Feasibility of Backscatter Communication Using LoRAWAN Signals for Deep Implanted Devices and Wearable Applications

Brave New Healthcare: A Narrative Review of Digital Healthcare in American Medicine

The digital revolution has had a profound effect on American and global healthcare, which was accelerated by the pandemic and telehealth applications. Digital health also includes popular and more esoteric forms of wearable monitoring systems and interscatter and other wireless technologies that facilitate their telemetry. The rise in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) may serve to improve interpretation from imaging technologies to electrocardiography or electroencephalographic tracings, and new ML techniques may allow these systems to scan data to discern and contextualize patterns that may have evaded human physicians. The necessity of virtual care during the pandemic has morphed into new treatment paradigms, which have gained patient acceptance but still raise issues with respect to privacy laws and credentialing. Augmented and virtual reality tools can facilitate surgical planning and "hands-on" clinical training activities. Patients are working with new frontiers in digital health in the form of "Dr. Google" and patient support websites to learn or share medical information. Patient-facing digital health information is both a blessing and curse, in that it can be a boon to health-literate patients who seek to be more active in their own care. On the other hand, digital health information can lead to false conclusions, catastrophizing, misunderstandings, and "cyberchondria." The role of blockchain, familiar from cryptocurrency, may play a role in future healthcare information and would serve as a disruptive, decentralizing, and potentially beneficial change. These important changes are both exciting and perplexing as clinicians and their patients learn to navigate this new system and how we address the questions it raises, such as medical privacy in a digital age. The goal of this review is to explore the vast range of digital health and how it may impact the healthcare system.

Smart Spread Spectrum Modulated Tags for Detection of Vulnerable Road Users with Automotive Radar

In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the number of collisions between vehicles and vulnerable road users such as pedestrians, cyclists, road workers and more recently scooter riders, especially in urban streets. This work studies the feasibility of enhancing the detection of these users by means of CW radars because they have a low radar cross section. Since the speed of these users is usually low, they can be confused with clutter due to the presence of large objects. To this end, this paper proposes, for the first time, a method based on a spread spectrum radio communication between vulnerable road users and the automotive radar consisting of modulating a backscatter tag, placed on the user. In addition, it is compatible with low-cost radars that use different waveforms such as CW, FSK or FMCW, and hardware modifications are not required. The prototype that has been developed is based on a commercial monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) amplifier connected between two antennas, which is modulated by switching its bias. Experimental results with a scooter, under static and moving conditions, using a low-power Doppler radar at a 24 GHz band compatible with blind spot radars, are provided.

Long-Range Wireless System for U-Value Assessment Using a Low-Cost Heat Flux Sensor

The present study exposes an economical and easy-to-use system to assess the heat transfer in building envelopes by determining the U-value. Nowadays these systems require long wires and a host to collect and process the data. In this work, a multi-point system for simultaneous heat flux measurement has been proposed. The aim is to reduce the long measurement time and the cost of thermal isolation evaluations in large buildings. The system proposed consists of a low-cost 3D-printed heat flux sensor integrated with a LoRa transceiver and two temperature sensors. The heat flux (HF) sensor was compared and calibrated with a commercial HF sensor from the Fluxteq brand.

Commercial Off-the-Shelf Components (COTS) in Realizing Miniature Implantable Wireless Medical Devices: A Review

Over the past decade, there has been exponential growth in the per capita rate of medical patients around the world, and this is significantly straining the resources of healthcare institutes. Therefore, the reliance on smart commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) implantable wireless medical devices (IWMDs) is increasing among healthcare institutions to provide routine medical services, such as monitoring patients' physiological signals and the remote delivery of therapeutic drugs. These smart COTS IWMDs reduce the necessity of recurring visits of patients to healthcare institutions and also mitigate physical contact, which can minimize the possibility of any potential spread of contagious diseases. Furthermore, the devices provide patients with the benefit of recuperating in familiar surroundings. As such, low-cost, ubiquitous COTS IWMDs have engendered the proliferation of telemedicine in healthcare to provide routine medical services. In this paper, a review work on COTS IWMDs is presented at a macro level to discuss the history of IWMDs, different networked COTS IWMDs, health and safety regulations of COTS IWMDs and the importance of organized procurement. Furthermore, we discuss the basic building blocks of IWMDs and how COTS components can contribute to build these blocks over widely researched custom-built application-specific integrated circuits.

Smart Face Mask with an Integrated Heat Flux Sensor for Fast and Remote People's Healthcare Monitoring

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted a large amount of challenges to address. To combat the spread of the virus, several safety measures, such as wearing face masks, have been taken. Temperature controls at the entrance of public places to prevent the entry of virus carriers have been shown to be inefficient and inaccurate. This paper presents a smart mask that allows to monitor body temperature and breathing rate. Body temperature is measured by a non-invasive dual-heat-flux system, consisting of four sensors separated from each other with an insulating material. Breathing rate is obtained from the temperature changes within the mask, measured with a thermistor located near the nose. The system communicates by means of long-range (LoRa) backscattering, leading to a reduction in average power consumption. It is designed to establish the relative location of the smart mask from the signal received at two LoRa receivers installed inside and outside an access door. Low-cost LoRa transceivers with WiFi capabilities are used in the prototype to collect information and upload it to a server. Accuracy in body temperature measurements is consistent with measurements made with a thermistor located in the armpit. The system allows checking the correct placement of the mask based on the recorded temperatures and the breathing rate measurements. Besides, episodes of cough can be detected by sudden changes in thermistor temperature.

Car2Car Communication Using a Modulated Backscatter and Automotive FMCW Radar

This work proposes the use of a modulated tag for direct communication between two vehicles using as a carrier the wave emitted by an FMCW radar installed in the vehicle for advanced driver assistance. The system allows for real-time signals detection and classification, such as stop signal, turn signals and emergency lights, adding redundancy to computer video sensors and without incorporating additional communication systems. A proof-of-concept tag has been designed at the microwave frequency of 24 GHz, consisting of an amplifier connected between receiving and transmitting antennas. The modulation is performed by switching the power supply of the amplifier. The tag is installed on the rear of the car and it answers when it is illuminated by the radar by modulating the backscattered field. The information is encoded in the modulation switching rate used. Simulated and experimental results are given showing the feasibility of the proposed solution.