CodeBlue: A Wireless Sensor Network Infrastructure for Medical Care

Guest Speaker: Matt Welsh, Harvard University Assistant Professor, Computer Science Date: June 29th, 2005 Time: 12 pm Location: PFBH Fung Auditorium, UCSD [webcast] Host: Leslie Lenert, WIISARD

DESCRIPTION/ABSTRACT: Recent advances in embedded computing systems have led to the emergence of wireless sensor networks, consisting of small, battery-powered "motes" integrating sensing, computation, and radio communication. Sensor networks have the potential to greatly impact many aspects of medical care. In a hospital or clinic, outfitting every patient with wireless vital sign sensors would allow doctors and nurses to continuously monitor the status of their patients.  In an emergency or disaster scenario, the same technology would enable medics to more effectively care for  large numbers of casualties. In addition, wireless sensors could augment  or replace existing wired telemetry systems for many specific clinical applications, such as physical rehabilitation or long-term ambulatory monitoring. Realizing this vision raises a number of unique challenges for the design of the software used by these wireless medical sensors. In this talk, Professor Welsh will describe CodeBlue, a software and protocol infrastructure for integrating wireless sensors into a wide range of medical applications. CodeBlue is based on a robust, self-organizing mesh networking protocol; in-network filtering and compression of medical signals; an RF-based localization system providing 1 meter tracking accuracy indoors or outdoors; and a high-level query interface allowing caregivers to request real-time updates on multiple patients from handheld computers. The Harvard professor will present our suite of wearable wireless medical sensors and early results from our prototype of the CodeBlue system. SPEAKER BIO: Matt Welsh is an assistant professor of Computer Science at Harvard University. Prior to joining Harvard, he received his Ph.D. from UC Berkeley, and spent one year as a visiting researcher at Intel Research Berkeley. His research interests span many aspects of complex systems, including Internet services, distributed systems, and sensor networks. He is also a long-time Linux hacker and is the author of "Running Linux", published by O'Reilly and Associates. MORE INFORMATION: Within 48 hours after the seminar, an archived version of the live webcast will be avaiable for on-demand viewing at http://www.calit2.net/multimedia/.