2006 a...

IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INSTRUMENTATION AND MEASUREMENT, VOL. 55, NO. 5, OCTOBER 2006 1655

A Wrist-Worn Integrated Health MonitoringInstrument with a Tele-Reporting Device

for Telemedicine and TelecareJae Min Kang, Student Member, IEEE, Taiwoo Yoo, and Hee Chan Kim, Member, IEEE

Abstract—In this paper, the prototype development of awrist-worn integrated health monitoring device (WIHMD) withtele-reporting function for emergency telemedicine and hometelecare for the elderly is reported. The WIHMD consists ofsix vital biosignal measuring modules, which include a falldetector, a single-channel electrocardiogram, noninvasive bloodpressure, pulse oximetry (SpO2), respiration rate, and bodysurface temperature measuring units. The size of the WIHMDis 60 × 50 × 20 mm, except the wrist cuff, and the total sys-tem weighs 200 g, including two 1.5-V AAA-sized batteries. Thefunctional objective of the WIHMD is to provide information con-cerning current condition, such as vital biosignals and locationalinformation, with compromised fidelity to experts at a distancethrough the commercial cellular phone network. The developedsystem will provide the facility for rapid and appropriate direc-tions to be given by experts in emergency situations and will enablethe user or caregiver to manage changes in health condition withhelpful treatment.

Index Terms—Biosignal measurement, cellular phone network,emergency telemedicine, health monitoring device, home telecare,ubiquitous healthcare.

I. INTRODUCTION

THE PROVISION of healthcare in most countries is fac-ing common problems, namely an aging population, the

burden of chronic conditions, the increase of emergency occur-rence frequencies, an increase in the associated medical costs,and the lack of efficient health models to provide a satisfactorysolution [1]. Of these, the main topic requiring solution is theprovision of an effective medical service to the elderly andemergency patients.

Due to the aging population in the present era, the require-ments for efficient healthcare for the elderly and the associatedhealthcare cost burden are increasing. In fact, the cost of carefor those aged over 65 at present is more than ten times that forindividuals aged between 16 and 64 years. Moreover, elderly

Manuscript received October 6, 2004; revised May 5, 2006. This work wassupported in part by the Korea Science and Engineering Foundation throughthe Bioelectronics Program of the Specified R&D Grants from the Ministry ofScience and Technology. This paper was presented in part at the 26th AnnualInternational Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and BiologySociety, San Francisco, CA, September 1–4, 2004.

J. M. Kang and H. C. Kim are with the Department of Biomedical Engi-neering, College of Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul 110-744, Korea(e-mail: [email protected]).

T. Yoo is with the Department of Family Medicine, College of Medicine,Seoul National University, Seoul 110-744, Korea.

Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TIM.2006.881035

people consume a high proportion of healthcare services, andin the future, this proportion is likely to rise considerably [2].In addition, emergency occurrence frequency related to theelderly or patients at risk of potentially critical events is alsoincreasing. In emergency situations, it has always been recog-nized that promptness and the appropriateness of treatment arethe most critical factors. Recent studies have shown that earlyand specialized prehospital management contributes to emer-gency case survival. The prehospital phase of management—inparticular, accurate triage to direct the patient to the closestmost appropriate facility—is of critical importance [3].

One possible solution to the problem of delivering efficientcare to an aging population and patients in potential emergencyenvironments is to introduce telemedicine and telecare by com-bining health state monitoring devices with tele-reporting func-tionality. To provide an effective care service, it is necessary todevelop a mobile patient monitor with a tele-reporting function.

Existing patient monitoring devices have been used exten-sively in many areas of healthcare, from the hospital intensivecare unit (ICU) to care at home [4]. Although commercializedpatient monitors provide high fidelity data, and many facilitiesare using them, they are limited from the user’s perspective.1) They are inconvenient, that is, they are bulky and need tobe connected to several electrodes to measure various vitalbiosignals. 2) They have poor mobility and restrict usage inhospitals or indoors. 3) They are relatively expensive to be usedall the time and by people who cannot afford them. Due to theselimitations, existing patient monitoring systems are unsuitablewhen monitoring has to be accomplished over periods of severalweeks or months, as is the case for the elderly and patients atrisk of potentially critical events.

