Channel Overlap Problems of ZigBee Networks for Remote Patient Monitoring on General Hospital Wards

Remote patient monitoring (RPM) provides an efficient method to improve patient care in hospitals. Zigbee network technology with low-power consuming sensors has the capability to provide enhanced mobility and comfort to patients. A single Zigbee based sensor network is unable supporting all the patients on a general ward. The allocation of a ZigBee sensor network to each patient can address this limitation. However a large number of ZigBee networks can generate channel overlap problems due to the limited number of channels used by ZigBee. In the presence of channel overlap, multiple Zigbee networks may experience problems when handling continuous transmission of vital signs in RPM. However the adoption of appropriate time intervals for transmission of vital signs from sensors can rectify this problem thereby providing reliable transmission of vital signs.