Design of hybrid wireless sensor network to monitor bioelectric signals focused on the study of epilepsy

Epilepsy is considered a disorder in which a person has certain episodes of disturbed brain activity. There are different studies that allow monitoring physiological signals associated with a possible epileptic episode. However, these require wired connections and therefore monitoring is restricted to factors such as limited physical movements and loss of information by disconnecting sensors. Hence, there is not a system to monitor patients in a mobile (ambulatory) and wireless fashion. This paper describe a design of a wireless sensor network for a body area network (BAN ) for continuous monitoring (electroencephalogram [EEG], electrocardiogram [ECG]) and events monitoring (electrogastrogram [EGG]) defined by the expert. The system is based on a TDMA protocol that allows sensor nodes to continuously transmit their information as well as the event nodes access to the network when needed. The system is mathematically studied and numerical results are verified through discrete event simulations.