iVS: an intelligent end-to-end vital sign capture platform using smartphones

This paper presents the design and implementation of an intelligent vital sign capture platform, namely iVS, which provides end-to-end connectivity between patient monitors and Electronic Healthcare Record (EHR) by using smartphones. By replacing manual operations with automatic machine-tomachine (M2M) communications, iVS aims to enhance reliability, save time and costs for patient´s monitoring routines carried out in hospitals, clinics and emergency sites. Using advanced wireless communication technologies, it also allows medical staff to access to patient health conditions and other information (e.g., medications, prescriptions, medical treatment history, etc.) from EHR from anywhere at anytime in order to have fast and efficient responses to emergency situations. Network architecture and system design of iVS are first presented. M2M communication protocols to enable inter-operable data exchange between various system entities are explained. Theoretical maximum user data throughput that can be obtained over the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) communication link connecting patient monitors and smartphones is also calculated. Experiments results are also presented and discussed.