System and method for remote and mobile patient monitoring service using heterogeneous wireless access networks

• US 9,007,908 B2
• Filed: 10/05/2009
• Issued: 04/14/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/03/2008
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Telecommunications Research Laboratories
• Original Assignee: Telecommunications Research Laboratories
• Inventors: Niyato, Dusit, Hossain, Abu Zafar Ekram, Camorlinga, Sergio Guido
• Primary Examiner(s): Chan, Wing F
• Assistant Examiner(s): KRISHNAN, RAJESHWARI
• Application Number:
  US12/573,581
• Publication Number:
  US 20100145161A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,017 Days
• Field of Search: 370/230, 370/395.21, 370/412, 370235-3952, 455/436, 455/439, 455/452.2, 455/450, 455/522, 455/437, 455/406, 455/458, 128/903, 128/904, 379/45, 379/230, 379/106.02, 702/118, 600/300, 600/323, 713/151, 607/60, 340/5.53, 340/870.01, 709/219, 709/221
• US Class Current: 370/235
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0022 Monitoring a patient using a global network, e.g. telephone networks, internet
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/10 Small scale networks; Flat hierarchical networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/06 adapted for operation in multiple networks or having at least two operational modes, e.g. multi-mode terminals

Abstract

A system and method for remote and mobile patient monitoring service is provided using heterogeneous wireless access in which each patient is equipped with a remote monitoring device with a heterogeneous wireless transceiver. This can be a value-added service provided by a Healthcare service provider (i.e., a hospital or healthcare center) for which the Healthcare service provider can pay to the wireless network service provider (i.e., a network operator). With heterogeneous wireless access, a remote/mobile patient can use different types of wireless technologies (e.g., WiMAX-based WMAN and WiFi-based WLAN technologies) to transfer monitored bio-signal data to the healthcare center. The monitoring device can buffer and then transmit the bio-signal data to the healthcare center through the heterogeneous radio access network. In this device, there can be two buffers used to store bio-signal data, each with different priority. The scheduler in this device can make an optimal decision on data transmission. Also, a method is provided to minimize the cost of network connections for remote/mobile patient monitoring.

Claims

1. A system for the remote and mobile monitoring of at least one patient, comprising:

a heterogeneous wireless access network providing communication between at least one eHealth service provider and the at least one patient, the heterogeneous wireless access network configured to provide a number of reserved connections between the eHealth service provider and the at least one patient, wherein the number of reserved connections minimizes cost to the eHealth service provider under randomness of connection demand due to mobility of the at least one patient;

at least one monitoring device disposed on the at least one patient, the at least one monitoring device comprising at least one sensor configured for collecting bio-signal data from the at least one patient, the at least one monitoring device further comprises a heterogeneous wireless transceiver configured to communicate the bio-signal data to the eHealth service provider over the heterogeneous wireless access network;

wherein the bio-signal data is disposed in at least one queue comprising one or more of a group consisting of a critical data queue and a normal data queue; and

and wherein the at least one monitoring device further comprises a scheduler configured to optimize the scheduling of the transmission of the bio-signal data by scheduling the transmission of the bio-signal data at a time when a cost of wireless access is minimized while satisfying queuing delay requirements for different bio-signal data.

2. The system as set forth in claim 1, wherein the wireless access network further comprises at least one radio access network operatively connected to the eHealth service provider for transferring received bio-signal data from the at least one patient.

3. The system as set forth in claim 2, wherein the wireless access network further comprises two or more radio access networks operatively connecting the at least one patient to the e-Health service provider.

4. The system as set forth in claim 1, wherein the scheduler is further configured to optimize the scheduling of the transmission of the bio-signal data to the eHealth service provider over the wireless access network in accordance with one or more of a group consisting of a Packet Arrival Process, a Constrained Markov Decision Process, a Solution Approach Based on Linear Programming and a Q-Learning algorithm.

5. The system as set forth in claim 1, wherein the bio-signal data comprises one or more of a group consisting of blood pressure, pulse rate, heart rate, electrocardiogram signal and sugar level.

6. A method for transmitting bio-signal data to an eHealth service provider over a heterogeneous wireless access network, the method comprising the steps of:

providing a heterogeneous wireless access network providing communication between at least one eHealth service provider and at least one patient;

determining a number of reserved connections on the heterogeneous wireless access network between the at least one eHealth service provider and the at least one patient, wherein the number of reserved connections minimizes cost to the eHealth service provider under randomness of connection demand due to mobility of the at least one patient;

providing at least one monitoring device and attaching the at least one monitoring device to the at least one patient, the at least one monitoring device having at least one sensor configured for collecting bio-signal data from the at least one patient, the bio-signal data comprising one or more of a group consisting of critical data and normal data, the at least one monitoring device further comprising a heterogeneous wireless transceiver configured to communicate the bio-signal data to the eHealth service provider over the heterogeneous wireless access network;

collecting bio-signal data from the at least one patient by the at least one monitoring device;

packetizing and buffering the collected bio-signal data into at least one queue, wherein critical data is packetized and buffered into a critical data queue and normal data is packetized and buffered into a normal data queue, the at least one queue comprising the critical data queue and the normal data queue;

optimizing the scheduling of the transmission of the queued bio-signal data by scheduling the transmission at a time when a cost of wireless access is minimized while satisfying queuing delay requirements for different bio-signal data; and

g) connecting the at least one queue to the heterogeneous wireless transceiver and transmitting the queued bio-signal data to the eHealth service provider over the heterogeneous wireless access network.

