Web-based real-time remote monitoring for pervasive healthcare

The goal of the CARA (Context-Aware Real-time Assistant) healthcare architecture is to enable improved healthcare through the intelligent use of wireless remote monitoring of patient vital signs, supplemented by rich contextual information. One of its applications currently being deployed is the remote live monitoring of a patient by a healthcare professional. The vital signs are monitored using a wireless BAN based on sensors that can monitor position in space, ECG, blood pressure, and blood oxygenation. A design goal of ubiquitous access means that all communications are performed using recent web technologies, thereby minimizing issues with firewalls and facilitating remote ease of access. The only tool required for this application is a web browser with the commonly-available Adobe Flash plug-in installed. Thus remote monitoring, independent of geographic location, is possible form any computer or suitable smartphone. Important aspects of this application include: inter-visibility between patient and caregiver; real-time interactive medical consultation; and replay, review and annotation of the remote consultation by the medical professional. The annotation of significant parts of the multi-modal monitored signals by the medical professional provides the basis for the automated intelligent analysis of the CARA system. The paper discusses the application in the context of the overall CARA healthcare architecture, and presents results of some experiments using the application.