AN IoT BASED INTELLIGENT HEALTH

MONITORING AND MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Abstract— In recent years, there is a tremendous rise in stress free wherever they are, given that their location can be
physical and mental issues related to abnormal heart known by the authorized people.
rate and blood pressure. These issues can often lead to
In comparison to the existing approaches, some of
death. This brings in a condition where continuous
the distinguishing characteristics of this IoT based model
monitoring of heart rate and blood pressure is crucial.
can be outlined as follows:
Monitoring in hospitals can be uncomfortable for
various reasons and at times it can get interrupted. A Mohammad Abu Raihan Miah and Saikat Basak
portable patient monitoring system for round the clock [1] propose a method in which the heart rate of a human
ambulatory monitoring can offer better service for this body can be measured considering the change of blood
purpose. The goal of this paper is to design a sensor volume using microcontroller-based methods. They have
network system for health and safety application with implemented a low-cost computer based heart rate
the use of internet of things (IOT) to store and transmit monitoring system which is portable.
the activity of an individual. This system involves the
Pawar Prajakta A [4] gives a continuous patient
use of heart rate and SPO2 sensor, blood pressure
heart rate monitoring system and also uses GSM to alert the
sensor and temperature sensor for measuring the
doctor. Again, this approach is only suitable for when the
physical parameters of the individual. The sensors are
patient is at the hospital. The proposed paper gives a
interfaced with the Arduino Uno. GSM module is
solution for continuous patient monitoring for when the
connected to the system for alerting the doctor in case
patient is outside the hospital.
of emergency. The use of GPS makes it possible to track
the location of the individual. Further all the patient’s Salwan N,Mahmood and Ergun Ercelecbi [5] gives
data are stored in cloud for future accessing. oscillography and korotkoff methods of measuring blood
pressure. The issue with this paper is that data can be stored
Keywords— MAX30100 pulse oximetry sensor, Arduino up to only 100 records in the MCU internal memory. The
Uno, GSM module, temperature sensor, GPS module, proposed model overcomes that problem by using cloud to
IoT store as much data as needed.
Liang-Yu Shyu and Yao-Lin Kao [11] provides a
cuffless method for blood pressure monitoring. Though it
I. INTRODUCTION seems a convenient way of monitoring blood pressure it
With growing population, the number of diseases lacks accuracy. The primary goal of the proposed model is
also grows tremendously. This is due to the lack of to give accurate readings.
consciousness on health. Improper sleep, unhealthy eating
Lena Gohlk and Frederik Dreyer [2] presents the
habits, lack of workout are some of the reasons of prevailing
usage of two PPG sensors, one placed at the wrist and the
malady. Hypertension (high blood pressure) can lead to
other placed at finger tip of the patient to obtain the heart
severe health complications and increase the risk of heart
rate. PPG is a cuff-less and non-invasive method to measure
disease, stroke, and sometimes death. Hypertension is the
changes in blood volume.
leading cause of mortality in the world, responsible for 9.4
million deaths worldwide every year. About 30 % of adults Chao-Ting Chu and Chian-Cheng Ho [3] proposed
have raised BP and prevalence of hypertension increased a non-invasive optical heart rate monitor base on one chip
with body mass index (BMI) and age. It has now become integration microcontroller solution for
clear that daily BP readings have greater predictive power Photoplethysmogram (PPG) heart rate monitor. The PPG
for cardiovascular events than isolated in-clinic monitor circuit was implemented in the MSP430I2041
measurements, because the later practice may introduce which achieved easy detection operating environment for
white-coat hypertension, masked hypertension, and ignores body PPG signal acquisition. Disadvantage of this method is
the BP variability. Heart rate also provide lot of information noise would be present.
about the physical as well as mental activity of an
Ravi Narasimhan and Tushar Parlikar [9] proposed
individual. Both By monitoring the parameters such as
a blood pressure measurement which is achieved using a
blood pressure, heart rate and oxygen saturation at a
two-dimensional capacitive tactile sensor array that is
frequent pace, the heart related illness could be avoided.
located next to a digital artery. The digital artery pressure
There are many cost-effective methods of patient health
waveform data collected are used to estimate the arterial
monitoring available, however, an IoT based monitoring is
blood pressure.
required for when the patient is not at the hospital. The fact
that they are being monitored when at home gives the Philip A. Shaltis and Andrew T. Reisner [10]
patient a sense of peace and helps them to be relaxed and presents a new principle for noninvasive blood pressure
measurements through a modified volume-oscillometric
technique that eliminates an inflatable pressure cuff, and instead takes advantage of natural hydrostatic pressure
changes caused by raising and lowering the subject’s arm.
Azhari, S.Yoshimoto and T. Nezu [7] propose a patient monitoring. Results and discussion of the proposed
method which uses an optical sensor to measure the amount method is given in section III. Finally, section IV covers the
of oxygen saturation in blood. The light sources used to conclusion.
detect the PPG signal are separated by a switch and are then
digitized into SpO2 values. The major disadvantage in this II. METHODOLOGY
method is that the patient might feel inconvenience while The block diagram of the proposed health
wearing the headband containing the sensor and system set. monitoring model is shown in Fig.1. In this model a
Sivapriya Natarasan and Pavithra Sekaris [8] compact equipment is designed.
proposed a method for measuring SpO2 based on the
principle of Beer’s law. Beer’s law states that the amount of
light absorbed is proportional to the concentration of
absorbing substance. An application is also developed in
this method which sends a push notification to the doctor via
a cloud server where the patient's data are securely stored
and can be viewed by the doctor.
Abdelrahman Y. H. Elagha and Ahmad A. H. EL-
Farra [14] presents the design of a non-invasive medical
device that is capable of monitoring and measuring the
saturation of peripheral oxygen (SpO2) in a patient’s blood
as well as their heartbeat rate simultaneously. A PIC
microcontroller and an optical sensor were used and the
acquired signals from the sensor were filtered, processed,
numerically calculated and displayed by the Matlab
program.
Fig.1. Block diagram of IoT based health monitoring
A continuous temperature monitoring system has system.
been designed by Annie Anak Joseph and Timothy Huang
Li Xuan [6]. With the use of temperature sensor and the The design consists of Arduino UNO
android application, the body temperature of the infants microcontroller, blood pressure sensor, Max 30100 pulse
could be monitored continuously whereas the existing oximetry sensor which measures the oxygen saturation level
thermometer can only measure the current temperature as well as heart rate, LM35 temperature sensor, ESP8266
value. Wi-Fi module, LCD, GPS and GSM modules.
An IOT based health monitoring and tracking A. Arduino UNO
system for soldiers is proposed by Niket Patii and Brijesh
Iyer [12]. Pulse rate, body temperature, and oxygen level of The Arduino Uno is an open-source
the soldiers can be monitored. GPS is used to track the microcontroller board based on the Microchip.
location of the servicemen. The transmission of these
parameters to the control room is carried out by IoT.
Saowakhon Nookhao and Vipa Thananant [15]
proposed a portable heartbeat and body temperature
monitoring system. The device shows the heartbeat and
temperature readings on LCD display and at the same time
sends them to the cloud platform in real-time via Wi-Fi.
B. David Chung Hu and Huzein Fahmi [13]
proposes a home health care and monitoring architecture for
the elderly people. There are sensors integrated in the
system to measure human vital sign, sleeping and movement
pattern. The output readings are transmitted to cloud storage Fig.2. Schematic diagram of Arduino UNO board
where it is able to provide real time information to close
family members and care takers. The developed system is ATmega328P microcontroller and developed by
able to send out emergency request when elders are in Arduino.cc. It has 20 digital input/output pins, a 16 MHz
danger at home. resonator, a USB connection, a power jack, an in-circuit
system programming (ICSP) header, and a reset button.
The drawbacks in the existing systems are Arduino obtains the analog data from the sensors, processes
overcome in the proposed system by continuous monitoring
it and provides the result to LCD. It is powered using USB
of heart rate and blood pressure. The paper is organized as
cable. UART Serial communication takes place in Arduino.
follows. Section II covers the proposed methodology for
Arduino IDE software is used for interfacing.
 B. Blood Pressure Sensor The Blood Pressure Sensor is a non-invasive sensor
to measure blood pressure. It measures systolic and diastolic
pressure based on the principle oscillometric method.

