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. 2009;9(8):6273-97.
doi: 10.3390/s90806273. Epub 2009 Aug 11.

Design and implementation of a secure wireless mote-based medical sensor network

Kriangsiri Malasri  1 , Lan Wang
Affiliations

Design and implementation of a secure wireless mote-based medical sensor network

Kriangsiri Malasri et al. Sensors (Basel). 2009.

Abstract

A medical sensor network can wirelessly monitor vital signs of humans, making it useful for long-term health care without sacrificing patient comfort and mobility. For such a network to be viable, its design must protect data privacy and authenticity given that medical data are highly sensitive. We identify the unique security challenges of such a sensor network and propose a set of resource-efficient mechanisms to address these challenges. Our solution includes (1) a novel two-tier scheme for verifying the authenticity of patient data, (2) a secure key agreement protocol to set up shared keys between sensor nodes and base stations, and (3) symmetric encryption/decryption for protecting data confidentiality and integrity. We have implemented the proposed mechanisms on a wireless mote platform, and our results confirm their feasibility.

Keywords: elliptic curve cryptography; medical sensor network; neural network; security.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Wireless health monitoring architecture.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Three security mechanisms.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
A generic three-layer feed-forward neural network.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
A typical ECG signal for a single heartbeat.
Figure 5.
Figure 5.
The elliptic curve integrated encryption scheme (ECIES).
Figure 6.
Figure 6.
ECC-based key agreement protocol.
Figure 7.
Figure 7.
Experimental setup with two motes and a PC.
Figure 8.
Figure 8.
Throughput as a function of packet size and encryption.
Figure 9.
Figure 9.
Aggregate throughput at receiving mote and PC as a function of the number of senders (sending rate = 4 packets/sec).
Figure 10.
Figure 10.
Packet loss at receiving mote and PC as a function of the number of senders (sending rate = 4 packets/sec).
Figure 11.
Figure 11.
Aggregate throughput at receiving mote and PC as a function of the number of senders (maximum possible sending rate).
Figure 12.
Figure 12.
Packet loss at receiving mote and PC as a function of the number of senders (maximum possible sending rate).
Figure 13.
Figure 13.
Aggregate throughput at PC as a function of the number of senders and receivers (maximum possible sending rate).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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