Healthcare Sensor Networks：Challenges Toward Practical Implementation

Healthcare sensor networks (HSNs) now offer the possibility to continuously monitor human activity and physiological signals in a mobile environment. Such sensor networks may be able to reduce the strain on the present healthcare workforce by providing new autonomous monitoring services ranging from simple user-reminder systems to more advanced monitoring agents for preventive, diagnostic, and rehabilitative purposes. Potential services include reminding people to take their medication, providing early warning for the onset of heart attacks or epileptic seizures, and monitoring a child’s physical activity in order to assess their growth and mental development.
Healthcare Sensor Networks: Challenges Toward Practical Implementation discusses the fundamental concepts in designing and building such networks. It presents the latest developments in HSNs, explores applications of the technology, and provides insights into practical design and deployment challenges. Bringing together contributions from international experts in the field, the book highlights the key areas that require further research for HSNs to become a technological and commercially viable reality.

The first part of the book concentrates on the engineering challenges, covering new biosensors, energy harvesting techniques, new wireless communication methods, and novel security approaches. Building from single sensing devices to networked sensing systems, the second part of the book looks at various health applications of HSNs. It addresses the human-centric requirements that should be considered in the design of HSN technologies—cost, portability, functionality, and user acceptance—and demonstrates how engineering compromises must be made in HSN solutions.

A useful and timely resource for researchers, postgraduate students, and engineers looking for innovative solutions in healthcare, this book will also be of interest to medical and allied health personnel working in hospitals. It offers a practical reference on novel, cost-effective, and user-oriented sensing technologies and networks that are set to revolutionize the delivery of healthcare in the future.

Dr. Daniel T.H. Lai received his bachelor of electrical and computer systems engineering (Hons) and PhD in electrical and computer systems from Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. He was a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Melbourne and Victoria University (2007-2010). He is currently with the Faculty of Health, Engineering and Science at Victoria University (2011). His research interests include computational intelligence and sensor network technology for healthcare and sports applications. This involves the design of new noninvasive and proactive sensing technologies capable of detecting, diagnosing, and predicting health risks. He has more than 50 peer-reviewed publications and is a current reviewer for several international journals, including IEEE Transactions of Information Technology and Biomedicine, Journal of Biomechanics, and Sensors and Actuators. He is also actively involved in the organization of several workshops and international conferences.
Prof. Rezaul K. Begg received his BSc and MSc Eng degrees in electrical and electronic engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Dhaka, and his PhD in biomedical engineering from the University of Aberdeen, UK. Currently he is a Professor within the Biomechanics Unit at Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia. Previously, he worked with the University of Aberdeen, Deakin University, and BUET. His research interests are in biomedical engineering, gait biomechanics, and machine learning. He has published more than 160 research papers in these areas. He is on the editorial board for several international journals and regularly reviews submissions for more than 15 international journals. He has also been actively involved in organizing a number of major international conferences. He has received several awards for academic excellence, including the ICISIP 2005 Best Paper Award, the Vice Chancellor’s citation award for excellence in research at Victoria University, the BUET Gold Medal, and the Chancellor Prize.
Prof. Marimuthu Palaniswami received his bachelor of electrical engineering (Hons) from the University of Madras, ME, from the Indian Institute of Science, India; his MSc in engineering from the University of Melbourne; and PhD from the University of Newcastle, Australia, before rejoining the University of Melbourne. He has been serving the University of Melbourne for over 16 years. He has published more than 180 refereed papers. His research interests include support vector machines (SVMs), sensors and sensor networks, machine learning, neural networks, pattern recognition, signal processing, and control. He was given a Foreign Specialist Award by the Ministry of Education, Japan, in recognition of his contributions to the field of machine learning. He served as associate editor for journals/transactions including IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks and Applied Computational Intelligence for Finance and Economics. He is also the subject editor for International Journal on Distributed Sensor Networks.

Sensor Networks in Healthcare: A New Paradigm for Improving Future Global Health; Daniel T. H. Lai, Braveena Santhiranayagam, Rezaul K. Begg, and Marimuthu Palaniswami

Healthcare and Accelerometry: Applications for Activity Monitoring, Recognition, and Functional Assessment; Andrea Mannini and Angelo Maria Sabatini

Intrabody Communication Using Contact Electrodes in Low-Frequency Bands;Ken Sasaki, Fukuro Koshiji, and Shudo Takenaka

The Prospect of Energy-Harvesting Technologies for Healthcare Wireless Sensor Networks; Yen Kheng Tan

Addressing Security, Privacy and Efficiency Issues in Healthcare Systems; Kalvinder Singh and Vallipuram Muthukkumarasamy

Flexible and Wearable Chemical Sensors for Noninvasive Biomonitoring;Hiroyuki Kudo and Kohji Mitsubayashi

Monitoring Walking in Health and Disease; Richard Baker

Motion Sensors in Osteoarthritis: Prospects and Issues; Tim V. Wrigley

The Challenges of Monitoring Physical Activity in Children with Wearable Sensor Technologies; Gita Pendhakar, Daniel T. H. Lai, Alistair Shilton, and Remco Polman

Ambulatory and Remote Monitoring of Parkinson’s Disease Motor Symptoms; Joseph P. Giuffrida and Edward J. Rapp

Nocturnal Sensing and Intervention for Assisted Living of People with Dementia; Paul J. McCullagh, William M.A. Carswell, Maurice D. Mulvenna, Juan C. Augusto, Huiru Zheng, and W. Paul Jeffers

Experiences in Developing a Wearable Gait Assistant for Parkinson’s Disease Patients; Marc Bächlin, Daniel Roggen, Meir Plotnik, Jeffrey M. Hausdorff, and Gerhard Tröster

Designing Low-Cost ECG Sensor and Monitor: Practical Considerations and Measures; Ahsan H. Khandoker and Brian A. Walker

Sensors, Monitoring and Model-Based Data Analysis in Sports, Exercise and Rehabilitation; Jurgen Perl, Daniel Memmert, Arnold Baca, Stefan Endler, Andreas Grunz, Mirjam Rebel, and Andrea Schmidt

Robust Monitoring of Sport and Exercise; Andrew J. Wixted

Index