Wireless transmission of biomedical signals using the Zigbee technology

The main objective of this paper is to discuss and design a Zigbee-based wireless transmission of acquired biomedical signals. Wireless technologies are gaining prominence in medical applications due to their flexibilities and ease of installation, configuration and usage. The proposed system seeks to demonstrate the suitability of the Zigbee Protocol as a means to transmit physiological signals from the point of acquisition to a distant location where the signals can be displayed, analyzed and stored, without any distortion or data loss. The implementation of this kind of system will assist in reducing the long patient-clinic encounter time typical of many Nigerian Hospitals, as patient´s data can be transmitted wirelessly and under reduced time frame. The design consists of two segments, the transmit end which has a XBee-PRO (S2) module for transmission of the data, a PIC18F452 for processing and initial storage of the data in its EEEPROM, a LCD for display and a 9V battery. At the receive end is another XBee-PRO (S2) module which does the reception of the data sent from the transmit end, as well as a PC equipped with Visual Studio software that is used to develop a Graphical User Interface (GUI) with which the received data can be analyzed.