Disruption-Tolerant Wireless Sensor Networking for Biomedical Monitoring in Outdoor Conditions Monitoring the Cardiac Activity of Marathon Runners using DTN Techniques

• Published in: Journal on special topics in mobile networks and applications Vol. 19; no. 6; pp. 684 - 697
• Main Authors: Guidec, Frédéric, Benferhat, Djamel, Quinton, Patrice
• Format: Journal Article Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.12.2014; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Analysis; Applied sciences; Biological and medical sciences; Biosensors; Communications Engineering; Computer Communication Networks; Computer science; control theory; systems; Computer systems and distributed systems. User interface; Data integrity; Electrical Engineering; Electrocardiography. Vectocardiography; Electrodiagnosis. Electric activity recording; Engineering; Exact sciences and technology; Interfaces; International conferences; Investigative techniques, diagnostic techniques (general aspects); IT in Business; Marathons; Medical sciences; Networks; Pathology. Cytology. Biochemistry. Spectrometry. Miscellaneous investigative techniques; Patients; Radiocommunications; Sensors; Smartphones; Software; Studies; Telecommunications; Telecommunications and information theory; Transceivers; Wireless networks; Wireless sensor networking; Biomedical monitoring; Delay/disruption-tolerant networking; Base station; Outdoor installation; Activity; Delay; Sport; Behavioral analysis; Scene analysis; Electrocardiography; Wireless network; Transmission rate; Sensor array; Fault tolerant system; Data gathering; Biomedical engineering
• ISSN: 1383-469X; 1572-8153
• DOI: 10.1007/s11036-013-0491-6

Off-the-shelf wireless sensing devices open up interesting perspectives for biomedical monitoring. Yet because of their limited processing and transmission capacities most applications considered to date imply either indoor real-time data streaming, or ambulatory data recording. In this paper we investigate the possibility of using disruption-tolerant wireless sensors to monitor the biomedical parameters of athletes during outdoor sports events. We focus on a scenario we believe to be a most challenging one: the ECG monitoring of runners during a marathon race, using off-the shelf sensing devices and a limited number of base stations deployed along the marathon route. Field experiments conducted during intra-campus sports events show that such a scenario is indeed viable, although special attention must be paid to supporting episodic, low-rate transmissions between sensors carried by runners and roadside base stations.