Sensor Review

Human health monitoring using wearable sensor

C. Suganthi Evangeline, Ashmiya Lenin,
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C. Suganthi Evangeline, Ashmiya Lenin, (2018) "Human health monitoring using wearable sensor", Sensor Review, https://
doi.org/10.1108/SR-05-2018-0111
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 Human health monitoring using
wearable sensor
C. Suganthi Evangeline
Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Karunya Institute of Technology and Sciences, Coimbatore, India and
Sense, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, India, and
Ashmiya Lenin
Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Karunya Institute of Technology and Sciences, Coimbatore, India

Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to design a human health monitoring system (HHMS) which helps in improving diagnostics at an earlier
stage and monitoring after recoup.
Design/methodology/approach – The methodology involves a combination of three subsystems which monitors the human parameters such as
temperature, heart rate, SpO2, fall and location of the person. Various sensors are used to extract the human parameters, and the data are analysed
in a computer subsystem, through Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and Internet of Things (IoT) subsystem; the parameters
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measured are communicated to the caregiver and doctor.

Findings – Results have successfully demonstrated monitoring human temperature human temperature, heart rate, SpO2 and fall and location
continuously using the HHMS prototype. Reliability of the technique used for monitoring these parameters is assessed by Proteus Professional 8 and
LabVIEW simulators.
Practical implications – The HHMS enables long-term monitoring without any sort of interference from regular activities and allows daily health
monitoring, elderly monitoring and so on.
Originality/value – First, the proposed HHMS simultaneously monitors five human parameters. Second, unlike most monitoring systems which uses
older communication module, the proposed system is made smart using IoT. The proposed method has been made into a prototype system as
detailed in this paper. The proposed HHMS can achieve high detection accuracy. Therefore, this system can be reliably deployed into a consumer
product for use as monitoring device with high accuracy.
Keywords Monitoring, GPS, GSM, Wearable sensors
Paper type Research paper

1. Introduction becomes a tedious process. Table I explains various types of

In today’s society, health factor has become a big issue and
people have become busy in their own work without time to
take care of their health, hence leading to all kinds of diseases.
In this system, we provide quality care to those in areas with
reduced access to doctors. Huge money is spent in the present
day for hospitalization and rehabilitation after an illness or
surgery. During the recovery period of the patient, various
health parameters need to be monitored continuously without
visiting hospitals frequently so to reduce stress in life
(Mukhopadhyay, 2015). There are various methods used to
monitor human health parameters, and the existing systems are
costlier and are not easily affordable by various sections of
people; the parameters are also limited in each device available
in the market. Hence, to measure different types of parameters,
there is a necessity to buy different types of devices which
existing systems available and their limitations.
We have implemented a system which is able to receive, store
data and transmit the health condition of humans in real-time
wirelessly (Chen et al., 2012). It provides a medical monitoring
of people at any time and any place. It is able to send the
parameters (temperature, heart rate, SpO2, fall and location) of
human body in real time (Kurhe and Agrawal, 2013). This
prototype is a low-cost monitoring system and saves hospital
expenditure to greater amount, as many sensors are integrated
in a single system. Human health monitoring system (HHMS)
is simple for installation and application. In this HHMS, the
person need not be present in a single location, he can do his
regular work and travel different places because the Global
Positioning System (GPS) keeps on updating the location, so
that in case of an emergency, the person can be easily located
and the medical staffs can provide immediate treatment.

2. Methodology
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on
Emerald Insight at: www.emeraldinsight.com/0260-2288.htm This system consists of LPC2148 microcontroller, temperature
sensor (LM35), tri-axial accelerometer (ADXL335), pulse

Sensor Review Received 5 May 2018

© Emerald Publishing Limited [ISSN 0260-2288] Revised 7 August 2018
[DOI 10.1108/SR-05-2018-0111] Accepted 21 November 2018
 Human health monitoring Sensor Review
C. Suganthi Evangeline and Ashmiya Lenin

Table I Comparative study of available HHMS

Communication
No. Reference Platform used Parameters analysed Technique used module Limitations


