On designing an ubiquitous sensor network for health monitoring

Managing chronic health conditions at home, through the early detection of symptoms and subsequent rapid remedial action will be therapeutically and financially more effective. Unfortunately, this widely agreed upon statement implies a significant adaptation and/or evolution of present healthcare delivery, from a technological and social point of view. Designing reliable, embedded, non-intrusive sensors adapted to long-term monitoring; processing and collecting health indicators from multiple data sources; and the development of a connective healthcare delivery spanning the clinical domain and the daily environment of a given individual, are undoubted challenges facing the shift from an historical model based on the treatment of acute diseases. In this paper, we present the key possibilities capable of enabling successful implementation of health monitoring systems at home and on the move, as well as the remaining challenges to be addressed to implement these promising solutions.