Potentialities of the pneumatic biosensing bed as a network terminal for ubiquitous health monitoring and medical care

This paper examines how the pneumatic biosensing bed works as a network terminal for ubiquitous health monitoring and medical care. A constraint‐free biosensing bed, which is an ordinary family bed optimally equipped with a sensing device connected to a ubiquitous network, was designed. Heartbeat, respiration, snoring and body movements of 32 subjects while in bed at their homes for 14 months were measured and transmitted to a data center via the network. The system provided clear, real‐time biosignals on apnea from subjects with Sleep Apnea Syndrome, and arrhythmia from subjects with myocardial infarction. It also provided a variety of one‐night, one‐week and one‐year medical information required for in‐home health monitoring. The measurement availability of the proposed system was 76.08% of the total time. The pneumatic biosensing bed connected to the network showed high potential for ubiquitous health monitoring and in‐home medical care. Copyright © 2008 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.