Systematic node management mechanism using ZigBee-based real-time vital sign information monitoring system to manage large numbers of patients.

Background: Local hospitals must deal with large numbers of patients during mass casualty incidents, and the wireless sensor networks (WSNs) can help in these situations by monitoring vital signs. Conventional ZigBee nodes can obtain the ID of a device by assigning a unique 16-bit short address or by burning firmware into an IC. These methods tend to complicate node management and lack portability.

Objective: The study developed a node management mechanism to deal with a large number of patients in real-time, through the wireless monitoring of physiological signals. The mechanism proposed for the ZigBee WSN is based on a three-layer (Coordinator, Control Router, and End Device) tree topology.

Methods: The proposed system includes a node deployment process to formulate a ZigBee WSN as a tree topology, an algorithm to automatically number ZigBee nodes for monitoring and control system (MCS), and an algorithm to automatically obtain the short addresses of nodes for data collection. Specifically, an algorithm automatically collects data from ZigBee nodes for display on a computer graphical user interface (GUI). We also developed a reliable data transmission method capable of resolving the problem of packet loss.

Results: The proposed method has been applied in a local hospital. Our research findings provide a valuable reference for the development of ZigBee-based MCS.

Conclusions: The proposed node management mechanism is faster, more reliable, and more intuitive to use, than traditional methods.