Body Area Networks

Local area networks literally can move over when a body are network (BAN) makes the scene in a few years. This set of wearable or implanted body sensors will turn the body into a human router. The devices will communicate wirelessly and transmit data from the body to another device that performs an action.

For example, you can save a word processing document to a device on your wrist, walk to a printer and just touch the printer with your hand to print. Or, merely by shaking hands, you can transfer information from a business card stored on your wrist device to another device worn by a business colleague.

researchers actively are pursuing the BAN architecture and applications. Many of the uses are being developed for physical rehabilitation, interactive games and human interaction with computers. Each year experts in the fields of computer science, electrical engineering, bio-medical engineering and medicine meet at the BodyNet conference to exchange ideas.

Dr Eric Topol is a leading cardiologist who has embraced the study of genomics and the latest advances in technology to treat chronic disease. In 2010 he said that The iPhone is the Future of Health Care. Very early into his TED presentation, Dr. Eric Topol began by stating: "This is an electrocardiogram. And, as a cardiologist, to think that you could see in real time a patient, an individual, anywhere in the world on your smartphone, watching your rhythm, that's incredible. And it's with us today.   
















You check your email while you're sitting here. In the future you're going to be checking all of your vital signs, all of your signs, your heart rhythm, your blood pressure, your oxygen, your temperature, etc. This is available today."  

 Now how does it work? Well, there are these small band-aids or these sensors that one would put on, on a shoe or on the wrist. And this sends a signal. It creates a Body Area Network to a gateway (shown as an iPhone on the slide). The gateway could be a smartphone or it could be a dedicated gateway. That signal goes to the web, the cloud, and then it can be processed and sent anywhere, or a caregiver, to a physician, back to the patient, etc. So, that's basics of the technology and how it works.  




This is already out but they are still working on the other things to make sure that they are in working properly. What do you think about this kind of technology?

Reference

Shelly, G. & Vermaat, M. (2011). Communications and Networks:Body Area Networks Sense Intentions. In McMahon, K.(Eds). Discovering Computers, Boston: Cengage Learning, pp.471.

 Patently Apple(2010).Body Area Networks: Apple, Sensor Strips & the iPhone. Retrieved March 31, 2010 from http://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2010/03/body-area-networks-apple-sensor-strips-the-iphone.html