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.