GPS helps you get where you are going, from point A to
point B. The GPS receiver calculates its own position and
time based on data received from multiple GPS satellites.
Each satellite carries an accurate record of its position and
time, and transmits that data to the receiver. In this paper
GPS tracking system is used to track the location of the
patient. Fig (5) shows the symbol of GPS.
GSM stands for Global System for Mobile
communication and is a digital mobile network that is
primarily used with mobile phones in Europe and other parts
Fig.3. Blood Pressure Sensor of the world. The technique uses different time division
multiple access (TDMA). GSM compresses uses
The cuff is placed on the patient’s arm, and the digitalization to compress data and sends it through a
cuff bladder is inflated with air until the external pressure channel with two other streams of user data, with each
exceeds the intra-arterial systolic pressure and arterial flow taking place in their own time slots. Here the GSM module
past the cuff ceases. The cuff bladder pressure is slowly is used to send continuous messages to the physician
released. Usually, pressure cuff linked to a mercury column is indicating the readings of the patient. In case of abnormality
used to measure the blood pressure. Here, the doctor manually an alert call is made to the physician.
pumps the cuff to increase the pressure on the artery. Then
using stethoscope the noise of the blood rushing through the III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
artery. Heart rate can also be measured. Fig 3 shows the Blood Heart rate, Blood pressure and Temperature are
Pressure sensor. some of the important chronic parameters of human body.
With the proposed model it is possible to measure the
C. ESP8266 Wi-Fi Module: chronic parameters at ease. This health monitoring system
helps the doctor to provide urgent care to those in danger
The ESP8266 Wi-Fi Module is a self-contained thereby saving lives. It is a convenient design since the
SOC with integrated TCP/IP protocol stack that can give doctor can manage the patient through an application.
any microcontroller access to the Wi-Fi network. The As discussed in the previous chapter the interfacing
ESP8266 shown in Fig.4 is capable of either hosting an of the components has been done and an experiment was
application or offloading all Wi-Fi networking functions conducted with 10 people. The vitals of the people were
from another application processor. Each ESP8266 module recorded and tabulated. For simplicity purpose the graph
comes pre-programmed with an AT command set firmware, plotting of only one patient is attached in Figures 4.3, 4.4 and
meaning, you can simply hook this up to the Arduino device 4.5.
and get about as much Wi-Fi ability as a Wi-Fi Shield A. HARDWARE MODULE
offers. In the proposed method, this module is used to store The hardware module of the health monitoring
the data in the cloud and can be accessed from anywhere in system is shown in Figure 4.1. The Arduino board is
the world. embedded using the Arduino IDE software. It is a text editor
and is used for writing code, compiling the code to check for
errors are and uploading the code to the microcontroller board.
The language supported by the IDE software are C/C++. 