An integrated portable telemedicine system would benefit theelderly and patients in critical life conditions by providing aperiodic health condition monitoring and a rapid response ca-pability in emergency situations based on information exchangebetween a patient and a professional. This type of systemwill undoubtedly result in reduced mortality and dramaticallyimprove patient outcomes. It will benefit not only individualusers but also eventually the whole community by reducingtotal healthcare costs.

In this paper, we describe a wrist-worn integrated healthmonitoring device (WIHMD) with tele-reporting function foremergency telemedicine and home telecare. Our strategy is thatevery possible vital biosignal instrument is built into a wrist-worn unit, and a central processor supervises the operation of

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1656 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INSTRUMENTATION AND MEASUREMENT, VOL. 55, NO. 5, OCTOBER 2006

Fig. 1. Functional block diagram of the WIHMD system.

Fig. 2. Schematic drawing of the prototype WIHMD.

each component, analyzes the measured data, and then rapidlycommunicates with the patient’s caregivers, such as doctorsor relatives, through a connected telecommunication device.Thus, it is possible to get rapid and appropriate directionsmade to handle emergency situations and to enable the user orcaregiver to detect and manage changes in the user’s health.The technical challenge in the development of such a device isnot only to integrate several health monitoring devices into asmall wrist-wearable unit but also to make the system practicalfor healthcare service that is reliable under various operatingconditions, easy to operate and manage, and affordable formost possible users. Ultimately, the WIHMD will enhance thequality of life for the elderly and patients in potential emergencyenvironments.

II. MATERIALS AND METHODS

A. System Description

The WIHMD consists of six vital biosignal measuringmodules, which include a fall detector, single-channel electro-cardiogram (ECG), noninvasive blood pressure (NIBP), pulseoximetry (SpO2), respiration rate, and body surface tempera-ture (BST) measuring units. As shown in Fig. 1, the centralunit of a microcontroller (ATmega103L, Atmel, USA) with128 KB of in-system programmable flash, 4 KB SRAM,and programmable serial universal asynchronous receivertransmitter (UART) manages the operation of each measure-ment module and evaluates the patient state by collecting andanalyzing the measured data. As shown in Fig. 2, the hardwareof the actual device is made of a wrist cuff for the NIBPmeasurement and a main unit mounted on the cuff. Two textileelectrodes for ECG and a semiconductor temperature sensor are

Fig. 3. Photograph of the developed WIHMD worn on the wrist.

attached to the inner surfaces of the cuff, and a finger clip-type SpO2 sensor is connected to the main unit. Fig. 3 showsa picture of the developed system worn on the wrist. It alsocontains two printed circuit boards, which include analog anddigital circuitry and other onboard sensors. The size of theWIHMD is 60 × 50 × 20 mm, excepting the wrist cuff, andthe total system weighs 200 g, including two 1.5-V AAA-sizedbatteries. The total power consumption is about 150 mA with3-V supply voltage in active mode, where all measuring mod-ules are in operation and about 5 mA in idle mode with only thefall detector in operation.

The software of WIHMD was developed for operationalsimplicity and efficiency. Considering the fact that the possibleusers are relatively old and infirm, any complicated user inter-face would be counterproductive in daily life or in emergencysituations. The WIHMD provides relatively large graphic iconson a 128 × 64 pixel graphic LCD and three input buttons as userinterface and connects with public telecommunication devices,like cellular phones, in a wireless manner. When it is ordered todo so, the microcontroller wakes up from a power-saving modeand digitizes the analog output of each measurement modulethrough its imbedded A/D converter with 10-bit resolution and100-Hz sampling rate. In emergency telemedicine mode, theWIHMD starts to operate either if it automatically detects theemergency occurrence, mainly based on the fall detector output,or if the wearer presses any button for longer than 5 s whenhe/she feels something is wrong. In this mode, the WIHMDperforms all measurements and sends the measured data to pre-assigned caregivers as quickly as possible. The characteristicsof each measurement module and telecommunication deviceare given below.

