Evaluation of ZigBee for medical sensor networks

With ZigBee a new radio technology comes up to the market aiming for wireless personal area networks with low data rates (LR-WPAN). The initial markets for this technology as defined by the promoting organization, the ZigBee Alliance, are home, building and industrial automation. The fast growing market for wireless technologies - such as wireless LAN or Bluetooth - even in medical environments show the need for smart solutions as a cable replacement for patient sensors as well as for the infrastructure of clinical information systems that offer great advantages for both, patient and clinical personal in everyday life. With the ZigBee technology a new concept for wireless signal transmission arises offering many network functionalities and due to low power consumption providing longer run time for especially battery powered mobile end devices. The aims of this research are the evaluation of low power sensor networks in general and especially the use of ZigBee in medical applications. The properties of ZigBee were compared to other wireless transmission technologies and in addition a multisensor network based on ZigBee technology has been developed.