Multi router traffic grapher (MRTG) for body area network (BAN) surveillance
Josep Riudavets, Karla Félix Navarro, Elaine Lawrence, Robert JC Steele, Marco Messina · OPUS - Open Publications of UTS Scholars (University of Technology Sydney) · 2004
Wireless sensors are capable of gathering real-time data not only from the environment, but also from the signals that the human body can generate. These tiny and smart tags may act as another layer of infrastructure between the physical world and the Internet. However, a complete system of software tools, gateway devices and reliable communication channels are needed to achieve this bridging. In our testbed we tested the limits of implementing a motes based system using commodity based hardware In this paper, the authors discuss a portable and remote health monitoring system using wireless sensors, based on a persistent monitoring of bio-signals from an unwell or elderly person, using the concept of Body Area Network (BAN). All the signals not only from the body but also from the environment, will be stored in a web server and displayed graphically using an existing tool for monitoring network traffic, namely MRTG (Multi Router Traffic Grapher). The aim is to allow secure remote access to certain health parameters in order to alert carers to abnormal body signs, and provide a complete data collection at doctor's disposal. Consequently MRTG can facilitate the determination of how changes in the environment affect vital signs (e.g. correlation between weather and health). The researchers demonstrate that wireless sensors have a very high level of integration with existing tools related to network monitoring. This will enable a new and powerful method for joining physical and networks layers.