Handheld Devices Make Real-time Telemedicine Possible and Affordable

New advancements in the hardware of the handheld devices (HDs) have opened up a new way for the applications in home healthcare field. Applying wearable technology to long-term physiological monitoring is one of the most feasible and satisfying methods for home healthcare. As the HDs become more and more popular and cheaper, designing the telemedicine system with HDs will basically save the cost and promote user adoption. This paper describes the design and the implementation of a wearable telemedicine system comprised of an elastic chest belt (ECB), a HD, and a remote service center (RSC). The electrocardiogram (ECG) and the activity measured by the ECB will be transmitted to the HD via Bluetooth where the physiological data can be displayed, memorized, and analyzed, and then transmitted to the RSC via GPRS/Internet. Although Bluetooth consumes most of the power, we are able to reduce the power consumption of the ECB by minimizing its duty cycle and leveraging resources on the HD. The monitoring for blood pressure (BP), blood oxygen saturation (SPO2), and the global position system (GPS) will be integrated into the next prototype of the system in the near future.