Energy-Efficient Remote Temperature Monitoring System for Patients Based on GSM Modem and Microcontroller

— This study presents a real-time remote monitoring system (RTRMS) for the temperature of patients admitted to hospitals. A GSM modem was interfaced with microcontroller PIC16F877A to alerts physicians in real time via short message service (SMS) in emergency cases when the temperature of a patient rises. A sleep/wake energy-efficient algorithm has been implemented inside the microcontroller to reduce the power consumption of GSM and microcontroller. The microcontroller and GSM modem can be in a sleep mode when the temperature of a patient is steady. Consequently, power consumption can be improved and battery lifespan can be prolonged for RTRMS. In addition, the measurement accuracy was confirmed relative to the benchmark (digital thermometer) based on the mean absolute error (MAE). Results show that the proposed RTRMS is achieved 99% power savings relative to traditional RTRMS (i.e., without sleep/wake algorithm). The obtained MAE of 0.205 suggested a close agreement between the benchmark and the proposed RTRMS. The proposed system is a real-time monitoring, applicable, cost-effective, and efficient means for transmitting information because it utilizes the advantages of the infrastructure of GSM network and features a ready mobile device connected with physicians. In addition, the RTRMS can be used in numerous applications and for others parameters rather than temperature with simple modifications (e.g., heart rate, respiratory rate, and electrocardiography for monitoring health care, rehabilitation for monitoring gait speed and cadence, and muscle activity and patient fall detection for safety monitoring).