2nd IEEE Eurasia Conference on Biomedical Engineering, Healthcare and Sustainability 2020

Implement an IOT Platform of Biosignal Monitoring for Nurse Station

Pei-Jarn Chena,*, Jui-Yu Wengb, Yi-Kai Chiouc

Department of Electriac Engineering, Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Tainan, 71005, Taiwan
*
Tel.: +886 6 2533131#3348, Fax: +886 0 3010073, E-mail: cpj@stust.edu.tw

Abstract
To enhance up the processing of biosignal monitoring in
clinic, the main purpose of this study is focused to implement
three Raspberry pi 3B embedded systems become as a biosig-
nal monitoring platform. The developed microsystem will ac-
quire and decode the physiological parameters (including
ECG, BP, SPO2, TP and RP) from SY-3000 module based on
a Raspberry pi 3B embedded system. Then the embedded sys-
tem will translate the data to the designed website homepage
and backup on another cloud-based Raspberry pi 3B through
the TCP/IP or Wifi as user’s required. The designed platform
are based on the integrated operation system among Linux, QT
and MQTT. Finally, the families of the patient or the nurses
can observe the physiological condition and biosignal trend
through any mobile devices at anytime and anywhere. In addi-
tion, the VoIP and TLS/SSL techniques are also utilized in this
platform to improve the voice communication ability and the
cyber security in practice
mation, cyber security can be guaranteed, and the entire medi-
cal system and environment can be improved, making the
overall operation process simpler and more convenient for
medical personnel.
Therefore, to improve the medical operating process, this
study aims to build a cloud mobile medical information plat-
form, which is portable, low-cost, secure, and energy efficient,
with the added function of the Internet of Things technology
and instant messaging. Information protection is provided
through certain security measures in order to achieve the re-
quired development goals. This device effectively improves
the efficiency of the medical staff and reduces their burden. It
can also provide patients with good medical resources and
care, providing them with a most efficient ward-like health
management environment
2. Materials and method
2.1 em architecture

Keywords: biosignal, embedded system, IOT, VoIP, MQTT

1. Introduction

In clinic, aside from the measurement and long-term moni-

toring of physiological parameters, bio-signal monitoring in
clinical medicine is used in the monitoring of the physiological
condition of patients before and after treatment and surgery.
However, bio-signal monitoring often takes a lot of time and
requires continuous measurement of physiological conditions.
Furthermore, the measured physiological parameters must be
displayed on the screen immediately. Therefore, bio-signal
monitoring devices need to have a user-friendly operation in-
terface and data transmission function. Furthermore, the clini-
cal medical staff has to immediately compare the measured
values with the previously set normal range for various physi-
ological parameters. When the physiological parameters of the
patient are abnormal, the device must be able to issue an emer-
gency signal.
A very simple straightforward definition of Internet of
Things (IoT) is “anything, anytime, anywhere’. IoT has played
a prominent role in healthcare system due to the advent of Big
data and the maturity of cloud computing technology. Moreo-
ver, it has a diversified application [1-2]; it makes independent
objects smart and interactive, effectively promoting the growth
of various levels of the society. Yet, in medical institutions,
technologies related to the Internet of Things are seldom used,
mainly because medical institutions require a higher safety fac-
tor for medical information and must effectively protect per-
sonal privacy and data security. However, if the Internet of
Things is introduced together with the voice message and the
TLS security protocol technology into the medical infor-
Fig.1 System architecture of the developed micro cloud mobile med-
ical information system platform
In this study, a low-cost micro cloud mobile medical infor-
mation system platform was constructed based on three Ras-
berry Pi 3 B and a SY-3000 MODEL six-in-one bio-signal
monitoring module, as shown in Figure 1. The first part of the
system architecture is the sickbed end that is developed for a
long-term real-time monitoring, as shown on the lower right
box of figure 1. The Raspberry Pi 3B, developed by the Rasp-
berry Pi Foundation, was used and the operating system is
based on the Linux system [3]. The Raspberry Pi 3B is a low-
cost microcomputer embedded system. A touch panel can be
attached for ease of use. In this study, the CE certified SY-
3000 6 in 1 physiological monitoring module was integrated
with the Pi to produce a touch panel based mobile bio-signal
monitoring device. The device can be built for multiple sick-
beds for long-term monitoring of patients. Subsequently, the
embedded system uses QT (Quasar Technologies) for its envi-
ronmental development so as to provide an excellent user in-
terface for the immediate display of the patient’s physiological

