Cost-effective deployment of communication resources for a home health telecare system for the elderly

A Review of Approaches to Mobility Telemonitoring of the Elderly in Their Living Environment

“…Mathie et al, 22,23,25 Wilson et al, 12,59 and Prado et al 43,44 have each designed more complex systems, capable of measuring both activity and posture, using a single biaxial or tri-axial accelerometer-unit located at the person's center of gravity (i.e. waist or sacrum).…”

“…Personal Area Networks, and its wireless equivalent WPAN, are now emerging in the wearable sensor domain as a result. The ability of data processing wearables to interface with wireless communication modules such as mobile phones or WLAN modules, to transmit processed data to remote servers, is also beginning to be explored as a possibility in recent years 43,44 and when combined with the improved processing ability of PDAs and processors, may lead to the removal of the PC as an intermediate stage in future mobility monitoring systems. PAN-and WPAN-based systems, with the ability to plugand-play new sensors or third-party devices into the existing monitoring system, increase the flexibility of wearable systems and enable easy upgrading and maintenance of the systems.…”

“…Prado et al 43,44 developed a WPAN-based (Wireless Personal Area Network) system that is capable of monitoring posture and movement of the subject 24 h a day, inside and outside of the home. This system utilizes an intelligent accelerometer unit (IAU), capable of 2 months of autonomous use and which is fixed to the skin at the height of the sacrum using an impermeable patch.…”

“…Low power ISM-band FSK RF transmission was used to communicate within the WPAN and a Bluetooth link was used to transfer data between the WPAN server and the remote access unit (RAU). Several alternatives were explored for the transmission of data from the RAU to the telecare center, 44 including POTS, GSM, ISDN, and X.25 protocol. The X.25 protocol was chosen for cost-efficiency, security reasons, ubiquitous access (especially in rural areas), development time, and ease of use.…”