7. The method as set forth in claim 6, wherein the collected bio-signal data is transmitted to the eHealth service provider over the reserved connections.

8. The method as set forth in claim 6, further comprising the step of establishing a connection between the heterogeneous wireless transceiver and the eHealth service provider over the heterogeneous wireless access network on an on-demand basis.

9. The method as set forth in claim 6, wherein the step of optimizing the scheduling of the transmission of the bio-signal data further comprises the steps of:

determining whether or not to transmit the bio-signal data from the at least one queue;

matching the bio-signal data in the at least one queue to at least one wireless connection of the heterogeneous wireless access network; and

determining the number of packets of bio-signal data in the at least one queue.

10. The method as set forth in claim 9, further comprising the step of determining the number of reserved wireless connections available to connect to the heterogeneous wireless access network and relaying this information to a scheduler.

11. The method as set forth in claim 6, wherein the step of optimizing the scheduling the transmission of the bio-signal data is in accordance with one or more of a group consisting of a Packet Arrival Process, a Constrained Markov Decision Process, a Solution Approach Based on Linear Programming and a Q-Learning algorithm.

12. The method as set forth in claim 6, wherein the bio-signal data comprises one or more of a group consisting of blood pressure, pulse rate, heart rate, electrocardiogram signal and sugar level.

13. The method as set forth in claim 6, wherein the step of determining the optimal number of reserved connections further comprises the step of determining a probability that the at least one patient will be at a particular location in accordance with a mobility transition probability matrix.

14. The method as set forth in claim 13, further comprising the step of providing a number of reserved connections in accordance with the determined probability that the at least one patient will be at the particular location.

15. The method as set forth in claim 14, further comprising the step of providing a number of on-demand connections when the number of patients at the particular location is larger than the number of reserved connections.

16. A method for transmitting bio-signal data to an eHealth service provider over a heterogeneous wireless access network, the method comprising the steps of:

providing a heterogeneous wireless access network providing communication between at least one eHealth service provider and at least one patient;

determining a number of reserved connections on the heterogeneous wireless access network between the at least one eHealth service provider and the at least one patient, wherein the number of reserved connections minimizes cost to the eHealth service provider under randomness of connection demand due to mobility of the at least one patient;

providing at least one monitoring device and attaching the at least one monitoring device to the at least one patient, the at least one monitoring device having at least one sensor configured for collecting bio-signal data from the at least one patient, the bio-signal data comprising one or more of a group consisting of critical data and normal data, the at least one monitoring device further comprising a heterogeneous wireless transceiver configured to communicate the bio-signal data to the eHealth service provider over the heterogeneous wireless access network;

collecting bio-signal data from the at least one patient by the at least one monitoring device;

e) packetizing and buffering the collected bio-signal data into at least one queue, wherein critical data is packetized and buffered into a critical data queue and normal data is packetized and buffered into a normal data queue, the at least one queue comprising the critical data queue and the normal data queue;

optimizing the scheduling of the transmission of the queued bio-signal data by scheduling the transmission at a time when a cost of wireless access is minimized while satisfying queuing delay requirements for different bio-signal data; and

connecting the at least one queue to the heterogeneous wireless transceiver and transmitting one or both of the critical data and the normal data to the eHealth service provider over the heterogeneous wireless access network.

17. The method as set forth in claim 16, wherein one or both of the collected critical data and the collected normal data is transmitted to the eHealth service provider over the reserved connections.

18. The method as set forth in claim 16, further comprising the step of establishing a connection between the heterogeneous wireless transceiver and the eHealth service provider over the heterogeneous wireless access network on an on-demand basis.

19. The method as set forth in claim 16, further comprising the step of determining whether or not to transmit one or both of the critical data and the normal data from the at least one sensor.

20. The method as set forth in claim 16, further comprising the step of optimizing the transmission of one or both of the critical data and the normal data in accordance with one or more of a group consisting of a Packet Arrival Process, a Constrained Markov Decision Process, a Solution Approach Based on Linear Programming and a Q-Learning algorithm.

21. The method as set forth in claim 16, wherein the bio-signal data comprises one or more of a group consisting of blood pressure, pulse rate, heart rate, electrocardiogram signal and sugar level.

22. The method as set forth in claim 16, wherein the step of determining the optimal number of reserved connections further comprises the step of determining a probability that the at least one patient will be at a particular location in accordance with a mobility transition probability matrix.

23. The method as set forth in claim 22, further comprising the step of providing a number of reserved connections in accordance with the determined probability that the at least one patient will be at the particular location.

24. The method as set forth in claim 23, further comprising the step of providing a number of on-demand connections when the number of patients at the particular location is larger than the number of reserved connections.