1 Sahu and Kaushal Arduino Temperature Sensors measure the parameters GSM GSM is a 2G technology


(2017) Heartbeat and view in LabVIEW Limited parameters


2 Tambat and Sowmya ARM7 Temperature Sensors measures the parameters GSM GSM is a 2G technology


(2017) Heartbeat and display in LCD Limited parameters


3 Shashidhar and ARM7 Temperature Sensors measure the parameters Nil Transmission module is
Anand (2016) Heartbeat and view in LabVIEW not present


Only an experimental
setup


Less sensors present


Better system present


4 Jaiswar and Repal ARM7 Temperature Sensors used for monitoring Zigbee Limited to only Military
(2015) Heart Beat temperature and heartbeat of a area


Location soldier and to track them using Limited parameters for
GPS monitoring


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5 Chandana and Latha ARM7 Heart Rate Sensors measures the parameters GSM GSM is a 2G technology


(2014) Blood Pressure and sending alert message Person should be in
Drug-level Detection familiar location


6 Sunitha and ARM7 Heart Rate Sensors measure the parameters GSM GSM is a 2G technology


Prathyusha (2014) Blood Pressure and sending alert message False alert can be sent


Temperature Person should be in a
familiar location


7 Madhyan and Kadam ARM7 Heart Rate Sensors measure the parameters Zigbee Limited use because of
(2014) Temperature few parameters


Limited area only patient
can move


8 Mukhopadhyay Arduino Temperature Sensors measure the parameters Zigbee Similar system exists
(2015) Heart Rate with the same function


No particular
advancement


9 Bloss (2015) Arduino Temperature Sensors measure the parameters Nil No communication
ECG and display in LCD module used


GSR Values just displayed
PPG which too may not be
reliable


10 Zhou et al. (2015) MSP430 Temperature Sensors measure the parameters Nil Software Simulations
Pressure and display in LCD concentrated


Pulse Rate Useful only in testing
SpO2


11 Sivasankari et al. Arduino Temperature Sensors measure the parameters WiFi Software simulations


(2016) Heartbeat No practical testing
Blood Pressure


12 Ajith et al. (2015) Arduino SpO2 Sensor measures Nil Only single parameter


and gives alarm No communication
module


Better systems exist


13 Wang et al. (2014) Arduino Fall Sensing fall using accelerometer Zigbee Within home
Heart Rate and checking for heart rate using environment only


sensor People have to be
present in nearby area to
take care of the patient
14 HHMS (Proposed ARM7 Temperature Sensors measure the parameters GSM
System) Fall Wi-Fi (IoT)
Heart Rate
SpO2 level
Location
 Human health monitoring Sensor Review
C. Suganthi Evangeline and Ashmiya Lenin

oximeter, heart-rate sensor IC (MAX30100) and GPS on the
transmitter side. LPC2148 collects the data from the sensors
attached. The data collected by the sensors are processed and
finally displayed on the liquid crystal display (LCD),
transmitted wirelessly using Global System for Mobile
Communications (GSM) and the data transmitted are stored in
cloud using Wi-Fi module in the receiver section where the
health conditions of humans are being monitored continuously
(Patel et al., 2012). The variations in the values are continuously
monitored and plotted graphically by connecting the sensors to
data acquisition unit (DAQ) and viewed by LabVIEW software.
The block diagram for the HHMS designed is shown in
Figure 1. The ambient temperature sensor is arranged in
contact with the human’s body to improve accuracy in reading,
tri-axial accelerometer connected in the waist. MAX30100 is
clipped in the finger to measure both heart rate and SpO2 level.
Using wireless data (Phyo et al., 2015) transmitting capability
which depends on the collected data the microcontroller sends
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The software used are as follows:
 Keil m Vision 5;
 Flash Magic;
 Proteus Professional 8;
 LabVIEW; and
 ThingSpeak.
3.1 LPC2148
LPC2148 is a 32-bit microcontroller integrated by NXP
Semiconductors. It is ARM7TDMI-S CPU with real-time
applications and has a memory from 32 kB to 512 kB. For
applications with larger memory and which requires huge
code size, the 16-bit Thumb mode reduces the code size by
30 per cent. Since LPC2148 is small in size and consumes
low power it is useful in applications where miniaturization
is the most important requirement. LPC2148 is connected
to a 5 V power supply. The prototype developed uses

