Sensors for e-Healthcare and Environmental Applications: Towards systems of the future

Human beings serve as a model for the evolution of sensors for the 21st century. Sensors form the integral spine of industries, laboratories and learning across all domains. Global warming, lifestyle diseases and cancer are areas where remedies continues to be an eluding research. As per International Labor Organisation statistics, the 4th Industrial Revolution poses a threat to two thirds of human jobs. Thus knowledge and experimentation of and with sensors is a prerequisite for today's engineers. IoT sensors are being developed in network setups for fog and cloud systems for patient care, especially to cater to rural and far-flung areas. Environmental sensors are being developed to monitor greenhouse gases in real-time. This paper conducts a comparative analytical study of modern sensor based systems with an introduction to history and classification in Sections I–IV. Sections V, VI and VII further introduce the readers to Acoustic, Greenhouse and Tactile sensors for environmental and health applications, and Section VIII proposes interconnections for future systemic scope.