Fig.4 ESP8266 Wi-Fi Module

D. GPS and GSM module Figure 4.1 Hardware Module
The module has a real time heart rate and BP
GPS, or the Global Positioning System, is a global sensor which has a cuff that has to be wrapped around the left
navigation satellite system that provides location, velocity wrist. Upon providing power supply, the cuff inflates and
and time synchronization. GPS is everywhere. You can find starts deflating slowly. The temperature sensor reads the data
GPS systems in your car, your smartphone and your watch.
after placing a finger on it and the monitored data will be ("fast heart"). The LM35 sensor detects the temperature of the
displayed. patient. The normal body temperature for an adult is around
Heart rate is determined by the number of heart 98.6°F (37°C), but every person's baseline body temperature is
beats per unit of time, typically expressed as beats per minute. slightly different, and may consistently be a little higher or
This can vary as the body’s need for oxygen changes in a lower. Figure 4.2 (a) and (b) shows the real time heart rate and
period of time. It is known that the average normal heart rate BP sensor module and the LCD display of temperature
is usually stated as 60 to 100 beats per minute. Slower than 60 respectively.
is bradycardia ("slow heart"); faster than 100 is tachycardia

Fig 4.2(a) Display of Heart rate and Blood Pressure

Fig 4.2(b) Display of Temperature

4.2 PARAMETER MONITORING

An experiment was undertaken to check the

efficiency of the project. A total of 10 people participated in
the trial. To provide clarity the graph depicting the vitals of
one of them is given in Figure 4.3, 4.4 and 4.5. The
comprehensive reading is tabulated and shown in Table 3.13.
The monitored heart rate and temperature data for
patient 1 is shown in Figure 4.3 (a) and (b) respectively. Once
the sensor starts monitoring the data, it gets uploaded in the
cloud. For every 20 seconds, the cloud gets updated. The
stored data can be viewed in the form of a graph which shows
the variation in the data. Fig 4.3(b) Continuous Monitoring of Temperature