LPC2148 which is capable of strong expandability wherein

a safety message to the caretaker about the present physical
many sensors can be integrated and in addition to that they
condition of the person being taken care. (Madhyan and
are also very easy to use.
Kadam, 2014).We have also used Thing Speak Platform for
visually representing the variations in the measured values by
3.2 Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter
plotting graphs using the data received from the cloud through
Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter (UART) is the
Internet of Things (IoT) (Tambat and Sowmya, 2017).
interface which helps in transferring data between two controllers
or between a controller and PC. It provides a simple, stable and
3. Components used constant communication. Data is send through UART using the
The various hardware used are as follows: signals, Receive (RXD), Transmit (TXD), Common ground
 LPC2148 microcontroller; (GND).
 DAQ; The Formula for calculating baud rate is given as:
 LM35 Temperature Sensor;
 ADXL335 Tri-axial Accelerometer; PCLK
Baud RATE ¼
 MAX30100 Pulse Oximeter and Heart-Rate Sensor IC; 16  ð256  DLM 1 DLLÞ
 GPS; MULVAL
 (1)
 GSM module; MULVAL 1 DIVADDVAL
 Wi-Fi Module; and
 Personal Computer(PC). where:

Figure 1 Block diagram of human health monitoring prototype

SERVER

Vout Rx Wi-Fi
P0.25 (AD0.4) P0.8(TXD1)
LM35
Module

X P0.28 (AD0.1)
Y RS
ADXL334 P0.29 (AD0.2) P1.17
Z P1.18 R/W
P0.30 (AD0.3)
P1.19 EN LCD
S LPC2148 P1.20
SCL D4
P0.2 (SCL0)
MAX30100 D7
SDA P1.23
P0.3 (SDA0)
Rx
P0.0 (TXD0) GSM
Tx
GPS P0.1 (RXD0)

