Wi-Bio: management policy aimed at the establishment of networks for patient monitoring using IEEE 802.11

Abstract

Introduction: Patient monitoring will tend to decline in the coming years due to a shortage of physical and human resources in hospitals. Therefore, several studies define alternatives to improve patient monitoring using wireless networks. In these studies, a wireless network is used to transfer data generated by medical sensors without interacting with the traffic in the data network of the hospital. However, this approach should be avoided because there are demands for integration between user applications and patient monitoring. Therefore, this paper defines a patient monitoring system, called Wi-Bio, directed to the establishment of IEEE 802.11 networks that allows traffic generated by user applications. Methods: The formal validation of WiBio was made through the design of Petri nets, and performance analysis was performed through simulations of the Network Simulator 2 tool. The adoption of this approach is justified by the fact that Petri nets allow verification of logical correctness of the designed systems, while simulations allow behavioral analysis of Wi-Bio in overload scenarios where many patients are monitored. Results: The results confirmed the validity of the designed Petri nets and showed that Wi-Bio is able to accomplish the temporal goals imposed by medical sensors, thereby promoting efficient integration of traffic present in the data network and the patient monitoring network. Conclusion: As described, Wi-Bio fulfilled its objectives and motivates future studies aimed at complementing the obtained results.