensors and enables continuous
patient monitoring. The sensor set includes infrared,
temperature, light, pulse and blood oxygenation
sensors. The system also implements
the CAR analysis program (Circadian Activity
Rhythm) that analyses the rhythmic behavioural
activities of patients in order to detect any behavioural
changes within the behavioural patterns,
because these changes may indicate certain health
problems. Advanced algorithms for security,
data privacy and power management are also
implemented.
Secure Mobile Computing
Another project at the University of Virginia
called the Secure Mobile Computing using Biotelemetrics
also led to the development of the
remote medical monitoring system (54). The
sensing device is patch-shaped and includes the
biometric sensor (ECG), the microcontroller
and the Bluetooth radio. The device is batterypowered,
but there are research efforts aiming to
achieve the operation by harvesting energy from
the human body (e.g. from the body temperature
or motion). The sensing device is connected
via Bluetooth link to the PDA device, which performs
data logging and analysis. The PDA device
is programmed to detect any anomalies in biometric
signals according to its pre-programmed
policies. The system implements the serviceoriented
architecture in order to achieve a high
interoperability with other systems and to leave
possibilities for further expansions.
Medical MoteCare
The Medical MoteCare is the prototype of the
health monitoring system developed by the Sydney
University of Technology (55). The core of
the system is wireless sensor network based on
MicaZ sensor nodes (by Crossbow). The sensing
nodes are equipped with pulse oxymeter sensors
and environmental sensors (temperature and light).
The main parts of the system are the sensor
nodes (motes), the Stargate personal server
with data acquisition board (by Crossbow), the
monitor unit and the network management server.
The sensor nodes collect the relevant patient
data and send them wirelessly (by using ZigBee
– IEEE802.15.4 communication standard) to the
Stargate personal server. The Stargate personal
server supports IEEE802.11 (Wi-Fi), GSM and
GPRS communication standards for the interconnection
with other devices. A personal server
connects to monitoring unit, which captures the
obtained data and store it locally on log files.
With an adequate software support the monitor
unit acts as a data delivery unit which transmits
the collected data into the TCP/IP based network.
The network management server analyzes the
obtained medical data and manages possible critical
situations when the observed parameters deviate
from their standard values.
MEMS Wear
The MEMSWear represents the biomonitoring
system for the remote monitoring of vital signs,
developed by the National University of Singapore
(56). This system integrates wireless body
area network and personal digital assistant (PDA)
technology. The platform includes two different
sensors: ECG sensor and integrated SpO2/temperature
sensor. Such platform provides monitoring
of four different physiological signs: ECG, SpO2,
body temperature and blood pressure. Sensors
are incorporated into a wearable shirt platform, in