Development of a Wearable System Module for Monitoring Physical and Mental Workload

Abstract

The population of most developed countries is rapidly aging, which has created a growing demand for home care. A key issue in medicine is supporting the increasing number of elderly patients, both physically and mentally. In this study, we developed a wearable computer that contained modules for measuring electrocardiograms (ECGs) and femoral artery pulse waves using an accelerometer. This system has several benefits: (a) it can provide a database server in each patient's home; (b) its high extendibility and flexibility facilitate adaptation to a patient's needs; and (c) it allows patients to keep their own data, thus protecting the privacy of personal information. To clarify the capabilities and reliability of the system, we applied it to 8 healthy young volunteers during states of physical and mental work. This system successfully detected clear ECGs and femoral artery pulse waves to calculate important bioinformation, including heart rate, pulse wave velocity, and the power spectral density of spontaneous beat-to-beat oscillations in the R-R interval. In this study, we proposed the way to provide an assessment of the physical and mental condition of the subject using analysis of the bio-information with respect to the physical and mental workloads. The present study provides useful knowledge for the development of a wearable computer designed to monitor the physical and mental conditions of older persons and patients.

Application of sociometer badges in simulated health environments

“…Abdelrahman et al (in press) observed that wireless heart rate monitors can distinguish differences in workload between conventional four-port laparoscopic surgery with advanced single-port surgery. Kim et al (2008) developed a wearable belt that measures electrocardiograms and heart rate in elderly patients. Although the study suggested that bioinformation can be used to determine physical and mental workload (Kim et al 2008), the belt or diaper form-factor and the need to place electrodes across multiple body-regions limits its application for health care providers.…”