Physical Wellbeing Monitoring Employing Non-Invasive Low-Cost and Low-Energy Sensor Socks

Sensors (Basel). 2018 Aug 27;18(9):2822. doi: 10.3390/s18092822.

Abstract

Determining and improving the wellbeing of people is one of the priorities of the OECD countries. Nowadays many sensors allow monitoring different parameters in regard to the wellbeing of people. These sensors can be deployed in smartphones, clothes or accessories like watches. Many studies have been performed on wearable devices that monitor certain aspects of the health of people, especially for specific diseases. In this paper, we propose a non-invasive low-cost and low-energy physical wellbeing monitoring system that provides a wellness score based on the obtained data. We present the architecture of the system and the disposition of the sensors on the sock. The algorithm of the system is presented as well. The wellness threshold evaluation module allows determining if the monitored parameter is within healthy ranges. The message forwarding module allows decreasing the energy consumption of the system by detecting the presence of alerts or changes in the data. Finally, a simulation was performed in order to determine the energy consumption of the system. Results show that our algorithm allows saving 44.9% of the initial energy in 10,000 min for healthy people.

Keywords: low-energy; non-invasive; wearable; wellbeing.