Mobile
 Human health monitoring
C. Suganthi Evangeline and Ashmiya Lenin
PCLK is the Peripheral Clock value in Hz; and
DIVADDVAL and MULVAL are part of the Fractional
baud rate generator register.
There are two divisor registers namely U0DLM and UODLL:
PCLK
U0DLL ¼ (2)
16  Desired Baud Rate
3.3 Wi-Fi module ESP8266
Wi-Fi is the most popular wireless communication technique.
It is used for network communication. It is an IP based
communication. The Wi-Fi module that is being used in this
system is ESP8266. The voltage range is from 3.3-3.6V. This
UART to Wi-Fi module is cheap, easily available and is
currently widely used in the field of IoT. IoT is a system of
connected things. This module comes with a built-in TCP-IP
stack. ESP8266 module comes pre-programmed with AT
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commands. We can connect any microcontroller with
ESP8266 (Tambat and Sowmya, 2017) and get connected to
IoT. Wi-Fi module is connected to UART1 of LPC2148. RX
pin is used to receive data bit X and TX pin is used to transmit
data bit X.
3.3.1 ThingSpeak
ThingSpeak in an IoT analytics platform by MathWorks. It
offers a wide variety of analysis and monitoring. It allows you to
aggregate, visualize the collected data in the form of charts and
analyse live data streams in the cloud. ThingSpeak provides
instant visualizations of data posted by HHMS. We have used
this platform to update live feed from our system. It configures
devices easily to send data to ThingSpeak using popular IoT
protocols (Tambat and Sowmya, 2017) and helps to visualize
sensor data in real-time. One of the key elements of an IoT
system is an IoT service. ThingSpeak also provides various
apps for integration with web services, it is a great platform with
extensive possibilities to explore the integration of the IoT.
3.4 DAQ
A DAQ system consists of sensors, DAQ measurement hardware,
and a computer with programmable software. Compared to
traditional measurement systems, PC-based DAQ systems has
good processing power, productivity and connectivity capabilities
of industry-standard computers providing a more powerful,
flexible, and cost-effective measurement solution. Data acquisition
applications are usually controlled by software programmes; in this
HHMS, we have used LabVIEW software to analyse the
waveforms from the sensors through DAQ.
3.4.1 LabVIEW software
LabVIEW is a system-design platform and development
environment for a visual programming language from National
Instruments. It offers a graphical programming approach that
helps you visualize every aspect of your application, including
hardware configuration and measurement of data. It is
commonly used for data acquisition, instrument control and
industrial automation. The development environment
designed specifically to accelerate the productivity of engineers
and scientists. It is simple to visualize, create and code
engineering systems and is unmatched in helping you reduce
Sensor Review
test times and translate ideas into reality (Shashidhar and
Anand, 2016).
4. Flowchart
Figure 2 explains the detailed flow of the prototype developed.
The U0LCR gives the pattern of data which is to be transmitted
or received (Table II). Bit 16 must be set 1 for repeated
conversions, PDN must be set high to power up the ADC and
the START bit must be 001 for the conversion to take place
(Table III). DONE bit is set to 1 when an analogue to digital
conversion completes. Until the bit is set to 1, the process
repeats (Table IV). THRE bit is 0 when there is valid data and
if the bit is 1 when it is empty. To transmit data, THRE = 1.
Receiver Data Ready is 0 when no data are received and the bit
is high when data are present in U0RBR (Table V). The
prototype developed consists of a set of sensors attached to the
body of the person whose health condition is monitored. In this
work, we used three sensors to monitor temperature, heart rate,
SpO2 level and fall of the person. These sensors are connected
to pins of LPC2148. LM35 and ADXL335 being analogue
sensors, the sensed data will be given to microcontroller
through inbuilt ADC. MAX30100 being digital sensor, the
sensed data are directly read by LPC2148. The microcontroller
receives the signals from the sensors and processes the data and
checks for the condition of the person. If the condition is
normal then the microcontroller keeps on repeating the same
process of receiving the data from the sensors, monitoring the
health of the person, displaying the temperature and
acceleration value in LCD, and storing the entire data in cloud
through the Wi-Fi module (Ren et al., 2010). Whenever the
condition steps out the normal range, it checks for two or more
values, if still the same condition prevails, microcontroller calls
the GPS function which gives information about the person’s
location by calculating the latitude and longitude, and then, the
GSM sends alert messages to the concerned health-care
professionals and the persons family members along with the
persons location (Rodgers et al., 2015).
5. Temperature analysis
Body temperature is one of the parameters measured by the
designed prototype (Salvo et al., 2010) for human health
monitoring. The difference in temperature measured in the
person’s body can give hint of the present health condition.
Temperature can be used to find out various medical stress
which leads to shock and stroke.
5.1 Temperature sensor LM35
The output of LM35 is voltage which is directly proportional to
the Celsius temperature; hence, there is no need of conversion.
The LM35 does not require any external calibration, and it
provides with an accuracy of 61/4°C at room temperature and
63/4°C of 55 to 1 150°C temperature range. Temperature is
measured more accurately by LM35 than a using a thermistor.
The temperature sensor used in our system generates
analogue voltage depending on the temperature of the person
whose health condition is monitored. The VCC of LM35 is
connected to VDD of LPC2148; hence, it derives the power
supply within the board itself. The sensor can measure
temperature and generate signal which is sent to LPC2148.
 Human health monitoring Sensor Review
C. Suganthi Evangeline and Ashmiya Lenin

Figure 2 Detailed flowchart of HHMS Figure 2

Start C

Bit 7 Bit 6 Bit 5 Bit 4 Bit 3 Bit 2 Bit 1 Bit 0

Include header files

Configure I/O ports using GPIO Port Direction Control Register

(IODIR 1 = output, 0 = input)
If T> = 40 ºC or X> = 1.96V
or Y> = 1.63V or Z> = 1.98V NO
Initialize LCD or Heart Rate < 60bpm or B
Heart Rate > 100bpm or
Spo2 < 94%
Initialize UART

Select UART0 and UART1 using PINSEL Register

(PINSEL0 = 0x00050005)
YES
Configure U0LCR and U1LCR for setting baud rate (U0LCR = 0x83&
U1LCR = 0X83 ) Call GPS function

Configure divisor latches for both the registers (U0DLM = 0, U0DLL = 0X83) (U1DLM = 0, U1DLL = 0XC3)

PCLK in Hertz MULVAL

Baud Rate = X
16 ∗ (256 ∗ DLL + DLM) DIVADDVAL NO
Check
RDR = 1(U0LSR.0)
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Configure U0LCR and U1LCR for transmission and reception (U0LCR = 0x03,
U1LCR = 0X03)
YES
Initialize ADC Get the received data and check it using GPGLL format
B