B. Measurement Module and TelecommunicationDevice Description

1) Fall Detector: Falls are one of the greatest obstacles toindependent living for frail and elderly people. People of all

KANG et al.: WIHMD WITH A TELE-REPORTING DEVICE FOR TELEMEDICINE AND TELECARE 1657

ages fall, but these accidents rarely cause injury for the youngermembers of society; however, among the elderly population,they are often much more serious. Perhaps half of all falls inolder people result in minor soft-tissue damage, but 10%–15%cause serious physical injury [5]. So, early detection is animportant step in providing elderly people with the reassuranceand confidence necessary to maintain an active lifestyle.

It is known that a combination of an accelerometer anda gyroscope must be used to accurately detect the differentkinds of falls [6]. We developed a simple fall detector usinga two-axis accelerometer (MMA3201, Motorola, USA) and ain-house-made posture sensor that is basically composed of aphoto-interrupter with a pendulum. As a result of a pendulumswing, a photo-interrupter acts as an ON–OFF switch to indicatethe wearer’s wrist orientation with respect to gravity. The falldetection scheme is as follows. First, the system is in idle modeto minimize power consumption. If peak acceleration exceedsa predetermined threshold, the comparator output wakes up thesystem into active mode. Then, after 1 s, the central processorunit turns on the posture sensor and reads its output for thenext 1 s. If the output of the posture sensor indicates that thesubject’s lower arm is laid on the ground, the central processorunit determines an occurrence of fall; otherwise, it just returnsto idle mode. Using this relatively simple operational scheme,we achieved a remarkable reduction in the number of falsepositive alarms caused by vehicle (elevator, car, etc.) riding orbrisk motions of arm and so on.

Since almost all emergency situations are accompanied bya fall, the fall detector remains active all the time and iscrucially used to detect emergency onset. When the WIHMDdetects a fall event, it confirms whether the wearer is con-scious or not by raising a sound alarm. Then, if there is noresponse from the wearer in a given time (10 s), the WIHMDstarts the vital biosignal measurements and provides the emer-gency occurrence to preassigned caregivers with the appropriateinformation.2) Single-Channel ECG: ECG is widely used as one of

the most simple and effective methods of continuously mon-itoring the heart for tele-healthcare and conventional med-ical care. For ECG measurement on the wrist, we used onlytwo textile electrodes for a single channel (Lead I), whichrecord the ECG between each arm. The textile electrodes aremade of a conductive sheet, which has a surface resistance of0.05–0.1 Ω/cm2. One textile ECG electrode for the left armis attached to the inner surface of the wrist cuff, and the righthand must touch the other electrode at the outer layer of thecuff. The analog circuitry of the ECG module consists of aninstrumentation amplifier, a notch filter, and a noninvertingamplifier with a total gain and bandwidth of 80 dB and 40 Hz,respectively. The ECG signal is converted into a digital signalwith sampling rate of 100 Hz for heart rate (HR) estimations.3) NIBP: Abnormal blood pressure is the most powerful

cardiovascular risk factor. Regular blood pressure monitoring athome in free living conditions is helpful in the management ofcardiovascular diseases [7]. The accumulated NIBP data overan extended period can be used to evaluate a patient’s healthand indicate the time for medical treatment. In this study, aconventional digital wrist sphygmomanometer was developed.

