A wireless personal health monitoring system using smartphones to upload data via the Internet will revolutionize the US healthcare industry, say its creators at The University of Alabama in Huntsville. mHealth capitalizes on what Dr. Emil Jovanov, associate dean for graduate education and research in the College of Engineering, calls "major revolutions" in computer informatics, smartphones, and energy-efficient and miniaturized electronics and sensors. It can provide health information to the patient directly, to the physician via the Internet, and to researchers as aggregated databases.

In 2000, Jovanov was the first to propose Wireless Body Area Networks (WBAN) for health monitoring as a sensor system to integrate sensors on or in bodies and communicate through the Internet. "When WBAN is used to monitor diabetes patients using an implanted blood glucose sensor and insulin pump, the system can determine how much insulin should be released, not only based on the blood glucose level, but based on the level of activity and condition of the whole organism," said Jovanov. He said the idea sprang from the Personal Area Network used in wireless computing.

"We proposed creating a personal health monitoring network within 2-3 feet from your body integrating a number of sensors to monitor your vital signs and physical activity." Individual sensors are controlled by a smartphone that collects information from sensors and communicates with the rest of the system.

What is ultimately needed is a proactive system, said Jovanov. "You can make small changes and affect your health in a major way over time." As health status deteriorates, long term records and information in the electronic health record can help in diagnosis. Having this information will decrease the amount of needless testing done, and it opens the possibility for rehabilitation use as well, they say.

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