ISBN: 978-1-7281-8712-9 219

Authorized licensed use limited to: Carleton University. Downloaded on November 02,2020 at 07:58:50 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
 2nd IEEE Eurasia Conference on Biomedical Engineering, Healthcare and Sustainability 2020

parameters. This requires only a simple operation and gives the

medical staff convenience and simplicity. By adding TLS
(Transport Layer Security) security certification and MQTT
(The Message Queuing Telemetry Transport) Internet technol-
ogy, the personal data and important physiological parameters
of the patient are securely transmitted to the nursing center
with effective reduction of the required transmission band-
width.
The second part of the structure is the nursing station, as
shown on the bottom left of figure 1. This acts as the main data
processing and audit management core. This center uses an-
other Raspberry Pi 3 B to reduce the spatial usage in the nurs-
ing station. TLS is used for safety certification and for receiv-
ing of the patient’s personal data and physiological parameters
obtained by the MQTT. At this stage, a relevant review and
confirmation of the data flow is carried out. Afterward, the data
is stored in the cloud database.
The third part of the architecture is the core of the micro
cloud mobile medical information system platform. As shown
on the top portion of figure 1, a Raspberry Pi 3 B is used as a
micro server, and multiple servers were integrated, including
MQTT, VoIP (Voice over IP), MySQL, and Apache. Concur-
rently, the core system also uses the TLS technology to provide Fig. 2 Client IoT A (Nursing station) flowchart
security on the MQTT transmission and protect important per-
sonal data of the patients. The data is then uploaded to the 2.2.2 Client IoT B (Bedside) process
cloud database under the LAMP framework. Finally, the in- A touch screen is used in this subsystem to facilitate the op-
hospital medical staff authorized to access the cloud database eration and observation of the medical staff. It is mainly di-
can enter the website through a corresponding smart mobile vided into three steps. In the beginning, a professional medical
device for management setting and observation. The VoIP personnel needs to set the relevant parameters, the normal
server built by the platform can be managed and set through range values, and the basic information of the patient. Then,
the webpage. When a patient or his family needs medical staff the first step is the VoIP account login and connection. When
assistance, the VoIP technology can be used for real-time voice a patient or his family member needs urgent assistance, the call
communication. When a patient shows an abnormal situation, mechanism can be activated through VoIP. The second step is
the nursing station and medical staff can be contacted immedi- divided into two parts, namely the MQTT account login and
ately. This effectively reduces the constant movement of med- TLS security key authentication and connection to ensure
ical staff from one ward to another. cyber security. Finally, the SY-3000 6-in-1 physiological mon-
itoring module receives the data and processes it. The subsys-
2.2 System Software Process tem software flowchart is shown in figure 3.
2.2.1 Client IoT A (Nursing station)
The main process on nursing station can be divided into
three parts, including the VoIP login and connection, the infor-
mation security assurance through MQTT account login and
the TLS security key authentication and connection and the
confirmation of the MySQL account login and connection.
Figure 2 exhibits the software flowchart of the entire system.

Fig. 3 Client IoT B (Bedsick) flowchart

220 ISBN: 978-1-7281-8712-9

Authorized licensed use limited to: Carleton University. Downloaded on November 02,2020 at 07:58:50 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
 2nd IEEE Eurasia Conference on Biomedical Engineering, Healthcare and Sustainability 2020

3. Results and discussion

3.1 Touch screen 6-in-1 physiological monitor

The micro-system developed by this project combined the
Raspberry Pi 3 B and the SY-3000 6-in-1 physiological moni-
toring module. In addition to using wireless technology for the Fig. 6 Setting up user for VoIP management
wireless transmission of data, this module incorporated a 7-
inch touchscreen display. These were combined to create a 6-
in-1 physiological monitoring medical instrument with a
touchscreen, which could be used for simple operation through
direct touch. Finally, a free development software provided by
the Blender Foundation was used to carry out 3D preliminary
Fig. 7 Viewing the status of the MQTT server
design drawing and proofing, as shown in figure4. Through 3D
printing and painting, the preliminary finished product was
decorated and performed, as shown in figure 4.

Fig. 8 Viewing through a smart mobile device

Fig. 4 Actual operation diagram

The man-machine interface was designed by considering the
interface of many large medical instruments. Additionally, dif-
ferent colors were used to show different physiological param-
eters, as shown in figure 5.
Fig. 5 User interface
Fig. 9 Trend chart shown on the web page
3.2 Nurse station of the cloud mobile medical information
system platform
The nursing staff can display important data and physiolog-
ical parameters of the patients in each ward according to figure
10 and figure 11. The TLS safety certification must be carried
out through data confirmation and identity check in order to
receive the patient’s personal data and important physiological
parameters issued by the MQTT. When the patient or his fam-
ily needs to make an emergency call, they can contact the nurs-
ing station or staff directly through voice communication and
convey their needs by talking. This minimizes the rushing
about of the medical staff on duty and reduces their burden on
the job.

