Proposed is the development of a new low-power and low-cost wireless connectivity network for securely connecting home medical devices to the Internet. The newly developed wireless international standard called Zigbee (IEEE 802.15.4) provides the framework for the proposed home medical device networking solution. Key benefits of the proposed system are that it is inexpensive, easily installed, and it is completely automatic. Authorized medical devices can be used in any room of the house with their data automatically transmitted to a central monitoring facility. Wireless home medical networks are significant because they enable low-cost, reliable, and timely home monitoring of the chronically ill. The goal of this project is to develop a low-cost, easy-to-use, ultra-reliable Internet-connected secure wireless network for interconnecting home medical devices. In phase I, a Zigbee interface to four different portable battery powered medical devices along with a prototype wireless telehealth home care Internet interface device will be developed and thoroughly tested. The Phase II effort will develop production versions and apply them in pilot applications.
