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. 2022 Jan 10;22(2):503.
doi: 10.3390/s22020503.

Internet of Things Concept in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Multi-Sensor Application Design

Alexandru Lavric  1 , Adrian I Petrariu  1   2 , Partemie-Marian Mutescu  1 , Eugen Coca  1 , Valentin Popa  1   2
Affiliations

Internet of Things Concept in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Multi-Sensor Application Design

Alexandru Lavric et al. Sensors (Basel). .

Abstract

In this paper, we present the design, development and implementation of an integrated system for the management of COVID-19 patient, using the LoRaWAN communication infrastructure. Our system offers certain advantages when compared to other similar solutions, allowing remote symptom and health monitoring that can be applied to isolated or quarantined people, without any external interaction with the patient. The IoT wearable device can monitor parameters of health condition like pulse, blood oxygen saturation, and body temperature, as well as the current location. To test the performance of the proposed system, two persons under quarantine were monitored, for a complete 14-day standard quarantine time interval. Based on the data transmitted to the monitoring center, the medical staff decided, after several days of monitoring, when the measured values were outside of the normal parameters, to do an RT-PCR test for one of the two persons, confirming the SARS-CoV2 virus infection. We have to emphasize the high degree of scalability of the proposed solution that can oversee a large number of patients at the same time, thanks to the LoRaWAN communication protocol used. This solution can be successfully implemented by local authorities to increase monitoring capabilities, also saving lives.

Keywords: COVID-19 sensors; Internet of Things; IoT wearable device; quarantine monitoring; remote healthcare; telemedicine.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Advantages of using IoT for COVID-19 pandemic monitoring.
Figure 2
Figure 2
COVID-19 disease symptoms.
Figure 3
Figure 3
COVID-19 effects on the human body.
Figure 4
Figure 4
COVID-19 IoT multi-sensor patient monitoring architecture.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Wearable device block diagram of the multi-sensor approach.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Physical implementation of the wearable device. (a) IoT multi sensor configuration. (b) IoT wearable device installed on patient.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Field coverage measurements—single GW configuration.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Field coverage measurements of the LoRaWAN gateways installed on the roof top of Suceava Hospital.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Field coverage measurements—multiple GW configuration.
Figure 10
Figure 10
IoT multi-sensor patient monitoring application dashboard.
Figure 11
Figure 11
Patients’ vital signs measurement obtained from the IoT wearable device. (a) SpO2 and pulse (Patient A). (b) Body temperature (Patient A). (c) SpO2 and pulse (Patient B). (d) Body temperature (Patient B).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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