3
Wireless Technology in Patient Monitoring
In Chapter 2, we learned that many alternative types of wireless networks are currently available for telemedicine services. These networks have very different properties and are designed for different situations. There is no simple answer as to what type of network is best for telemedicine as different applications may have very different needs. Having looked at a variety of technologies, we have seen propagation as being one major issue that all wireless networks face. We discussed why wireless telemedicine is far more popular than wired systems. Wireless networking is the underlying technology that enables the connection of healthcare in terms of both people and resources, technological advancements over decades have enabled secure and reliable networks to provide services for life-critical services. In this chapter, we look at various situations where wireless telemedicine helps patient recovery and rehabilitation. We shall see how these can be accomplished and what technical challenges exist. The popularity of RFID in numerous applications paved the way for people and medical resources to be easily tracked down and monitored.
Specific network design is motivated by the application it provides such that it needs to fulfil the requirements to reliably transmit the type of information involved. For example, to monitor a ventricular tachycardia (VT) patient requires regular transmission of ECG and heart rate information to ensure that ...
