Collaborative processing of wearable and ambient sensor system for health monitoring application

This paper describes wireless wearable and ambient sensors that cooperate to monitor a person´s vital signs such as heart rate and blood pressure during daily activities. Each wearable sensor is attached on different parts of the body. The wearable sensors require a high sampling rate and time synchronization to provide a precise analysis of the received signals. The trigger signal for synchronization is provided by the ambient sensors, which detect the user´s presence. As wireless technologies, Bluetooth and IEEE 802.15.4 are used for real-time sensing and time synchronization. Thus, this wearable health-monitoring sensor response is closely related to the context in which it is being used. Experimental results indicate that the system simultaneously provides information about the user´s location and vital signs, and the synchronized wearable sensors successfully measures vital signs with a 1 ms resolution.