A Thermal and Energy Aware Framework with Physiological Safety Considerations for Internet of Things in Healthcare and Medical Applications

Abstract

Healthcare, lifestyle, and medical applications of Internet of Things (IoT) involve the use of wearable technology that employs sensors of various kinds to sense human physiological parameters such as steps walked, body temperature, blood pressure, heart rate and other cardiac parameters. Such sensors and associated actuators can be worn as gadgets, embedded in clothing, worn as patches in contact with the body and could even be implanted inside the body. These sensors are electronic, and any electronic activity during their sensing, processing and wireless transmission is associated with the generation of heat. This dissipated heat can cause discomfort to the subject and has the potential of damaging healthy living tissue and cells. In the proposed work, the author does a performance check on the intrinsic safety aspects of an IoT healthcare network with respect to the functioning of the wireless sensors involved and routing of sensor data samples. The author also suggests an optimized thermal and energy aware framework to address the issue of temperature rise due to processing and data transmission from sensors through signal processing approaches that help in reducing thermal hazards and simultaneously enhancing the network lifetime through energy conservation.