Enable ADC0 using PINSEL register

(PINSEL1 = 0x15440000)
Extract latitude and longitude value and store it in a temporary
variable
Select the ADC channels AD0.1, AD0.2, AD0.3, AD0.5 for X, Y, Z & LM35
and start the conversion using AD0CR
Call GSM function

NO Check DONE = 1
Transmit the GSM commands and the alert message containing the
(AD0GDR.31) position of the person

YES
Read the ADC data from AD0GDR of X, Y, Z & LM35 separately and
store it in temporary variables NO Check
TEMT = 1(U0LSR.6)
Convert LM35 data into ºC and X, Y, Z data into V
(adc data ∗ 3.3 ∗ 100) (adc data ∗ 3.3)
T= X, Y, Z = YES
1023 1023

Stop

Display Calculated T, X, Y, Z values in LCD and transmit it

through UART1 to Wi-Fi Module

Initialize mode operation of MAX30100

(Enter into HEART RATE Mode = 0x02 and SpO2 Mode = 0x03)

Enable SCL0 and SDA0 using PINSEL Register

(PINSEL1 = 0x0000000C)

Read the data from MAX30100 through SDA0, store in a Table II U0LCR (Line control register) format
temporary variable and display the HeartRate and SpO2 values
in LCD and transmit it through UART1 to Wi-Fi Module Bit 7 Bit 6 Bit 5 Bit 4 Bit 3 Bit 2 Bit 1 Bit 0
Divisor Break Parity Parity Parity Stop bit Word Word
C Latch Control Select Select Enable Select Length Length
(continued) Access bit Select Select

The values are then transmitted wirelessly using GSM to PC

(Rehman et al., 2013). As the output is voltage, it is needed to
convert it into temperature. The equation given below converts
output voltage into temperature:

Temperature ð CÞ ¼ VOUT
ð100  C=VÞ (3)

 Human health monitoring Sensor Review
C. Suganthi Evangeline and Ashmiya Lenin

Table III AD0CR (A/D control register) format

Bit 27 Bit26:24 Bit23:22 Bit 21 Bit 20 Bit19:17 Bit 16 Bit15:8 Bit7:0
EDGE START Reserved PDN Reserved CLKS Burst CLK Select
DIV Channel

Table IV AD0GDR (A/D global data register) format Table VI Calibration of LM35
Bit 31 Bit 30 Bit 29:27 Bit26:24 Bit 23:16 Bit15:6 Bit5:0 LM35
DONE OveRun Reserved CHN Reserved RESULT Reserved Range Voltage ADC range ADC value HEX value
0 0 0-3.3V 0 0
25 0.25 78 4E
Table V U0LSR/U1LSR format 30 0.30 94 5E
Bit 7 Bit 6 Bit 5 Bit 4 Bit 3 Bit 2 Bit 1 Bit 0 32 0.32 99 63
RX TEMT THRE Break Framing Parity Over run Receiver 150 1.5 466 1D2
FIFO Interrupt Error Error Error Data
Error Ready
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situations can be reduced if their caregiver is alerted on time.

