Wireless Sensor Networking in Biomedical Engineering

Introduction

The Wireless Sensor Network is defined as small sensor nodes connected together using radio signals for the purpose of real-time sensing of the physical environment. The WSN provides a bridge between the physical and virtual world. The WSN has various applications in various fields. The WSN networks are used in the stream of Biomedical Engineering in recent days for the monitoring and diagnosing the various physiological parameters of the subject wirelessly. The WSN plays major role in the Telemedicine and Tele Ambulatory services. In this study the various wireless sensor networking in Biomedical Engineering is surveyed. The increase in technology in communication and increase in Micro and Nano communication spectrum leads to the development of healthcare monitoring system. The wearable devices create new milestone in disease diagnosis and healthcare management systems (Lymberis et al, 2005). The Basic Structure of the WSN consists of Sensors, Sensor Nodes, Base Station, Server, Host Computer. The Sensor system consists of various sensors connected to the node called Sensor Node. The data collected from the different sensors are transmitted to the sensor node. The sensor system consists of three sub systems – Sub sensor system, Controller system, Communication system. The sub sensor system converts the Analogue data of the sensor to digital format. The Digitized data values are sent to the controller system. The Controller system detects the data and sends the data to the base station. The Base station is connected to the controller system wirelessly. The Controller system controls the sensors, sensor nodes and base station. The controller system should consist of wide range of memory for storing and data transmission. The larger the memory capacity faster the data transmission. The data transmission speed is based on the memory capacity of the controller system. The Controller is connected to the base station wirelessly. Base station is the place where the data is transmitted to the host computer wirelessly, it is the gateway for the WSN.

Figure 1.

Block diagram of WSN