A Wireless Home and Body Sensor Network Platform for the Early Detection of Arthritis

Information and communications technology influences many of the activities we perform on any given day. Through the widespread availability and use of consumer electronics we have almost augmented ourselves to permanently form part of technology. This has provided a platform capable of supporting fluid information flows anytime and anywhere and has opened up great opportunities across many sectors. However, it is perhaps the healthcare sector that may offer the greatest rewards. Now that people have permanent links to digital services new and novel applications can be developed, i.e. preventative medical services to help fight debilitating illnesses, such as arthritis. By employing real-time monitoring and analysis patients can be guided, based on their daily activities to prevent or mitigate the effects some activities may have on the body. In this paper we explore this notion and provide a framework to allow real-time monitoring of arthritic conditions in the home. The aim is to embed devices (inner and out body sensors, including home sensor networks) to collect data that can be used to analyse activity around body joints (progressive destruction of cartilage and bone) and inform patients about aggravated activity. We have successfully demonstrated the applicability of our approach using a working prototype system.