Mobile Medical Monitoring

This project exploits the convergence between the mobile device and wearable developments within Equator and the intelligent signal processing within the Medical Images And Signals IRC to capitalise on the potential of the Grid within the medical domain.

A typical configuration of the wearable

Rather than needing to continually visit doctors and hospitals, this project uses the grid to allow the health of a patient at home to be continuously monitored and analysed using low-cost wearable devices. These low-cost devices monitor the health of their wearer and send a series of medical signals to the grid using wireless technology. The wearer is free to go about their daily life. The medical information sent by their wearable device is collected and made available to experts who can access and analyse it through the Grid.

This project has constructed the medical device to be worn by patients, and developed the underlying infrastructure needed to collect medical information and present it to experts. Our wearable devices allow a range of medical signals to be collected through sensors attached to the patient. The wearable device also knows if the patient is resting, walking or climbing stairs and where they are in the world. This information is combined to provide a profile of the activities and health of its wearer. The profile is periodically sent to base stations, which relay this information to a global Grid infrastructure.

An example of a web based interactive

Developed using the latest version of Grid technologies, the infrastructure automatically updates a patient’s records with live readings gathered from the device they are wearing. Specialists can access these records and use this material to monitor the progress of a patient, to look for warning signs or to compare the treatment results across a number of patients. The infrastructure can also automatically detect and highlight particular conditions in order to either alert medical experts or to remind the patient to take a particular medication. The long-term benefits of this research will affect patient-care worldwide: healthcare professionals will be provided with new e-Science tools for decision support and patients will have improved long-term care and quality of life in the home environment.