The NIBP module was constructed using a motor, pump,solenoid valve, and wrist cuff from a commercialized product(SE-309, Sein Inc., Korea) and a small semiconductor pressuresensor (MPXM2053, Motorola, USA). All electronic circuitryand the program for oscillometric pressure measurement weredeveloped in this laboratory [8].4) SpO2: Pulse oximetry is a noninvasive method of moni-

toring the arterial oxygen saturation level based on Beer’s lawfor the absorption of light by hemoglobin and oxyhemoglobin.The pulse oximeter makes use of the pulsatile components ofarterial blood’s absorbance values at two different wavelengths.We used red (660 nm) and infrared (940 nm) light emittingdiode (LED) as the incident light source. The reflected light isrecorded by a photodetector, and variations in light intensityare caused by changes in flow and pressure pulsations inblood. Then, the SpO2 value is calculated from the level ofvariations in light intensity in each channel (Red, IR). For thissystem, a SpO2 module was developed using a commercialfinger clip sensor (8000H, NONIN, USA) connected to themain unit, which includes the required electronic circuitryand program.5) Respiration Rate: In patients with chronic obstructive

pulmonary diseases and sleep apnea, it is important to evaluatethe extent of obstruction of the respiratory system; regulartesting is often useful in this regard [9]. Long-term ambula-tory recording of respiration can provide more extensive andspecific information about the occurrence of abnormal patternsof breathing.

In this study, respiration rate was estimated from the R–Rinterval variation curve, which is the only possible way underthe limitation that the measuring position is restricted to thewrist. First, we calculate the R–R interval between each beatfrom the ECG waveform using the QRS detection algorithm.After rejecting false detection of the QRS peak using the meantime interval threshold, we acquire the R–R interval variationcurve. Then, the respiration rate is calculated using the baselinecrossing algorithm [10].6) BST: Central body temperature is one of the basic factors

that reflect homeostasis, and it can indirectly tell whether a pa-tient’s condition has worsened or whether the temperature of thepatient’s environment has changed. BST, as determined fromwrist skin, is quite different from the central body temperaturebut can be used to detect changes in a patient’s environmentalor physiological state.

In the developed system, the BST module was fabricatedusing an IC-type temperature sensor (TC1047, Microchips,USA). It is small in size, low cost, consumes little power, andis highly accurate. The sensor is attached to the inner surface ofthe wrist cuff with its sensing surface contacting the skin.7) Tele-Reporting Device: The tele-reporting device is an

essential part of telemedicine or tele-healthcare systems likeWIHMD. In the case of emergency telemedicine, it mustrapidly transfer the information acquired by the instrumentto caregivers. In home telecare for the elderly, such a rapidtransfer is not necessary, but transferring the measured data toa centralized server or doctor’s personal computer is still re-quired for later examination by healthcare services. Nowadays,many kinds of wireless communication devices are available,


TABLE ISUMMARY OF PERFORMANCE EVALUATION RESULTS

e.g., Bluetooth, wireless local area network (LAN), radio fre-quency (RF) transceiver, and a cellular phone.

In our previous research, we compared the telecommuni-cation methods to be used with a chest strap type of patientmonitoring device for emergency telemedicine system (ETS)[11]. Based on the results of the previous study and consideringthe system complexity, power consumption, and reliability, wechose an RF transceiver and a cellular phone for short- andlong-range telecommunications, respectively. In the developedsystem, tele-reporting was accomplished in two separate ways.The first involved an RF link between the WIHMD and a cellu-lar phone for short-range transmission. The second involved thetransmission of information to remote caregivers and/or a servercomputer through the commercial cellular phone network. Weused TXM-LC and RXM-LC (433 MHz, 10 mW, FM, LINXtech, USA) as RF transmission and reception modules, respec-tively; the latter is connected to a cellular phone (IM-3000, SKTeletech, Korea) via an RS-232 connection with 38400-Bd rate.

III. RESULTS

A. Performance Evaluation

Prior to practical application, we evaluated the performanceof each measurement module using commercialized simulatorsand a test setup and by human trial as summarized in Table I.Except the human trial cases, the transducers or electrodes ofthe WIHMD were directly connected to the simulators or thetest setup. Fig. 4 shows a screen display of the data acquisitionprogram used for the performance evaluation test and systemdebugging. This program consists of one data block in whichthe measured parameters and patient information are shownand three waveform blocks for SpO2, ECG, and oscillatory cuffpressure of NIBP measurement.

