Wireless Sensor Networks for Monitoring Physiological Signals of Multiple Patients

International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR), India Online ISSN: 2319-7064
Volume 2 Issue 9, September 2013
www.ijsr.net
Wireless Sensor Networks for Monitoring
Physiological Signals of Multiple Patients
Takur Chetan Singh1
, K. S. R. Murthy2
1
M.E Student, Department of ECE, M.V.S.R. Engineering College, Nadergul, Andhra Pradesh, India
2
Professor, Department of ECE, M.V.S.R. Engineering College, Nadergul, Andhra Pradesh, India
Abstract: Recently, in many cases, the reason for a patient staying in the hospital is not that he or she actually needs active medical
care. Often, the principal reason for a lengthy stay in the hospital is simply continual observation. Therefore, efforts have been made to
avoid acute admissions and long lengths of stay in the hospital. In recent years, emergency admissions and long lengths of stay have
become extremely costly. So the focus of health policy has shifted away from the provision of reactive, acute care toward preventive care
outside the hospital. As models of care are redesigned, health economies are seeking to provide more care outside large acute centers.
The drivers for this shift are two-fold; first, there is a quality-of-care issue and second, there is a resource allocation issue. Being cared
for in a patient’s own home is a key aim of current U.K. government health policy and that is driven by an imperative to provide better
quality care to people without the need to disrupt their lives. Investment in technologies that enable remote monitoring would lead to
long-term gains in terms of hospital finances and patient care.
Keywords: wireless, patients, monitoring, observation, emergency, sensors.
1. Introduction
In this paper, we present a wireless sensor network where a
group of sensors monitor and transmit medical signals.
Sensors are tailored to a specific condition. In this case, we
observe a patient who has suffered a heart attack and is
considered at risk for having another attack. This patient
would be fitted with electrocardiogram (ECG) sensor,
heartbeat, blood-pressure, temperature sensors that monitor
the heart activity, and all the parameters so on.
Further, patients are considered as nodes of the network, and
the hospital is considered as the central node or sink. These
nodes are then connected to a central node which is installed
in the hospital. Clinicians are then able to monitor their
patients’ conditions, detect any abnormalities, and take
appropriate action (e.g., contact the patient to give some
advice or send an ambulance to their home). This system has
particular benefits for patients who want to live their normal
lives and for providers who are keen to closely monitor
patients but have limited resources or space. In this system,
there is no need for a PC to transmit data via an Internet
connection. The quality of service (QoS) is largely the same
without the PC but with a dramatic reduction in cost and
improvement in ease of use.
2. Existing System and Proposed System
The system described in this project is one of these examples
which would significantly reduce the lengths of stay among
those patients who have had an acute episode but whose only
medical requirements are for continual monitoring.
Currently, some wireless monitoring systems have been
designed which commonly use a PC, a personal digital
assistant (PDA), or a mobile phone at the patient’s side. In
these systems, the vital signals are transmitted to the hospital
via internet or mobile networks. The main drawbacks of
these systems are the costs of a PC or PDA, accessibility,
and possible delay that occur in sending data if the PC is off
and the difficulty of using PCs for elderly people.
Meanwhile, some of the existing systems transmit signals via
an analog radio link to the base station, which leaves the
signal vulnerable to degradation/hacking during analog
radio. In this paper, we present a wireless sensor network
where a group of sensors monitor and transmit medical
signals. Sensors are tailored to a specific condition.
3. Project Overview
It consists of two main sections in the system. The first
section is the patient home which consists of two modules
wireless patient portable unit (WPPU), where the ECG
signals, temperature pressure values, heartbeat values are
detected, amplified, and send it to the wireless access point
unit (WAPU) which is located near to the patient and then by
using Ethernet module sending the data to the internet such
that which can be seen in the hospital by the doctors.
