Efficient Patient Monitoring for Multiple Patients Using WSN

Real motivation of this research work is to develop an efficient system that can monitor multiple patients´ health parameters simultaneously and can effectively deliver the data to a patient monitoring system where it is stored permanently. Current traditional health monitoring is accomplished by individual PCs attached to each patient´s bed. The multiple parameters that are monitored are blood pressure, temperature, ECG, and EEG. Our research investigates the potential of WSN to reliably, wirelessly collect, send and process these multiple parameters of multiple patients simultaneously, in real-time. This research succeeds in transforming the traditional individual patient monitoring apparatus and its requirements into an apparatus that is capable of reliably monitoring the multiple parameters of up to six patients simultaneously, in real-time. Managing interference and ensuring the accurate delivery of the information to the monitoring system using the most effective wireless communication technique are the challenges taken in to consideration. This is achieved by identifying each patient´s monitored parameter using a unique ID and employing a time scheduling scheme during data transmission. The system also alerts the doctor/nurse of some measured value cross threshold limits. A real time data storage mechanism employed here helps to look further into the recorded data by the doctor. This contribution succeeds in indicating where there could be huge savings in power consumption and cost for hospitals. Currently employed systems use a one patient monitoring system per patient which is expensive, whereas this system uses the same resources to monitor up to six patients, with more comfort to the patients and more convenience for the healthcare professionals.