The unexpected human fall (Huynh et al., 2013) is detected by
the 3-axis accelerometer. (Mostarac et al., 2011) When the fall
We set the normal body temperature of in the range 36°C-40°C.
happens, GPS locates the exact location where the incident
If the temperature reading is less than 36°C or more than 40°C,
happened so that help can be rendered immediately (Chen
it will send the warning message to the concerned health-care
professional (Pantelopoulos and Bourbakis, 2010). LPC2148 et al., 2006).
uses 10 bit ADC pin for reading temperature from temperature
sensor LM35. 6.1 Triple-axis accelerometer ADXL335
ADXL335 is a 3-axis accelerometer with output as voltages.
5.2 Calibration (Lee et al., 2011) It measures acceleration with a range of 63 g.
LPC2148 has two inbuilt ADC modules, ADC0 and ADC1. The output signals are analog voltages which is linearly
ADC0 is used for the conversion of analogue value from LM35 proportional to acceleration. The triple-axis accelerometer is
into digital value. A digital number represented with n bits, the shown in Figure 3. The VCC of ADXL335 is connected to VDD
maximum value is 2n . Hence, for 10 bit ADC resolution is 10 of LPC2148, hence the power supply is used from LPC2148
bit and maximum value is 210 = 1024: For LPC2148, itself. The acceleration in 3 axis are monitored continuously.
maximum voltage = 3.3V. (Ignatov and Strijov, 2016) When the changes in acceleration
In LPC2148, 10 bit ADC:
fall above threshold values, it is considered as fall. (Mubashir
Vref et al., 2013).
Step size ¼
210 (4) LPC2148 uses three channels of ADC for reading X, Y and
3:3
¼ 0:0032258064 ð3:23mVÞ Z axis from ADXL335. (Yang and Hsu, 2010) The analogue
1023 output of the accelerometer is converted into digital value using
where, 10 bit ADC in LPC2148. The output of ADC is converted into
Vref – used to detect step size: voltage by a formula:
Vinput
DOUT ¼ (5) 3:3
Step size OutputðVÞ ¼ OutputðdigitalÞ  (6)
1023
where:
 DOUT = Decimal output digital data. The same digital value is sent to of the caregiver of the fallen
 Vinput = Analogue input voltage. person using GSM (Prajapati et al., 2015).

There are a lot of registers associated to ADC, but the registers

Figure 3 Triple-axis accelerometer
used for conversion are AD0CR and AD0GDR (Tables III and
IV). Calibration of LM35 is given in Table VI.

6. Fall detection
Fall is the most significant cause of injury for elderly people
(Sudarshan et al., 2013). These falls are cause of many
disabling fractures that could eventually lead to death. The
consequences of human fall can lead to serious conditions if
treatment is not provided on proper time. Most of the serious
issues occur because of delay in aid. (Wang et al., 2014) Such
 Human health monitoring Sensor Review
C. Suganthi Evangeline and Ashmiya Lenin

From Tables VII-IX, by comparing all the values, we set the Table X Normal resting heart rates at different ages according to National
threshold values as follows: Institute of Health
X = 0.322 V, Y = 1.320V, Z = 1.700 V Age Normal heart rate (bpm)
0-1 month 70-190
7. Heart rate and SpO2 1-11 months 80-160
1-2 years 80-130
7.1 Heart rate 3-4 years 80-120
Heart rate is one of the vital signs of health in the human body. 5-6 years 75-115
It measures the number of times per minute the heart contracts 7-9 years 70-110
or beats. The speed of the heartbeat varies as a result of physical >10 years 60-100
activity, threats to safety and emotional responses. The resting
heart rate refers to the heart rate when a person is relaxed.
While a normal heart rate (Table X) does not guarantee that a As given in Table XI, the values and its recommendation are
person is free of health problems, but it can be used as a sent to caregiver and family members and the person can also
benchmark for identifying a range of health issues. Irregular view it in the LCD nearby him.
heartbeat can be a sign of a serious health condition. One in
every four deaths occurs as a result of heart disease. Various 7.2 SpO2 level
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products to manage heart rate, such as wearable heart rate SpO2 has two components, S indicates saturation and P
monitors, are available to purchase online (Chandana and indicates pulse, also SP can stand for serum pressure and O2 is
Latha, 2014). This HHMS consists of MAX30100 sensor oxygen. In short, this reading indicates the amount of oxygen
which gives the digital output and heart rate can be viewed. It is being carried by red blood cells. SpO2 indicates how effectively
important to compare the benefits and features of different a patient is breathing and how well blood is being transported
brands available in market, as a single device to monitor heart throughout the body. SpO2 uses a percentage to indicate this
rate alone costs a huge amount, but this whole system is measurement (Table XII). The average reading for a normal,
comparatively cheaper than existing devices. fit adult is 96 per cent. The partial pressure of Oxygen in blood
(PaO2) facilitates the indirect assessment of PaO2 through the
Table VII Zero bias level of X, Y and Z axis measurement of Sp02. The pulse oximeter (MAX30100) is a
Zero g bias level (ratiometric) Conditions MIN TYP MAX Unit rapid diagnostic tool that allows you to measure and monitor
the oxygenation levels. A reduction of 3 per cent or more SpO2,
0 g Voltage at XOUT, YOUT VS = VS = 3V 1.35 1.5 1.65 V even if within normal saturations, is an indicator to perform full
0 g Voltage at ZOUT VS = 3V 1.2 1.5 1.8 V assessment of the patient because this is an evidence of illness.
0 g Offset vs Temperature 61 mg/ C

