Enabling Future Wireless Healthcare System

Research summary

The use of wireless technologies has a lot of potential in finding new home-care related solutions, as well as in improving efficiency in hospitals. Number of applications is monifold both in medical and healthcare, e.g., a possibility of monitoring parameters at home and hospital. Self-care, selfmanagement and cost effectiveness will be the key factors towards the development of these new technological solutions. One example of utilizing wireless technologies leads to distributed hospital concept, in which measurement done at home are sent automatically to healthcare units database, and doctors or nursing staff obtain alarms when necessary. Wireless body area networks (WBAN) have been seen as a future implementation scheme of measuring human physiological parameters. Small and low power sensors installed on-body, or even in-body, are connected to each other and out-of-body using energy efficient wireless communication technique. Wireless connection will allow patients to move around, but still allowing the controlling capability of the nursing staff. The developed system can be transferred from hospitals to home due to the well defined interfaces between the WBAN and the access point of backbone network. In the project, suitable transceivers and network solutions for WBANs are investigated starting form channel models

Description

Research info

Research title
Enabling Future Wireless Healthcare System

Research timeline
1.1.2010 - 1.12.2014

Keywords
home-care medical ICT wireless body area network (WBAN

Region
Asia

Countries
Finland, Japan

Institution
University of Oulu
CWC
Oulu, Finland

Funding instrument
Business Finland

Project budget
1-2 million euros

Head of research
Jari Iinatti

Research team
Ryuji Kohno (YNU)

Partners
Yokohama National University

Contact information

Record last updated
25.8.2015