Technical Application and Review of Remote Public Health Monitors

1
Technical Application and Review of Remote Public
Health Monitors
Spencer Garland, Nick Paulson Working Together
For A Safer Tomorrow/National Center of Risk and
Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events Old
Dominion University, Department of Computer
Science

Project Scope The project is primarily to
monitor the health among disaster victims in
shelters or quarantine situations. The monitor
is a band that can be placed on the wrist, or
elsewhere on the body, and provides heart rate
and body movement in real time and/or stores data
for assessments. While the monitor is currently
designed for rehabilitation, an advanced,
multi-sensor device can measure body heat and
fluids to determine different stages of
infections, lifespan status and individuals
locations. Since the bands remotely monitor the
infected and sick, health management can be more
effective. If a specialist monitors an
affected population to detect possible illness,
such as less movement and/or heart rate changes,
protocols can determine whether to attach the
advanced band to monitor health care more
effectively. The mass production of the heart
rate and movement band will cost 60 and the
advanced band will cost 180. Other costs
include equipment such as computers with software
designed to view the status of each band and also
the trained staff to install and maintain the
equipment.
Conclusion and DHS Relevance This
project can primarily be used for emergency
response and for emergency preparedness. In the
context of emergency response, the health
monitors can be implemented at shelters and for
quarantines to improve recognition of infections
and minimize the spread of disease in
confinement. In the context of preparedness, the
monitors can be available for emergency services
in communities and provide a way that severe
infections can be successfully managed and the
sick quarantined to improve the protection of the
survivors and prevent a disaster. Prototype
Design If funded, a similar device on the
market can be purchased and tested to remotely
monitor sickness among a target population, such
as a business office. If remote protocols are
helpful in a test community, the design of an
advanced monitor is warranted. The technology
transitioning of a product from the company
SenseWear can be modified and used as a health
monitor prototype. The sample picture of a band
in figure two and also the core technology
picture in figure one are examples of the Sense
Wear product that can be transformed into a
health monitor. Also, more research into risk
analysis and mitigation, competition, project
management, and budgeting staff expenses are
needed to make this prototype a success.

• As shown in figure four, when the user puts
  on the Health Monitor, it will turn on
  automatically from detecting movement and begin
  recording of life signs via the sensors. The CPU
  on the programmable unit will process the data
  and send it to the health monitoring interface
  computer by Bluetooth. The data will be stored
  in a database and be used to display the current
  life signals of individuals in real time. The
  specialist will then decide whether to remove the
  health monitor from an individual by receiving
  information from a higher authority that the
  quarantine is over. If the quarantine is lifted,
  the health monitors will be removed and be
  charged through USB ports. Another option
  instead of recharging the health monitors is to
  replace the battery.
• Technical Risk Analysis

Design Features and Results A band similar
to one shown in figure two will contain all the
components needed to monitor an individuals
life signs. It will be worn on the persons
wrist and activate once movement is detected.
The data collected by the sensors will be sent to
the health monitoring interface computer in
which specialists can view in real time the
progress of any infections or disease.
Implementation The specialist will
utilize the health monitors as a therapeutic tool
on disaster victims throughout the quarantine
situation. The victim's heart rate and life
signs will be monitored through the use of sensor
technology in order to uphold health management
and safety. When an individual is involved in a
quarantine situation or enters a shelter,
emergency personal will place the health monitor
on the individual and monitor their life signs
via software. The software will be designed to
understand and provide feedback from the data
sent by the health monitors by the use of
user-friendly graphical user interfaces (GUIs).
A solution overview of the components of Remote
Public Health Monitors is shown in figure three.
In the Health Monitor
system, the heart rate sensor, galvanic skin
response sensor, and skin temperature sensor are
used to determine the users life signals and
different stages of an infection if present. The
sensors are melded to the programmable unit
within the band and process data through the CPU.
The processed data is then sent to the health
monitor interface computer via a Bluetooth
transmitter. The sensors and programmable unit
will be powered by a rechargeable small battery
similar to a watch battery. The health
monitoring interface computer will store and use
the data received by the band to produce
infromative feedback reports of the health status
of band users.
Fig.2 Health Monitor Band
Fig.4 Device Process Flow

• Materials and Methods
• The Remote Public
• Health Monitor is
• composed of two
• components a band
• monitor and feedback
• to the specialist
• through software.
• These components
• work together to
• provide the data and
• insight that enables
• specialists to deliver
• true health
• management and
• disaster victim safety.
• Key Metrics Delivered

Probability Probability Probability Probability Probability
Not Likely Low Moderate High Expected
Impact Extreme T1 C1
Impact High
Impact Moderate T3 T2
Impact Low C2
Impact Negligible
Literature Cited SenseWear. (2008). Retrieved
January 5, 2009, from SenseWear
http//www.sensewear.com/ Acknowledgments Dr.
Anne Garland - Applied Research in Environmental
Sciences NonProft, Inc. (ARIES) This project was
funded through the National Center of Risk and
Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events (CREATE)
Center of Excellence by a grant from the
Department of Homeland Security, Science and
Technology Directorate, Office of University
Programs. For Further Information -Contact
Spencer Garland at sgarl002_at_odu.edu A brief
description, project management and technical
information can be viewed at http//24.241.255.90
84/dotproject/ with Username Guest and
Password project, and go to the forum section
of the Project labeled Remote Public Health
Monitors.
Item Technical Risks Probability Impact
T1 Hardware and Software Interoperability 2 5
T2 Malfunction (Device and Software) 2 3
T3 Hardware and Software Accuracy 1 3
Item Customer Risks Probability Impact
C1 User Acceptance 3 5
C2 Proper Utilization 1 2
Skin Temperature measures the surface
temperature of the body
3-axis Accelerometer measures motion
Galvanic Skin Response measures skin impedance
which reflects water content of the skin and the
constriction or dilation of the Vascular periphery
Heat Flux Measures the rate at which heat is
dissipating from the body
Fig.3 Major Functional Component Diagram
Fig..1 Core Technology