Title: Wireless sensor network system for supporting nursing context-awareness

Authors: Futoshi Naya; Ren Ohmura; Masakazu Miyamae; Haruo Noma; Kiyoshi Kogure; Michita Imai

Addresses: NTT Communication Science Laboratories, 2-4 Hikaridai, Seika-cho, Soraku-gun, Kyoto 619-0237, Japan ' Department of Computer Science, Toyohashi University of Technology, 1-1, Hibari-ga-oka, Tenpaku-cho, Toyohashi, Aichi 441-8580, Japan ' WESTUNITIS Co., Ltd., 3F Funakoshi Center Bldg., 2-4-6 Funakoshi-cho, Chuo-ku, Osaka, 540-0036, Japan ' Intelligent Robotics and Communication Laboratories, Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International, 2-2-2 Hikaridai, Seika-cho, Soraku-gun, Kyoto 619-0288 Japan ' Department of Robotics, Kanazawa Institute of Technology, 3-1 Yatsukaho, Hakusan, Ishikawa 924-0838, Japan ' Department of Information and Computer Science, Keio University, 3-14-1 Hiyoshi, Kohoku-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa 223-8522, Japan

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.

Keywords: wireless sensor networks; WSNs; activity awareness; location awareness; activity recognition; context visualisation; nursing activities; healthcare technology; wireless networks; hospitals; body area sensor networks; nurses.

DOI: 10.1504/IJAACS.2011.043477

International Journal of Autonomous and Adaptive Communications Systems, 2011 Vol.4 No.4, pp.361 - 382

Published online: 24 Jan 2015 *

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