A context aware wireless body area network (BAN)

In monitoring a patient's real-time vital signs through Body Area Networks (BAN), rich data sources are communicated to medical practitioners. The benefit of BANs may be negated if medical practitioners are overloaded with streams of BAN data. It is essential that data is delivered in a timely context aware manner. In this paper a BAN designed for falls assessment among elder patients (65+ years) is presented, with an emphasis on the communication scheme chosen. The FrameComm MAC protocol described in this paper employs three data management techniques, 1) message priority, 2) opportunistic aggregation and 3) an adaptive duty cycle, all of which are designed to ensure that patient vital signs (i.e. data packets) are delivered under a variety of network loads. The protocol is evaluated using a small laboratory network, initially configured to communicate Beat-to-Beat (continuous blood pressure) readings when a patient goes from a sitting to a standing position and then with added ECG (ElectroCardioGram) readings.