7.3 MAX30100
The MAX30100 is an integrated pulse oximetry and heart rate
monitor sensor. It operates from 1.8V and 3.3V power; hence,
Table VIII Calibration of ADXL335
VCC of MAX30100 is connected to VDD of LPC2148.
ADXL335 MAX30100 is shown in Figure 4. It combines two LEDs, a
Range (g) Voltage ADC range ADC value photo detector, optimized optics and low-noise analogue signal
0 1.35 0-3.3 V 1A3 processing to detect pulse oximetry and heart-rate signals.
1.2 1.62 1F6 MAX30100 simplifies the whole design, its enhanced function,
1.5 2.02 273
1.8 2.43 2F2 Table XI Observation of threshold values of heart rate
2 2.70 346
Heart Rate (bpm) Recommended
2.2 2.97 399
2.4 3.04 3ED Normal (60-100) Normal rate
Low (<60) Low heart rate
High (>100) Indicates the person is in abnormal state

Table IX Threshold value for ADXL334

Position X-AXIS Y-AXIS Z-AXIS
Table XII Observation of threshold values of SpO2 level
Normal 0.319 1.274 1.650
SpO2 (%) Recommended
Forward fall 0.322 1.687 1.970
Backward fall 0.319 1.487 1.380 >95 Normal
Left side fall 0.312 1.690 1.650 85-94 Hypoxic
Right side fall 0.325 1.512 1.85 <85 Severely hypoxic
 Human health monitoring
C. Suganthi Evangeline and Ashmiya Lenin
Figure 4 MAX30100 sensor module
improves the measurement performance and has fast data
output capability.
The MAX30100 is configurable through registers, and the
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digital output data are stored in a first-in, first-out (FIFO)
within the device. The FIFO allows the MAX30100 to be
connected to a microcontroller on a shared bus. Max30100 has
two-wire serial interface consisting of a serial data line (SDA)
and a serial clock line (SCL). SDA and SCL facilitate
communication between the MAX30100 and LPC2148. Inter-
integrated circuit (I2C) protocol requires only two signals:
clock and data. Clock is known as SCL or SCK, while data are
known as SDA. A “START” condition is generated by
LPC2148, followed by 7 bits of address, then a Read Write bit.
If MAX30100 detects an address match, it will send an
acknowledgement (ACK) by making SDA low during the next
clock cycle; if it doesn’t recognize the address then the SDA line
will be left alone to be pulled up high. Following a successful
ACK, data will be read from MAX30100 by R/W bit. The last
data byte of a transaction should generally be followed by a
NAK, to indicate that it is intended to be the final byte. After
this, a “STOP” is issued by LPC2148.
Enter into heart rate mode I2C Write Command Sets
MODE [2:0] = 0x02. Enter into SpO2 mode. I2C Write
Command Sets MODE [2:0] = 0x03. Mask the HR_RDY
interrupt. Mask the SPO2_RDY Interrupt. FIFO is almost full,
interrupt is generated when the FIFO has only one empty space
left. FIFO data are read, interrupt cleared. New sample is
stored at the new read pointer location. It is now the first
sample in the FIFO (Table XIII). The data are read from FIFO
continuously and displayed in LCD and transmitted to the
cloud, whenever the values cross the threshold level an alert
message is sent to the caregiver.
8. Global Positioning System and Global System
for Mobile Communications
8.1 GPS
GPS provides location and time information in all conditions.
The serial data from GPS are sent in the form of sentences
Table XIII Mode configuration register (MAX30100)
B7 B6 B5 B4 B3 B2
SHDN RESET – – TEMP-EN
Sensor Review
according to National Marine Electronics Association
(NMEA) standards. Table XIV explains the format, $GPGLL,
3245.16, N, 32122.21, W, 334544, A.
GPS collects information at various formats from the
satellites, but here we are going for GPGLL format, as it is easy
to extract the latitude and longitude in this sentence. The
received co-ordinates are checked with the GPGLL sentence
and only the latitude and longitude value is extracted from the
whole received data.
8.2 GSM
GSM is a standard to describe the protocols for second-
generation (2G) digital cellular networks used by phones. It
accepts SIM card and operates to a mobile operator. Though
there are advanced 4G technologies, we have used 2G because
this prototype should be accessible to various sections of society
