Spectrally efficient telemedicine and in-hospital patient data transfer

Abstract

We propose an overlay cognitive radio scheme for telemedicine and in-hospital patient data transfer. We consider the telemedicine transmitter receiver pair to be the primary user or spectrum license holder. The in-hospital patient monitor is the secondary user in this overlay cognitive radio model. Using the fact that the data transmitted to the telemedicine terminal and the in-hospital patient monitor both originate from the coordinator of a medical body area network, the side information at the transmitter can be used to mitigate the effects of interference while the two medical data transmission schemes coexist in the same frequency band. This method can be used to enhance the bit error rate and spectral efficiency in transferring the information generated by wireless body area networks to remote destinations. The method finds applications in E-health medical systems.