Wearable Body Sensor Network for Continuous Context-Related Pulse Arrival Time Monitoring

J. Muehlsteff, J. Espina, M.A.A. Alonso, X. Aubert, and T. Falck (Germany)

Keywords

Wearable monitoring, body sensor networks, Pulse Arrival Time, ECG, context-related measurements, and cuff-less blood pressure.

Abstract

We present a wearable IEEE 802.15.4-based wireless Body Sensor Network (BSN) suitable for unobtrusive continuous monitoring of Pulse Arrival Time (PAT) in personal healthcare applications. The PAT is measured with a single lead electrocardiogram (ECG) patch on the chest and a photoplethysmogram (PPG) sensor at the ear or finger. Additionally context information is inferred via the detection of a subject’s motion and posture with a 3-D acceleration sensor. Since PAT measurements require the synchronization of the wireless sensors’ clocks, the robust Flooding Time Synchronization Protocol (FTSP) was implemented. The acquired data are stored, processed in real-time, as well as visualized on a Personal Digital Assistant. We analyze the performance and opportunities of the system for long-term data acquisition and especially emphasize the importance of context information and strategies for motion artifact suppression towards the realization of wearable cuff-less blood pressure measurements.

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