Wireless sensor network system for supporting nursing context-awareness. (2nd November 2011)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Naya, Futoshi; Ohmura, Ren; Miyamae, Masakazu; Noma, Haruo; Kogure, Kiyoshi; Imai, Michita
• Is Part Of: International journal of autonomous and adaptive communications systems. Volume 4:Number 4(2011)
• Page Start: 361
• Page End: 382
• Publication Date: 2011-11-02
• Subjects: wireless sensor network -- activity- and location-awareness -- activity recognition -- context visualisation -- nursing activity -- healthcare; Adaptive computing systems -- Periodicals; Wireless communication systems -- Periodicals; Computer networks -- Periodicals; 004.6
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1754-8632

Abstract

We developed a wireless sensor network system for supporting context-awareness of nursing activities in hospitals. Our system is aimed at automated recording of nursing work, providing context-aware services to nurses and visualising analytical results from nursing histories. The system consists of heterogeneous devices utilising three kinds of wireless networks: a ZigBee TM (ZigBee is a registered trademark of the ZigBee Alliance)-based location sensor network, a Bluetooth TM (Bluetooth is a trademark owned by Bluetooth SIG, Inc., USA)-based body-area sensor network for capturing nurse activities and a Wi-Fi TM (Wi-Fi is a registered trademark of the Wi-Fi Alliance)-based network for communication between PDAs worn by nurses and a server PC. We illustrate the layered structure of the entire system as well as algorithms for estimating nurse locations and activities during their operations in a hospital. These estimated results are managed by a real-time database system with which nurse contexts can be visualised in real time on a server PC and/or PDAs. We also show empirical results evaluating the performance of retrieving, analysing and visualising detailed nursing contexts.