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In this paper, we enable the coexistence of multiple wireless body area networks (BANs) using a finite repeated non-cooperative game for transmit power control. With no coordination amongst these personal sensor networks, the proposed game maximizes each network's packet delivery ratio (PDR) at low transmit power. In this context we provide a novel utility function, which gives reduced benefit to players with higher transmission power, and a subsequent reduction in radio interference to other coexisting BANs. Considering the purpose of inter-BAN interference mitigation, PDR is expressed as a compressed exponential function of inverse signal-to-interference-and-noise ratio (SINR), so it is essentially a function of transmit powers of all coexisting BANs. It is shown that a unique Nash Equilibrium (NE) exists, and hence there is a subgame-perfect equilibrium, considering best-response at each stage independent of history. In addition, the NE is proven to be the socially optimal solution across all action profiles. Realistic and extensive on- and inter-body channel models are employed. Results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed scheme in better interference management, greater reliability and reduced transmit power, when compared with other schemes that can be applied in BANs., 11 figures, 16 pages, 2 tables, ACM Transactions on Sensor Network

DIABETES PATIENTS USING MOBILE TABLET DEVICES Sora Park, PhD, Sally Burford, PhD, Leif Hanlen, PhD, Paresh Dawda, MBBS/DRCOG, Paul Dugdale, PhD/FAFPHM, Christopher Nolan, MBBS/PhD, John Burns, Adjunct Professor News & Media Research Centre, University of Canberra, ACT, Australia; Data61, University of Canberra, Australian National University, ACT, Australia; Ochre Health Medical Centre, ACT, Australia; College of Medicine, Biology & Environment, Australian National University, ACT, Australia; College of Medicine, Biology & Environment, Australian National University, Canberra Hospital, ACT, Australia; University of Canberra, ACT, Australia Corresponding Author: sora.park@canberra.edu.au

The policies that address health information exchanges for research purposes in Australia, Austria, Finland, Switzerland, and the USA apply accountability and/or adequacy to protect privacy. Specific requirements complicate the exchanges: inform data subjects of data use purposes; assure that the subjects are no longer identifiable; destroy the data in the end; and not to use cloud computing without specific permission.

Objective We study the use of speech recognition and information extraction to generate drafts of Australian nursing-handover documents.Methods Speech recognition correctness and clinicians’ preferences were evaluated using 15 recorder–microphone combinations, six documents, three speakers, Dragon Medical 11, and five survey/interview participants. Information extraction correctness evaluation used 260 documents, six-class classification for each word, two annotators, and the CRF++ conditional random field toolkit.Results A noise-cancelling lapel-microphone with a digital voice recorder gave the best correctness (79%). This microphone was also the most preferred option by all but one participant. Although the participants liked the small size of this recorder, their preference was for tablets that can also be used for document proofing and sign-off, among other tasks. Accented speech was harder to recognize than native language and a male speaker was detected better than a female speaker. Information extraction was excellent in filtering out irrelevant text (85% F1) and identifying text relevant to two classes (87% and 70% F1). Similarly to the annotators’ disagreements, there was confusion between the remaining three classes, which explains the modest 62% macro-averaged F1.Discussion We present evidence for the feasibility of speech recognition and information extraction to support clinicians’ in entering text and unlock its content for computerized decision-making and surveillance in healthcare.Conclusions The benefits of this automation include storing all information; making the drafts available and accessible almost instantly to everyone with authorized access; and avoiding information loss, delays, and misinterpretations inherent to using a ward clerk or transcription services.

