Remote Healthcare Monitoring
Compact, wireless and power efficient body sensors that allow doctors to monitor illnesses and injuries remotely are a step closer thanks to new research from Queen’s University Belfast.
The use of biosensors attached to the body for health monitoring is not new; though antennas that enable such devices to be linked together efficiently on a patient’s body without wires are currently too uncomfortable to wear for a long time because they need to be large in order to maximise the strength of the signal being received.
New Advances
Now, experts in antennas and bioelectromagnetics from QUB have developed new types of antenna that are more compact, getting round these limitations.
The work could revolutionise the way patient care is provided, making unnecessary visits for tests and check-ups a thing of the past. Instead, biosensors could gather data on heart rate, respiration, posture, gait etc, transmitting this information by radio signal to a control unit also on the patient’s body. The data could then be accessed by doctors via the internet or mobile phone, for example.
WBAN
The unique design of the new antennas could unlock the full potential of emerging ‘wireless body area network’ (WBAN) technology. A WBAN is a network of biosensors attached to different parts of a patient’s body. Patients wearing a WBAN could carry on with their normal lives – the doctor remotely monitoring the data gathered by the network would simply contact them to arrange appointments when needed.
“The UK leads the world in the development of wearable communications including WBAN antennas,” says Dr William Scanlon, who is leading the Queen’s University project. “Our group at Queen’s, along with other related projects at the University of Birmingham, Queen Mary College and elsewhere, could help unleash the full potential of WBAN technology. We could change the way that a range of illnesses, injuries and conditions are monitored, perhaps within five years.”
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