Body Area Networks for Ambulant Patient Monitoring Over Next Generation Public Wireless Networks

The forthcoming wide availability of high bandwidth public wireless networks combined with the evolution of performant body area networks will give rise to new mobile health care services. The MobiHealth1,2, project has developed and trialed a customisable vital signals' monitoring system based on a Body Area Network (BAN) and an m-health service platform utilizing UMTS and GPRS networks. The developed system allows the incorporation of diverse medical sensors via wireless connections, and the live transmission of the measured vital signals over public wireless networks to healthcare providers. Nine trials with different healthcare cases and patient groups in four different European countries have been conducted to test and verify the system, the service and the network infrastructure for its suitability and the restrictions it imposes to mobile health care applications..