Performance evaluation of the developed ECG module wasaccomplished using a commercial ECG simulator (Patient-Simulator 214B, DNI Nevada Inc., USA) [12]. For varioussimulated ECG outputs with range of 40–240 bpm, the devel-oped ECG module produced HR outputs for normal waveformswithin a mean error of ±1%. The performance of the devel-oped NIBP module was verified using a commercial simulator(BPPump2M, BIO_TEK, USA) [13]. For all simulator outputs

Fig. 4. Screen display of the data acquisition program for the performanceevaluation test.

Fig. 5. Respiration rate detection using R–R interval variability. (Above)Real respiration waveform using a spirometer. (Below) Extracted respirationwaveform from R–R interval variability.


TABLE IIUSER NEEDS ANALYSIS OF THE HEALTH MONITORING DEVICE FOR EMERGENCY TELEMEDICINE AT FOUR DIFFERENT SITUATIONS

for wrist measurement, the developed NIBP module providedoutputs within an error range of ±5 mmHg. In the case of theSpO2 module, we used a commercial SpO2 simulator (Oxitestplus7, DNI Nevada Inc., USA) for evaluation [14]. Over variousranges of SpO2 levels, the output showed an accuracy withinan error range of ±2%. In a performance evaluation study, therespiration rate was simultaneously measured using a commer-cial spirometer (WebDoc Spiro, Elbio Company, Korea) as areference. In Fig. 5, the upper plot shows the respiratory signalof the spirometer, while the bottom plot shows the extractedrespiratory signal as the R–R interval variability from the ECG.Extensive comparative tests showed that the respiratory signalby R–R interval variability was highly correlated with the realrespiration rate. However, the R–R interval variation is affectedby many physiologic or emotional factors other than respira-tion. In addition, since the respiratory signal is sampled by eachheartbeat, the extracted respiratory signal showed a low corre-lation with the actual over the range of 8–18 breaths/min [10].

For the evaluation of the BST module, the developed modulewas tested inside a heated chamber at temperatures that wereincremented over the range of 25 C to 40 C in 1 C steps. Theresults showed good linearity and an accuracy within a meanerror of ±1.5%.

For the evaluation of the fall detector, a total of 150 simulatedcases were tested. Five human subjects were asked to try threedifferent types of movements, namely 1) fall while walking,2) fall while standing, and 3) sit from standing with ten timesrepetition of each. Our fall detection algorithm based on two-stage checking of the posture after the falling accelerationsignals provided a good detection rate of over 90%. Table Isummarizes the results of the performance evaluation.

B. Application to Emergency Telemedicine

The functional objective of the WIHMD with respect toemergency telemedicine is to provide patient health informa-tion, such as vital biosignals and locational information, to thenearest emergency service center in a form that allows rapidand appropriate expert response. We analyzed four possibleemergency scenarios in which the device would be useful;Table II summarizes the results.

In the emergency telemedicine mode, the WIHMD startsto operate as soon as it automatically detects an emergencyoccurrence using its built-in fall detector or when the user

activates the device by pressing the emergency button. Oncean emergency has been detected, the main control unit sends anemergency alarm and the patient’s health information throughthe connected cellular phone using the short messaging service(SMS), which is basically a text transmission service providedby the cellular phone company. In this study, we transferredsix parameters, i.e., HR, respiration rate, blood pressure, SpO2,BST, and the location of the user as represented by the mobilephone service base station ID. The advantages of the peer-to-peer SMS model are the rapid and safe transmission oftext messages without having to establish a centralized large-scale service system. Furthermore, it is possible to assignmultiple receivers, including doctors or family members, sothat interested parties may receive the message simultaneously.In addition, recently, mobile phones are being equipped with aglobal positioning system (GPS), which can directly guide therescue team to the precise emergency location [11].