Figure 1: whole scenario of the project
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3.1 Patient Home
The modules at the patient’s home are wireless patient
portable unit (WPPU) and wireless-access point unit
(WAPU). wireless patient portable unit (WPPU) consists of
ECG sensor, temperature sensor, blood pressure sensor,
heartbeat sensor, PIC microcontroller, LCD(Liquid crystal
display), UART (Universal Asynchronous Receiver
Transmitter) and zigbee module.WAPU consists of ARM7
processor, zigbee module,UART, MAX 232, Ethernet
module. The WPPU is held with the patient and the WAPU
is attached to an Internet router.
As can be seen, all these sensors are connected to the patient
via a very light set of cables and all the ECG sensor,
temperature sensor, blood pressure sensor, heart beat sensor
values are taken and give it to the PIC microcontroller and
then we are giving it to LCD and zigbee module by using
UART.The WPPU then wirelessly transmits the collected
signals to the WAPU through a zigbee network connection
based on the Tarang F4 zigbe module.
3.1.1Transmitter Section
WPPU (Wireless Patient Portable Unit): Wireless Patient
Portable Unit (WPPU) consists of ECG sensor, temperature
sensor, blood pressure sensor, heartbeat sensor, PIC
microcontroller, LCD (Liquid crystal display), UART
(Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter) and zigbee
module. All the sensor values are taken and sends to the PIC
microcontroller and by serial communication sends the data
to LCD and zigbee module ie zigbee transmitter.
Figure 2: Wireless Patient Portable Unit
3.1.2 Receiver Section
WAPU (Wireless Access Point Unit): It consists of ARM7
processor, Zigbee module, UART, MAX 232, Ethernet
module. When all the values of sensors are reached through
zigbee module from the WPPU, it receives through the
zigbee receiver and by using UART, sending the data to the
ARM7 and from then we writing the code for the Ethernet
module such that all the patient data are entered and show
the output in any internet browser such that in the hospital
section doctors can view the details of all the patients and
observe all the sensor values and give the suggestions or aid
details if required and send an ambulance if any emergency
case occurs.
Figure 3: Wireless Access Point Unit
3.2 Hospital
The signals are transmitted constantly from patients’ homes
to the hospital by using Ethernet module connected to the
router via to the Internet in real time. Hence, there is no
appreciable time lag between a signal being detected by the
sensors and it being received at the hospital. In the internet
browser all the real time varying data can be seen and
doctors can view the details of all the patients and observe all
the sensor values and give the suggestions or aid details if
required and send an ambulance if any emergency case
occurs. At the hospital, special software can be written and
installed on a computer server if server is maintained, which
shows the temperature blood pressure, heart beat, ECG
values of the patients in the digital format.
Internet connected to Router Personal computer
Figure 4: hospital section
4. Hardware Description
4.1 Introduction
In this chapter it deals with all hardware components used to
make the project successful. And all individual modules
which can interface with the controllers and to get exact
output are explained in detailed.
4.2 LPC 2148 MICROCONTROLLER (ARM 7)
General description: The LPC2141/42/44/46/48
microcontrollers are based on a 16-bit/32-bit ARM7TDMI-S
CPU with real-time emulation and embedded trace support,
that combine the microcontroller with embedded high-speed
flash memory ranging from 32 kB to 512 kB. A 128-bit wide
memory interface and unique accelerator architecture enable
32-bit code execution at the maximum clock rate. For critical
code size applications, the alternative 16-bit Thumb mode
reduces code by more than 30 % with minimal performance
penalty.
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Due to their tiny size and low power consumption,
LPC2141/42/44/46/48 are ideal for applications where
miniaturization is a key requirement, such as access control
and point-of-sale. Serial communications interfaces ranging
from a USB 2.0 Full-speed device, multiple UARTs, SPI,
SSP to I2C-bus and on-chip SRAM of 8 kB up to 40 kB,
make these devices very well suited for communication
gateways and protocol converters, soft modems, voice
recognition and low end imaging, providing both large buffer
size and high processing power. Various 32-bit timers, single
or dual 10-bit ADC(s), 10-bit DAC, PWM channels and 45
fast GPIO lines with up to nine edge or level sensitive
external interrupt pins make these microcontrollers suitable
for industrial control and medical systems.
