A Cost-Effective Vital Sign Monitoring System Harnessing Smartwatch for Home Care Patients

Abstract

Telemedicine applications enable online health consultation services, but they have limitations: there is no vital sign examination as in offline consultation. Furthermore, vital sign examinations for patients treated outside hospitals, such as outpatients and home care patients, are not as routine as for inpatients. Although patient monitors can be used to monitor vital signs in real-time, they are expensive, making it difficult to use them for home care patients. This research aims to develop a vital sign monitoring system for home care patients that integrates a smartwatch as a data acquisition sensor device, a mobile application as a gateway that collects vital sign data and sends it to a web server, and a web application to remotely monitor vital signs and changes in their values. This system also aims to make it easier for patients and their families to communicate with doctors and nurses while viewing vital sign information and the risk of patient deterioration in the form of Early Warning Score (EWS). The smartwatch chosen is based on its features and low price, so a cost-effective vital sign monitoring system can be produced. Testing using the black-box method shows that the system functions well and meets the expected functionality.