The blood pressure sensor in this model is used to

monitor the pressure value to make sure it does not exceed
the threshold. Systolic blood pressure indicates how much
pressure is exerting against the artery walls when the heart
beats. Diastolic blood pressure indicates how much pressure
is exerting against the artery walls while the heart is resting
between beats. Blood pressure numbers of less than 120/80
mm Hg are considered within the normal range. Elevated
blood pressure is when readings consistently range from
120-129 systolic and less than 80 mm Hg
diastolic. Hypertension occurs when systolic pressure is
greater than 130 mmHg diastolic greater than 80mmHg.
Fig 4.3(a) Continuous Monitoring of Heart Rate Hypertension crisis is when the diastolic is greater than 180
and/or diastolic is higher is greater than 120mmHg. This
stage requires immediate doctor consultation. The variations
of systolic and diastolic blood pressure are indicated in
Figure 4.4 (a) and (b) respectively.
 Fig 4.4(a) Continuous Monitoring of Systolic Pressure

Patient Hear Systoli Diastol Temperatur

No. t c ic e
Rate Pressu Pressu
re re
Patient 1 78 78 59 84

Patient 2 79 87 67 88
Fig 4.4(b) Continuous Monitoring of Diastolic Pressure
Patient 3 71 78 59 87
In case of emergency that is when the parameters Patient 4 82 86 71 92
exceed the provided threshold, the wired GSM module notifies
Patient 5 76 85 66 93
the caretaker as well as the concerned doctor by making a call.
The working of the GSM module is similar to a mobile Patient 6 87 91 79 89
system. This design has the option for making two emergency Patient 7 83 89 75 96
calls and the second call is made only after the first call is
completed. This way it is made possible for the doctor to take Patient 8 81 79 68 86
quick action, once he sees the alert call. The emergency Patient 9 76 87 64 94
contacts should be provided by the patient, which has to be
embedded in the GSM module during the start of the system. Patient 10 78 84 73 93
The GPS module used in this system is for sending the patient
location in terms of latitude and longitude coordinates. The
GPS module detects and sends the location details to the
cloud. This facilitates the doctor to locate the patient and send
necessary help.

Fig 4.5(b) Longitude location of patient

Figure 4.5 (a) and (b) shows the latitude and

longitude coordinates of patient 1 respectively. If the patient is
idle the graph displays a straight line and shows variation if
the patient is moving.
 Table 3.14 Monitored Parameters

and temperature values are obtained. The patients were

monitored for a span of one day and the average readings
are

considered. The design was found to be efficient and useful

by the patients. The monitored Heart Rate, Blood Pressure
and Temperature parameters for 10 patients is shown in
Table 3.14.

Thus, a health monitoring design has been

Fig 4.5(a) Longitude coordinate of patient developed to help improve the quality of life of patients with
the employment of IoT. The inclusion of GPS and GSM
adds efficiency to the design and helps in recovery
In this manner an experiment was conducted using ten
operations. The proposed model is aimed at reducing the
patients and their corresponding heart rate, blood pressure
mortality rate due to heart related illness.

CONCLUSION for monitoring of the patient. The usage of Arduino UNO

board helps make the design cost efficient. This model makes
Not everyone is privileged to have a regular check- continuous monitoring of physical parameters possible without
up at hospital or can they afford staying at hospital for a going to the hospital. The monitored data is stored in the cloud
prolonged period for continuous monitoring. A good health for further access. The system also has features for alerting the
monitoring system should not be made a luxury and must be caretaker through call in case of emergency. The features for
affordable and easily accessible to everyone. The existing providing alert call and location of the patient provides way
systems fails to integrate monitoring and management of for immediate recovery actions. The main advantage of this
health care. The focus of this design is to satisfy these model is that it provides 24h uninterrupted monitoring of
requirements. patient’s parameters, thus making efficient health monitoring
The system employs sensors such as heart rate and
blood pressure sensor which are interfaced with Arduino Uno
feasible and more comfortable to the patients. The ambulance will arrive at the patient’s location during
aim of this design is to help continuous monitoring of patient emergency. In the future the design can be extended in such a
without prolonged stay at hospital and reduce the risk of losing way that the doctor can monitor the vitals of more than one
of life. With the help of this design, doctor can keep track of patient with a single application by changing the code
the patient’s records. The system also comes in handy at the accordingly.
time of emergency. Thus, a portable patient monitoring system
based on wireless sensor network technology was proposed. References

The design also provides scope for extension.

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