including the poor who couldn’t afford health care. But to meet
the needs of current advancement, we have used Wi-Fi module
for data to be transmitted to cloud and through IoT we can get
the data anywhere. We have used SIM300 GSM module. AT
commands are needed for GSM to start functioning.
GSM and GPS is connected ARM7 LPC2148 through
UART0. The transmitter of GPS is connected to the receiver of
UART0. GPS transmits the latitude and longitude and the data
are received. Then GSM modem (Jubadi and Sahak, 2009)
sends SMS message contain the latitude and longitude value in
text mode (Sunitha and Prathyusha, 2014).
9. Result
Figure 5 shows the simulation of LM35 and ADXL335 along
with GSM, Wi-Fi module and GPS with ARM7 LPC2148 in
Proteus. Figures 6 and 7 show the data being transmitted
through UART of LPC2148, and it is viewed in Virtual
Terminal. The setup has been designed (Figure 8) and the
waveforms are then plotted in LabVIEW using DAQ (Figure 9)
for LM35, X, Y, Z axis of ADXL335 and MAX30100 (Figures
9-13). Figures 14-16 show the output of heart rate (bpm),
temperature (°C) and SpO2 in a graphical format in real time
using ThingSpeak. Figure 17 shows the hardware including the
interfacing of LM35, ADXL335, MAX30100, GPS, Wi-Fi
and GSM has been implemented. The output is received as an
alert message along with the person’s location to the caregiver
when the person’s condition is critical in Figure 18.
Table XIV GPGLL format
Data Description
3245.16, N Latitude 32° 45.16 min. North
32122.21, W Longitude 321° 22.21 min
334544 Fix taken at 33:45:44 UTC
A Data valid
B1 B0 REGADDR POR STATE R/W
MODE[2:0] 0X06 0X00 R/W
 Human health monitoring
C. Suganthi Evangeline and Ashmiya Lenin
Figure 5 Proteus simulation of the prototype
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Figure 6 Temperature exceeds from the normal range and the fall is
detected
10. Conclusion
It has been concluded that by using this wearable technology
method, we can transmit data which has been received from
Sensor Review
Figure 7 Software output when the condition which exceeds normal range
the patient’s body using various sensors to the caregiver
(Rehman et al., 2012). Wearable sensors have been integrated
which makes it easy to track the patient anytime from
anywhere. The developed system has real-time capability.
The development of wearable sensor-based systems for
health monitoring has the power to make wide changes in
health-care system by providing low-cost solutions for
periodic monitoring of the problems (Park and Jayaraman,
2003). Diseases can be detected well in advance, as various
parameters are being monitored, and when there are changes
 Human health monitoring Sensor Review
C. Suganthi Evangeline and Ashmiya Lenin

Figure 8 LabVIEW simulation for LM35, ADXL335 and MAX30100 Figure 11 Output waveform of Y-axis
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Figure 12 Output waveform of Z-axis

Figure 9 Output waveform of LM35

Figure 13 Output waveform of MAX30100

Figure 10 Output waveform of X-axis

over a long period of time, the patient can have check-up at

regular intervals, better treatment is given to the patients
(Bruin et al., 2008). This wearable technology method can
also minimally increase their quality of living.
 Human health monitoring
C. Suganthi Evangeline and Ashmiya Lenin
Figure 14 ThingSpeak output for heart rate
Figure 15 ThingSpeak output for temperature
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Figure 16 ThingSpeak output for SpO2
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Further reading
Bloss, R. (2016), “Embedded medical sensors, an emerging
technology to monitor hearts, brains, nerves and addressing
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other medical applications for improved patient care”, Sensor
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with wearable watch based on PPG”, International Conference on
Biomedical Image and Signal Processing, Beijing, China, 19
November 2015.
Corresponding author
Suganthi Evangeline can be contacted at: evangelinec@
karunya.edu