Nabil Hamza

Wireless healthcare monitoring system with ZigBee communication link support

We present a framework for a wireless healthcare monitoring system with ZigBee communication link support. It has the capability to monitor vital signs from multiple biosensors. Biomedical signals are collected and processed using two-tier subsystems. The first stage is the mobile device carried on the body that runs a number of biosensors (internal subsystem). At the second stage, further processing is performed by a local base station (external subsystem) using the raw data transmitted on-request by the mobile device. The processed data as well as the analysis results are then monitored and diagnosed through a man-machine interface.

Multi-purpose healthcare telemedicine system with ISM band communication link support

Rapid advances in information technology and telecommunications, and more specifically wireless and mobile communications are leading to the emergence of a new type of information infrastructure that has the potential of supporting an array of advanced services for healthcare. This paper developed a wireless biomedical sensor network prototype system based on Industrial, Scientific and Medical (ISM) band for healthcare. It offers flexibility and mobility to save cost and energy spent on wiring. The framework hardware and software structure, related programming, the accuracy of the system and an optimisation of power consumption are also discussed in this paper.

Interference reduction in ECG signal acquisition: Ground electrode removal (case study)

An ECG signal is susceptible to a significant interference due to the surrounding sources of noise. The identification of these sources is necessary to acquire an ECG signal since its level is low (few millivolts) and is also immersed in a noisy environment. We propose the elimination of the ground electrode to reduce common-mode interference. We provide a qualitative model for these sources of interference and prove the effectiveness of ground electrode removal in interference reduction through an experimental design.

Wireless healthcare monitoring system

Rapid advances in information technology and telecommunications, and more specifically wireless and mobile communications are leading to the emergence of a new type of information infrastructure that has the potential of supporting an array of advanced services for healthcare. This paper developed a wireless biomedical sensor network prototype system based on ISM band for healthcare. It offers flexibility and mobility to save cost and energy spent on wiring. The framework hardware and software structure, related programming, the accuracy of the system and an optimization of power consumption are also discussed in this paper. Comparing the system which uses ISM band with traditional wired network system for healthcare, it has advantage of low cost, low power and wider coverage.

An optimized embedded architecture for multi-purpose wireless biomedical system using ZigBee Technology

This paper presents a heterogeneous biomedical implant prototype that has the capability to monitor biomedical signals from multiple biosensors by means of different communication standards. This is why there are great expectations for wireless sensor network technologies which readily allow the sensing of multipoint connections and various types of sensors. It will be necessary to acquire large amount of information to enable smooth control, monitoring and information distribution in ubiquitous implanted biosensors. To validate our prototype, we propose solutions that realize the ideal system using three different types of sensors for autonomous healthcare. In addition, we develop a ZigBee-ready compliant wireless system that offer low power consumption, low cost and advanced network configuration possibilities. Its enhanced user graphical interface gives a possibility to visualize and monitor the progress of multi-sensorspsila curves concurrency in real-time.

Interference Reduction and Common Mode Rejection in Electrocardiograph Signal by Removing the Ground Electrode

Rejection of common mode voltages in biosignals is a crucial issue specially in acquiring electrocardiograph (ECG) signal susceptible to a significant interference due to the surrounding sources of noise. The identification and minimization of these common voltages and sources of interference are necessary to acquire such signal because its level is low (few millivolts) compared with these undesirable common voltages generated by the surrounding environment. We investigate different sources of interference and common voltages coupled to an ECG signal and analyze techniques to reject and mitigate their effects. We propose the elimination of the ground electrode and study its efficiency to reduce common-mode voltages and improve the rejection ratio of the bioamplifier. We provide a qualitative ECG signal acquisition with a sophisticated analog front-end architecture, resulting in an accurate ECG signal detection and an improved common-mode and isolation-mode rejection.

Design and implementation of smart irrigation system for groundwater use at farm scale

Recently there has been an excessive groundwater pumping and seawater intrusion in the costal aquifers of Oman. To deal with this problem, a fully automated and wireless irrigation control system that avoids subjective decisions about irrigation volumes and timing was developed. All fields in the farm are accessible via TCP/IP protocol. Each farm has a Single Collecting Node for data collection connected to a host computer. All nodes in a crop are connected to Xbee network and considered as Slave Nodes except one termed Master Node. The Master Node includes two sensors and a solenoid valve. The Master Node controls the irrigation of the field with a same crop sequentially using slave nodes. Both the Xbee network and the solenoid valves are powered by a lithium battery with photovoltaic charging panels. The irrigation control and monitoring program is implemented in the host computer in the farm, which monitors the states of all crops and controls the valves using a threshold and timers. The smart irrigation system has been installed in 14 farms.

Co-design implementation of wireless bio-implant for real-time control and monitoring

Wireless biomedical implants are motivating great interest in modern medicine. Research challenges are presented due to the need for having a biocompatible, fault-tolerant, energy-efficient, and scalable design. Figuring out how to arrange and implant these wireless chips in human body adds additional research challenges. Wireless biomedical implants should be ultra-save in power consumption and reliable and have nominal maintenance. To this aim, we explore new approaches to minimize power consumption and we conceive an embedded system which includes external and internal subsystems (test-bedpsilas platform and implantpsilas platform, respectively). We identify key requirements, design a new wireless topology, develop an evaluation board that is representative of the whole system, implement an embedded system with real-time monitoring, and show that it provides support for efficient implantable biomedical system-on-chip.