Features
a. 16-bit/32-bit ARM7TDMI-S microcontroller in a tiny
LQFP64 package.
b.8 kB to 40 kB of on-chip static RAM and 32 kB to 512 kB
of on-chip flash memory.
c. 128-bit wide interface/accelerator enables high-speed 60
MHz operation.
d.In-System Programming/In-Application Programming
(ISP/IAP) via on-chip boot loader software.
e. Single flash sector or full chip erase in 400 ms and
programming of 256 B in 1ms.
f. EmbeddedICE RT and Embedded Trace interfaces offer
real-time debugging with the on-chip RealMonitor
software and high-speed tracing of instruction execution.
g.USB 2.0 Full-speed compliant device controller with 2 KB
of endpoint RAM.
4.3 PIC MICROCONTROLLER (PIC16F877A)
Introduction: Manufactured by Microchip, the PIC
("Programmable Intelligent Computer" or "Peripheral
Interface Controller" ) microcontroller is popular among
engineers and hobbyists alike. PIC microcontrollers come in
a variety of "flavors", each with different components and
capabilities. Many types of electronic projects can be
constructed easily with the PIC family of microprocessors,
among them clocks, very simple video games, robots, servo
controllers, and many more. The PIC is a very general
purpose microcontroller that can come with many different
options, for very reasonable prices.
4.4 Temperature sensor
LM35 converts temperature value into electrical signals.
LM35 series sensors are precision integrated-circuit
temperature sensors whose output voltage is linearly
proportional to the Celsius temperature. The LM35 requires
no external calibration since it is internally calibrated. . The
LM35 does not require any external calibration or trimming
to provide typical accuracies of ±1⁄4°C at room temperature
and ±3⁄4°C over a full −55 to +150°C temperature range.
4.5 Heart Beat Sensor
Heart beat sensor is designed to give digital output of heat
beat when a finger is placed on it. When the heart beat
detector is working, the beat LED flashes in unison with
each heart beat. This digital output can be connected to
microcontroller directly to measure the Beats Per Minute
(BPM) rate. It works on the principle of light modulation by
blood flow through finger at each pulse. Heart beat sensor is
designed to give digital output of heat beat when a finger is
placed on it. When the heart beat detector is working, the
beat LED flashes in unison with each heart beat.
4.6 Integrated Silicon Pressure Sensor
Description: The MP3V5050 series piezoresistive transducer
is a state-of-the-art monolithic silicon pressure sensor
designed for a wide range of applications, but particularly
those employing a microcontroller or microprocessor with
A/D inputs. This patented, single element transducer
combines advanced micromachining techniques, thin-film
metallization, and bipolar processing to provide an accurate,
high level analog output signal that is proportional to the
applied pressure.
4.7 ECG Sensor
General description: The heart functions as a pump for
circulating blood to the bod y by repetition of contraction
and enlargement. The cardiac electric potenti al is produced
in the body during heart contraction. Electrocardiogram can
be measure ed by leading this electrical signals to other body
position and amplify. Inventory of Items Included with the
EKG Sensor, Electrocardiogram sensor (EKG sensor).
4.8 Zigbee Technology
Introduction to Zigbee: Zigbee is an IEEE 802.15.4 standard
for data communications with business and consumer
devices. It is designed around low-power consumption
allowing batteries to essentially last forever. The Zigbee
standard provides network, security and application support
services operating on top of the IEEE 802.15.4 Medium
Access Control (MAC) and Physical Layer (PHY) wireless
standard. It employs a suite of technologies to enable
scalable, self-organizing, self-healing networks that can
manage various data traffic patterns. Zigbee is a low-cost,
low-power, wireless mesh networking standard. The low cost
allows the technology to be widely deployed in wireless
control and monitoring applications,
4.9 ENC 28J60 Ethernet Module
The ENC28J60 is a stand-alone Ethernet controller with an
industry standard Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI). It is
designed to serve as an Ethernet network interface for any
controller equipped with SPI. The ENC28J60 meets all of the
IEEE 802.3 specifications. It incorporates a number of
packet filtering schemes to limit incoming packets. It also
provides an internal DMA module for fast data throughput
and hardware assisted checksum calculation, which is used
in various network protocols. Communication with the host
controller is implemented via an interrupt pin and the SPI,
with clock rates of up to 20 MHz.