Due to the difficulty in applying the developed WIHMD toreal emergency situations, we attempted to simulate emergencysituations and evaluated the performance of the system. Threevolunteer subjects were asked to wear the WIHMD for 16 ha day during waking hours and were asked to make threemanual emergency alarms and three simulated falls per day.Fig. 6 shows the test result of the emergency telemedicineapplication. Fig. 6(a) shows typical accelerometer and posturesensor waveforms with parameters and events used in the falldetection algorithm, while Fig. 6(b) shows a screen display ofthe emergency event-logging program during this testing. Thisprogram shows the logged emergency events with records of thepatient information (ID, name, and age), the measured phys-iological values, event type, and position/location ID. In realapplications, a cellular phone was wirelessly connected to theWIHMD and sent emergency messages and health informationto other designated cellular phones shown on the right-handside in Fig. 7. All subjects felt comfortable wearing the devicefor 16 h. All manually activated and simulated events weresuccessfully detected, and the preassigned recipient cellularphone received messages correctly.

IV. CONCLUSION

We have developed a WIHMD for use in emergencytelemedicine and home telecare for the elderly. The unit was de-signed to provide tele-healthcare services for high-risk patients


Fig. 6. Test results for the emergency telemedicine application. (a) Typical waveforms of the accelerometer and the posture sensor for the simulated fall.(b) Screen display of the emergency event-logging program.

Fig. 7. Photograph of the cellular phone connected to the developed WIHMDand SMS display on the receiver’s cellular phone in the emergency telemedicineapplication.

and the solitary elderly at “any time/any place” in an uncon-strained fashion, in other words, ubiquitous healthcare services.The transmitted vital information comprises six physiologicalparameters and variables, namely 1) fall detection, 2) single-channel ECG, 3) arterial blood pressure, 4) SpO2, 5) respiration

rate, and 6) BST. The tele-reporting function of the WIHMDwas realized by wireless connection to a cellular phone. Alltest results confirm the applicability of the WIHMD to bothemergency telemedicine and home telecare.

A shortcoming of the WIHMD is the limited fidelity of themeasured biosignals due to the limited body contact with anarea of the wrist. If we could measure biosignals at other sites,such as the chest, waist, and ankle, and connect such distributedmeasurement modules using a so-called personal area network(PAN), then more and higher fidelity biosignals would be ac-quired. Bluetooth will be a more promising and stable solutionin this case because it has encryption, security, low powerconsumption, ad hoc networking, and works at short range [11].Furthermore, a Bluetooth mobile phone is now available, whichwill be a practical solution for the central unit of a PAN.

In this preliminary study, we demonstrate that the developedWIHMD provides convenient and comfortable multiparameterhealth monitoring for a period of weeks or months or evencontinuous monitoring in a very cost-effective manner with


acceptable fidelity and reliability. With some modification anda better fitting for individual applications, the WIHMD willultimately enhance the quality of life for the elderly and thosepatients at risk of requiring emergency treatment.

REFERENCES

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[2] K. Doughty, K. Cameron, and P. Garner, “Three generations of telecareof the elderly,” J. Telemed. Telecare, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 71–80, Jun. 1996.

[3] B. Meade, “Emergency care in a remote area using interactive videotechnology: A study in prehospital telemedicine,” J. Telemed. Telecare,vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 115–117, Apr. 2002.

[4] W. G. Scanlon, N. E. Evans, G. C. Crumley, and Z. M. McCreesh, “Low-power radio telemetry: The potential for remote patient monitoring,”J. Telemed. Telecare, vol. 2, no. 4, pp. 185–191, Dec. 1996.

[5] K. Doughty, R. Lewis, and A. McIntosh, “The design of a practical andreliable fall detector for community and institutional telecare,” J. Telemed.Telecare, vol. 6, suppl. 1, pp. 150–154, Feb. 2000.

[6] B. Najafi and K. Aminian, “Measurement of stand-sit and sit-stand transi-tions using a miniature gyroscope and its application in fall risk evaluationin the elderly,” IEEE Trans. Biomed. Eng., vol. 49, no. 8, pp. 843–851,Aug. 2002.

[7] I. B. Aris, A. A. E. Wagie, and N. B. Mariun, “An Internet-based bloodpressure monitoring system for patients,” J. Telemed. Telecare, vol. 7,no. 1, pp. 51–53, Feb. 2001.

