Title: Design and implementation of a wearable healthcare monitoring system

Authors: Assim Sagahyroon, Hazem Raddy, Ali Ghazy, Umair Suleman

Addresses: Computer Engineering Department, American University of Sharjah, Sharjah, UAE. ' CCC (Consolidated Contractors Company), Dubai, UAE. ' Institute of Applied Technology, Dubai, UAE. ' Aim 168 Inc., Dubai, UAE

Abstract: A wearable healthcare monitoring unit that integrates various technologies was developed to provide patients with the option of leading a healthy and independent life without risks or confinement to medical facilities. The unit consists of various sensors integrated to a microcontroller and attached to the patient|s body, reading vital signs and transmitting these readings via a Bluetooth link to the patient|s mobile phone. Short-Messaging-Service (SMS) is incorporated in the design to alert a physician in emergency cases. Additionally, an application program running on the mobile phone uses the internet to update (at regular intervals) the patient records in a hospital database with the most recent readings. To reduce development costs, the components used were both off-the-shelf and affordable.

Keywords: electronic healthcare; e-healthcare; healthcare monitoring; wearable electronics; sensors; internet; microcontrollers; Bluetooth; sequence packet protocol; mobile phones; cell phones; SMS; short messaging service; patient records; patient monitoring.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEH.2009.026273

International Journal of Electronic Healthcare, 2009 Vol.5 No.1, pp.68 - 86

Published online: 05 Jun 2009 *

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