Wireless Sensing System for Healthcare Monitoring Thermal Physiological State and Recognizing Behavior

Abstract

The introduction of ICT in the areas of medicine and welfare has created new systems and services for healthcare and can help promote disease prevention and health maintenance through wirelessly delivered healthcare and ubiquitous medicine. The availability of information about a person's physiological state and daily activity makes it possible to judge their health condition and provide predictive diagnoses and treatment. Therefore, a wireless sensing system for monitoring thermal physiological state in the living environment was developed and its functions were evaluated. The system consists of an ear-worn temperature sensor, two thermo-hygrometers, four skin temperature sensors, and an ECG sensor. The level of data loss in wireless communication was low making it possible to estimate physiological state using more than 10 sensors, even though both the IEEE 802.15.4 radio and the specified low power radio coexist. The system was evaluated for the prevention of indoor heat stroke among the elderly. The thermal physiological state and the location were monitored along with ambient temperature and humidity. We propose a method to detect the activities closely linked with heat stroke prevention and change in physiological state and to give appropriate warnings.