[8] J. H. Park, J. M. Kang, and H. C. Kim, “Development of a digitalwrist sphygmomanometer for emergency use,” in Proc. ICBME, 2002,pp. 181–183.

[9] C. Ruggiero, R. Sacile, and M. Giacomini, “Home telecare,” J. Telemed.Telecare, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 11–17, Mar. 1999.

[10] P. Z. Zhang, W. N. Tapp, S. S. Reisman, and B. H. Natelson, “Respirationresponse curve analysis of heart rate variability,” IEEE Trans. Biomed.Eng., vol. 44, no. 4, pp. 321–325, Apr. 1997.

[11] D. G. Park and H. C. Kim, “Comparative study of telecommunicationmethods for emergency telemedicine,” J. Telemed. Telecare, vol. 9, no. 5,pp. 300–303, Sep. 2003.

[12] Specification of PS214B. last checked 22 April 2006. [Online]. Avail-able: http://www.mtk-biomed.com/03_produkt/_PDF/englisch/214_e.pdf

[13] Specification of BPPUMP2M. last checked 22 April 2006. [Online].Available: http://us.fluke.com/usen/products/specifications.htm?cs_id=34927(FlukeProducts)&category=FB-SIMS(FlukeProducts)

[14] Specification of Oxitest Plus7. last checked 22 April 2006.[Online]. Available: http://www.demaco-ben.nl/01c2c9944712bfa04/spo2simulator/specifications/index.html

Jae Min Kang (S’01) received the M.S. degree inbiomedical engineering from Seoul National Univer-sity, Seoul, Korea, in 2000. He is currently workingtoward the Ph.D. degree at the Medical ElectronicsLaboratory (MELab), Seoul National University.

Since 2001, he has been with the MELab, SeoulNational University. He participated in variousnational fund projects including “Development ofa Ubiquitous Biotelemetry System for EmergencyCare,” “Development of a Intelligent Robot forSupporting the Human Life,” and “Development of

a Core Technology of Silver Medical Instrument for the Elderly.” His interestsinclude patient monitoring technology, emergency telemedicine, and the wire-less portable healthcare system.

Mr. Kang is a Student Member of the Korea Society of Medical andBiological Engineering and IEEE/EMBS.

Taiwoo Yoo received the M.D. and Ph.D. degreesfrom Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea, in1980 and 1989, respectively.

From 1980 to 1984, he completed family practiceresidency and fellowship with the Department ofFamily Medicine, Seoul National University Hospi-tal. From 1984 to 1989, he again finished residencyand fellowship with the Department of Family Medi-cine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland,OH, and Bowman Gray School of Medicine. Since1990, he has been a faculty member with the De-

partment of Family Medicine, Seoul National University Hospital, where he iscurrently a Professor and Chairman. His research interest is mobile telecare ande-health. He has granted with major telemedicine projects from the governmentseveral times.

Hee Chan Kim (M’95) received the Ph.D. degree incontrol and instrumentation engineering (biomedicalengineering major) from Seoul National University,Seoul, Korea, in 1989.

From 1982 to 1989, he was a Research Memberwith the Department of Biomedical Engineering,Seoul National University Hospital. From 1989 to1991, he was a Staff Engineer with the ArtificialHeart Research Laboratory, University of Utah, SaltLake City, working on a National Institute of Health-funded electrohydraulic total artificial heart project.

In 1991, he joined the faculty of the Department of Biomedical Engineering,College of Medicine, Seoul National University, where he is currently aProfessor. From 1993 to 1994, he was a Visiting Professor with the Departmentof Pharmaceutics and the Artificial Heart Research Laboratory, Universityof Utah. He is currently leading the Medical Electronics Laboratory, SeoulNational University, where his major research activities are the developmentof biomedical systems with special interests in electronic instrumentations,biosensors, and microsystems for the ubiquitous healthcare system. In theseareas, he has published over 73 peer-reviewed scientific papers in internationaljournals.

Dr. Kim is a member of the Korea Society of Medical and BiologicalEngineering, IEEE/EMBS, and the American Society of Artificial InternalOrgans.

2006 a...

Health & Medicine