Synchronized physiological monitoring using a distributed wireless intelligent sensor system

Psychophysiological evaluation of a group of subjects requires synchronized monitoring of the individual subjects in the group during collective events. We present a concept of a wireless distributed data acquisition system for prolonged, synchronized health/stress monitoring of a selected group of subjects. The wireless distributed data acquisition system uses wireless intelligent sensors (WHRM) as individual heart rate variability (HRV) monitors, and a mobile wireless gateway (MOGUL). Each microcontroller sensor is equipped with a low power/low range (up to 100 ft) wireless transceiver, and communicates with the mobile gateway whenever the gateway comes into a range and identifies itself. The system is used for stress level evaluation using HRV monitoring during intense military training, and could be used to evaluate the stress level of individuals within the group in different settings, such as battlefield monitoring or day-trading on the stock market. In this paper we present the implemented distributed system architecture, system design issues, and lessons learned during implementation of the system.