4.9 KEIL uVision4
THE uVision IDE from KEIL combines project
management, make facilities source code editing, program
debugging, and complete simulation in powerful
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environment. The uVision development platform is easy to
use and helping you quickly creates embedded programs that
work. The uVision editor and debugger are integrated in a
single application that provides a seamless embedded project
development environment.
5. Advantages and Applications
5.1 Advantages and Disadvantages
1. Reduction of costs in the hospital bills since every patient
was hospitalized from their homes
2. Digital values are visualized for more than one patient in
real time anywhere through the internet.
3. For continuous medical observation.
4. Privacy for the patients.
5. Patient can move from one place to another easily.
6. Patient can also take a walk to feel relief
5.2 Applications
1. Used for Monitoring Physiological Signals of Multiple
Patients in hospitals when the patient was in their homes.
2. Used in military applications to know the health
conditions time to time.
3. And to check the person is alive or not when war was
going on.
4. Used in the hospitals for observing heartbeat, blood
pressure, temperature wirelessly.
5. Used For continuous medical observation.
6. Result
A. Final Hardware Setup Implemented
Figure 5: Total hardware setup implemented
B. Output can be seen in the internet browser in any hospital
by giving its ipe address http/www.182.168.1.25
Figure 6: Output screen seen in the hospital
7. Conclusion
Many hospitals and physicians have requirements for an
integrated and reliable wireless monitoring system to observe
real time physiological signals from patients outside the
hospital with high and reliable accuracy. Currently available
systems for monitoring physiological signals suffer from
technical limitations, resulting in the under exploitation of
potentially life-saving data. In this project a wireless sensor
network structure to monitor patients with chronic diseases
in their own home through a remote monitoring system of
physiological signals was presented. Moreover, it was
demonstrated how to eliminate the need for a PC. Further, it
was shown how to design an easy-to-use and configure
access point for these systems.
8. Future Scope
If we maintain server, Patient database: ability to add, delete,
and modify patient information online ECG BP,
Temperature, Heartbeat values are visualized for more than
one patient at any time. latest records of all the ECG, BP,
Temperature, Heartbeat values of multiple patients can be
stored including date and time.
References
[1] Reza S. Dilmaghani, Hossein Bobarshad, M. Ghavami,
Sabrieh Choobkar, and Charles Wolfe, “Wireless Sensor
Networks for Monitoring Physiological Signals of
Multiple Patients” Ieee Transactions On Biomedical
Circuits And Systems, Vol. 5, No. 4, August 2011.
[2] G. Virone, N. Noury, and J. Demongeot, “A system for
automatic measurement of circadian activity deviations in
telemedicine,” IEEE Transactions On Biomedical
Circuits And Systems, vol. 5, no. 4, Aug 2011
[3] P. Corbishley and E. Rodríguez-Villegas, “Breathing
detection: Towards a miniaturized, wearable, battery-
operated monitoring system,” IEEE Trans. Biomed. Eng.,
vol. 55, no. 1, pp. 196–204, Jan. 2008.
[4] K. A. Ng and P. K. Chan, “CMOS analog front-end IC
for portable EEG/ECG monitoring applications,” IEEE
Trans. Circuits Syst. I, Reg. Papers, vol. 52, no. 11, pp.
2335–2347, Nov. 2005.
[5] G. Virone, N. Noury, and J. Demongeot, “A system for
automatic measurement of circadian activity deviations in
telemedicine,” IEEE Trans. Biomed. Eng., vol. 49, no. 12,
pp. 1463–1469, Dec. 2002.
Paper ID: 03091303 197

Wireless Sensor Networks for Monitoring Physiological Signals of Multiple Patients

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