Aim The aim of this study was to explore the potential for one set of patient information for nursing handover and documentation. Background Communication of patient information requires two processes in nursing: a verbal summary of the patients' care and another report within the nursing notes, creating duplication. Introduction Advances in speech recognition technology have provided an opportunity to consider the practicality of one set of information at the nursing end-of-shift. Methods We used content analysis to compare transcripts from 162 digitally recorded handovers and written nursing notes for similar patients within general medical-surgical wards from two metropolitan hospitals in Sydney Australia. Findings Using the Nursing Handover Minimum Dataset analysis framework similar content [n = 2109 (handover) n = 1902 (nursing notes)] was found within the handovers and notes at the end-of-shift (7:00 am and 2:00 pm). Analysis of the overarching categories demonstrated the emphasis within the differing data sources as: patient identification (31%), care planning or interventions (25%), clinical history (13%), and clinical status (13%) for handover, vs. care planning (47%), clinical status (24%), and outcomes or goals of care (12%) for nursing notes. Discussion This study has demonstrated that similar patient information is presented at handover and within documentation. Major categories are consistent with international nursing minimum datasets in use. Conclusion We can use one set of patient information (within some limitations) for two purposes with system design, practice change and education. Experiments are currently being conducted trialling speech recognition within laboratory and clinical settings. Implications for Nursing and Health Policy One set of patient information, verbally generated at handover delivering electronic documentation within one process, will transform international nursing policy for nursing handover and documentation.

This article is a review of wireless body-area network (BAN) channel models, with observations about the selection of the best channel model in terms of both first- and second-order statistics. Particular insight into the dominant factors that affect propagation for body-area networks is given. Important second-order statistical measures are discussed, where coherence times and fade durations are of particular interest. The IEEE 802.15.6 standard is used as a basis for the review, with observations and insights given about body-area networks. In this context, narrowband and ultra-wideband (UWB) models are summarized for different measurement environments and carrier frequencies. On-body, in-body, and off-body propagation models are discussed where appropriate. In general, lognormal fading or gamma fading models of the body-area network channel are most applicable. A goodness-of-fit criterion that directly trades off model error and complexity is presented, which gives a new outlook for channel modeling. By this new outlook it is demonstrated that through significant simplification of individual link propagation models for body-area networks, it is possible to combine link models with only a few parameters. Common misconceptions regarding the appropriateness of applying traditional path-loss measures to these short-range networks are then exposed. Finally, the use of relays, which is an option in IEEE 802.15.6, is shown to be important for maintaining reliability in various body-area-network propagation scenarios.

Mobile tablet devices and applications have the potential to help type 2 diabetes patients in the self-management of their disease. However, users must be equipped with an appropriate level of digital literacy in order to use the tools and technologies effectively. This study reports from an exploratory mobile health (mHealth) pilot program that was conducted at a large, local clinic in Canberra, Australia. The research team provided digital training and support opportunities to participants as part of the longitudinal study. The aim of the research project was to examine the diverse range of participant digital literacy and how it impacted on self-management and the adoption of mHealth. Mid-study results from online surveys conducted at 2 and 5 months after enrolling 28 participants in the pilot program revealed that digital engagement is crucial to the patients' participation in mHealth activities. Support, by way of digital training, was essential to the patients' sustainable use of the devices and applications for health care.

We investigate the impact of wireless channel temporal variations on the design of medium access control (MAC) protocols for body area networks (BANs). Our measurements-based channel model captures large and small time-scale signal correlations, giving an accurate picture of the signal variation, specifically, the deep fades which are the features that mostly affect the behavior of the MAC. We test the effect of the channel model on the performance of the 802.15.4 MAC both in contention access mode and TDMA access mode. We show that there are considerable differences in the performance of the MAC compared to simulations that do not model channel temporal variation. Furthermore, explaining the behavior of the MAC under a temporal varying channel, we can suggest specific design choices for the emerging BAN MAC standard.

A dynamic characterization of the wireless body-area communication channel for monitoring a sleeping person is presented. The characterization uses measurements near the 2.4 GHz ISM band with measurements of eight adult subjects each over a period of at least 2 hours. Numerous transmit-receive pair (Tx-Rx) locations on and off the body for a typical body-area-network (BAN) are used. Three issues are addressed: 1) modeling of channel gain, 2) outage probability, and 3) outage duration. It is shown that over very large durations (far in excess of a delay requirement of 125 ms that is typical for many IEEE 802.15.6 medical BAN applications) there is not a reliable communications channel for star-topology BAN. The best case outage probability, with 0 dBm Tx power and - 100 dBm Rx sensitivity, is in excess of a packet-error-rate of 10%. Following from these issues the feasibility of using alternate on-body or off-body links as relays is demonstrated.