Wireless Body Area Networks for Healthcare: A Survey

Wireless Body Area Networks (WBANs) are emerging as important networks, applicable in various fields. This paper surveys the WBANs that are designed for applications in healthcare. The authors present a comprehensive survey consisting of stand-alone sections focusing on important aspects of WBANs. They examine the following: monitoring and sensing, power efficient protocols, system architectures, routing and security. They conclude by discussing some open research issues, their potential solutions and future trends. The increase in average lifespan and health cost in many developed nations are catalysts to innovation in health care. These factors along with the advances in miniaturization of electronic devices, sensing, battery and wireless communication technologies have led to the development of Wireless Body Area Networks (WBANs).