Ubiquitous healthcare is an emerging field of
technology that uses a large number of environmental
and patient sensors and actuators to
monitor and improve patients’ physical and mental
condition. Tiny sensors are being designed to
gather information on bodily conditions such as
temperature, heart rate, blood pressure, blood and
urine chemical levels, breathing rate and volume,
activity levels, and almost any other physiological
characteristic that provides information that can
be used to diagnose health problems. These
sensors are worn on4
or implanted in the body, or
installed in patients’ homes and workplaces.
Actuators go further and trigger actions such as
the release of small quantities of pharmaceuticals
into the bloodstream or the electrical stimulation
of brain areas (e.g. those implicated in conditions