Finally, the Raspberry Pi 3 B was used as the micro-server

of the cloud-based micro-system for the mobile medical infor-
mation platform. The micro-system integrated the MQTT, the
VoIP voice instant messaging, as well as the cloud database
then configured and managed the VoIP through a webpage, as
shown in figure 6. The system mainly used pertinent instruc-
tion to view the usage status of the server, as shown in figure
7. Users with in-house privileges can use smart mobile devices
to perform real-time viewing, create statistical records, see
trend charts, perform database downloads, check call logs, etc.
through the remote end of the network. This makes it possible
for the medical staff to view various information more effec- Fig. 10 Care station of the micro server information platform
tively, as shown in figure 8. Figure 9 shows the bio-signal trend
chart of a patient, including all parameters for comparison.[4-
9]

ISBN: 978-1-7281-8712-9 221

Authorized licensed use limited to: Carleton University. Downloaded on November 02,2020 at 07:58:50 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
 2nd IEEE Eurasia Conference on Biomedical Engineering, Healthcare and Sustainability 2020

5. References

[1] Lu Hou, Shaohang Zhao, Xiong Xiong , Kan Zheng , Periklis

Chatzimisios , M.Shamim Hossain and Wei Xiang, “Internet
of Things Cloud: Architecture and Implementation ”, IEEE
Communications Society, pp. 32-39, 2016.
[2] Reiko Onodera, Shintaro Sengoku, “Innovation process of
Fig. 11 Care station user interface of the micro server information mHealth: An overview of FDA-approved mobile medical ap-
platform plications”, International Journal of Medical Informatics, pp.
65-71, 2016.
[3] Xuling Guo, Shuqun Wang, Shengying Zhu “Design of the In-
3.3 System tesT telligent Control System of Classroom Based on Raspberry Pi”,
Finally, the long-term burning test on performance of 2018 Chinese Control and Decision Conference (CCDC), pp.
dveloped system was executed. The simulted ECG and SpO2 6699-6705, 2018.
were generated by Fluke data Sim 6100 and Fluke Index 2 [4] Marco Manso, Frank T. Johnsen, Ketil Lund “Using MQTT to
respectively. The transmission rate of biosignal was set as one support mobile tactical force situational awareness”, 2018 In-
data acquired every 5 seconds.Total 126,018 data sets were ternational Conference on Military Communications and Infor-
received continuously during one week. Without heat dissipa- mation Systems (ICMCIS), 2018.
tion assistance, the accuracy of the data was 99.96%, and the [5] Kurt Rohloff, David Bruce Cousins and Daniel Sumorok,
number of lost data was 72, the loss rate was about 0.057%. “Scalable, Practical VoIP Teleconferencing With End-to-End
Homomorphic Encryption”, IEEE Signal Processing Society,
However, after the fan cooling added for another a week’s pp. 1031-1041, 2017.
burning test, the number of missing data is reduced to 3 [6] Sean Turner, “Transport Layer Security”, IEEE Internet Com-
(0.002%) only and the accuracy rate for total data sets were puting, pp. 60-63, 2014.
high up to 99.99%. [7] Z. Shelby, K. Hartke, C. Bormann, “The Constrained Applica-
tion Protocol (CoAP)”, IETF, 2014.
4. Conclusion [8] Xiaoping Ma, Alvin Valera, Hwee-Xian Tan,“Performance
Evaluation of MQTT and CoAP via a Common Middleware”,
This research was carried out mainly for the design and pro- IEEE Ninth International Conference on Intelligent Sensors,
duction of a low-cost, portable, and energy efficient medical 2014.
[9] Nisarg Brahmbhatt，Pankaj Mann，Abhishek Rawat, “De-
information platform that uses the Internet of Things and in-
sign and implementation of compatible VoIP”, 2017 6th Inter-
stant messaging technology. The micro system integrated the national Conference on Computer Applications In Electrical
Raspberry Pi 3 B in order to display the physiological param- Engineering-Recent Advances (CERA), pp.103-107, 2017.
eters received by the SY-3000 six-in-one physiological moni-
toring module on the QT user interface and store the data in
the micro SD card. By passing through TLS security authenti-
cation and MQTT information transmission, a cloud-enabled
mobile medical information system monitoring device which
can effectively protect the personal data and important physi-
ological parameters of the patient was created. The medical
staff at the nursing station conducts relevant checks in the hos-
pital and confirms the identity according to the theme pub-
lished by the MQTT subscription upon receipt of a message.
Then, the data is stored in the cloud database. If a patient shows
abnormal conditions, the bio-signal monitor will generate an
emergency signal or communicate to the relevant nursing staff
at the medical station through an instant voice messaging via
VoIP. With the implementation of this micro cloud mobile
medical information system platform, there is no need for man-
ual recording nor the old way of communicating related phys-
iological parameters. This information platform is likewise
fully tracked through the internet and instant messaging sys-
tem. Through TLS security certification, healthcare manage-
ment with the highest efficiency and security was achieved.

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the finance supported by the Minis-

try of Science and Technology, R.O.C. (Taiwan) under the
contract MOST 108-2637-E-218-002.

222 ISBN: 978-1-7281-8712-9

Authorized licensed use limited to: Carleton University. Downloaded on November 02,2020 at 07:58:50 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.