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The forthcoming wide availability of high bandwidth public wireless networks will give rise to new mobile healthcare services. To this end, the MobiHealth project has developed and trialed a highly customisable vital signs monitoring system based on a body area network (BAN) and a mobile-health (m-health) service platform utilising next generation public wireless networks. The developed system allows the incorporation of diverse medical sensors via wireless connections, and the live transmission of the measured vital signs over public wireless networks to healthcare providers. Nine trials with different healthcare scenarios and patient groups in four different European countries have been conducted. These have been performed to test the service and the network infrastructure including its suitability for mobile healthcare applications. Preliminarly results have documented the feasibility of using the system, but also demonstrated logistical problems with use of the BANs and the infrastructure for transmitting mobile healthcare data.

Health care is one of the most prominent areas for the application of wireless technologies. New services and applications are today under research and development targeting different areas of health care, from high risk and chronic patients' remote monitoring to mobility tools for the medical personnel. In this direction the MobiHealth1 project developed and trailed a system and a service that is using UMTS for the continuous monitoring and transmission of vital signals, like Pulse Oximeter sensor , temperature, Marker, Respiratory band, motion/activity detector etc., to the hospital. The system, based on the concept of the Body Area Network, is highly customisable, allowing sensors to be seamlessly connected and transmit the monitored vital signal measurements. The system and service was trialed in 4 European countries and it is presently under market validation.

MobiHealth and HealthService24 are two major EU projects targeting the development and validation, with extensive medical trials, of innovative systems and services for mobile health care. Biosignals are measured by sensor devices connected to a wireless Body Area Network. These signals are transmitted reliably and securely over public wireless networks (e.g. GPRS, UMTS) to a remote healthcare organisation where healthcare professionals can monitor, diagnose and provide advice to patients in real time. The developed system and its services is in the last phase of the pre-commercial validation, expecting a commercial release of the system late 2006.