A novel Zigbee-based low-cost, low-power wireless EKG system

Abstract

Electrocardiogram (EKG) monitoring is of prime importance in the medical world. Using the state of art technology to take it to a wireless platform can open up a broad spectrum of wireless medical devices which have a wide range of applications in medical services, military rescue missions, home cardiovascular monitoring, especially for senior people. This paper presents a platform for developing a Zigbee based low cost, low power Wireless EKG system using the unlicenced 2.4GHz ISM band. Zigbee is based on IEEE 802.15.4 standard for Wireless Personal Area Networks (WPANs), that is being used in many commercial and research applications today, where it has become an attractive solution for low power and low cost applications. Two system designs are proposed featuring excellent ranges and potential for “smart fabric” wearable implementations.