title: Can pervasive sensing address current challenges in global healthcare?
abstract: Important challenges facing global healthcare include the increase in the number of people affected by escalating healthcare costs, chronic and infectious diseases, the need for better and more affordable elderly care and expanding urbanisation combined with air and water pollution. Recent advances in pervasive sensing technologies have led to miniaturised sensor networks that can be worn or integrated within the living environment without affecting a person's daily patterns. These sensors promise to change healthcare from snapshot measurements of physiological parameters to continuous monitoring enabling clinicians to provide guidance on a daily basis. This article surveys several of the solutions provided by these sensor platforms from elderly care to neonatal monitoring and environmental mapping. Some of the opportunities available and the challenges facing the adoption of such technologies in large-scale epidemiological studies are also discussed.
authors.affiliation: Hamlyn Centre, Imperial College, London SW7 2AZ, UK. latallah@doc.ic.ac.uk
authors.forename: Louis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Atallah
authors.forename: Benny
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lo
authors.forename: Guang-Zhong
authors.initials: GZ
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy; D003199:Computer Systems; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005260:Female; D014943:Global Health; D017048:Health Care Costs; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006291:Health Policy; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D011050:Policy Making; D011157:Population Dynamics; D011314:Preventive Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D014507:Urbanization; D014944:World Health Organization
keywords: Ageing; Chronic disease; Global healthcare; Pervasive sensing; Technology