Security issues of wireless sensor networks in healthcare applications

The emergence of wireless sensor networks (WSNs) in healthcare applications is gaining momentum through the increasing array of wearable vital sign sensors and location tags which can track both healthcare personnel and patient status/ location continuously in real-time mode. Despite the increased r...

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Main Authors: Ng, H. S., Sim, M. L., Tan, C. M.
Format: Article
Published: Kluwer Academic Publishers-Consultants Bureau 2006
Subjects:
Online Access:http://shdl.mmu.edu.my/1990/
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author Ng, H. S.
Sim, M. L.
Tan, C. M.
author_facet Ng, H. S.
Sim, M. L.
Tan, C. M.
author_sort Ng, H. S.
building MMU Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description The emergence of wireless sensor networks (WSNs) in healthcare applications is gaining momentum through the increasing array of wearable vital sign sensors and location tags which can track both healthcare personnel and patient status/ location continuously in real-time mode. Despite the increased range of potential application frameworks - ranging from pre-hospital, in-hospital, ambulatory and home monitoring, to long-term database collection for longitudinal trend analysis - the security gap between existing WSN designs and the requirements of medical applications remains unresolved. Generally, WSN devices are extremely limited in terms of power, computation, and communication. They are often deployed in accessible areas, thus increasing security vulnerabilities. The dynamic ad hoc topology, multicast transmission, location awareness, critical data prioritisation, and co-ordination of diverse sensors of healthcare applications further exacerbate the security challenges. This paper presents an analysis of various WSN security mechanisms from the demanding perspective of healthcare applications, and considers the importance of security to the successful deployment of pervasive computing solutions in the healthcare industry.
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spelling mmu-19902014-01-16T02:22:12Z http://shdl.mmu.edu.my/1990/ Security issues of wireless sensor networks in healthcare applications Ng, H. S. Sim, M. L. Tan, C. M. TA Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General) The emergence of wireless sensor networks (WSNs) in healthcare applications is gaining momentum through the increasing array of wearable vital sign sensors and location tags which can track both healthcare personnel and patient status/ location continuously in real-time mode. Despite the increased range of potential application frameworks - ranging from pre-hospital, in-hospital, ambulatory and home monitoring, to long-term database collection for longitudinal trend analysis - the security gap between existing WSN designs and the requirements of medical applications remains unresolved. Generally, WSN devices are extremely limited in terms of power, computation, and communication. They are often deployed in accessible areas, thus increasing security vulnerabilities. The dynamic ad hoc topology, multicast transmission, location awareness, critical data prioritisation, and co-ordination of diverse sensors of healthcare applications further exacerbate the security challenges. This paper presents an analysis of various WSN security mechanisms from the demanding perspective of healthcare applications, and considers the importance of security to the successful deployment of pervasive computing solutions in the healthcare industry. Kluwer Academic Publishers-Consultants Bureau 2006-04 Article NonPeerReviewed Ng, H. S. and Sim, M. L. and Tan, C. M. (2006) Security issues of wireless sensor networks in healthcare applications. BT Technology Journal, 24 (2). pp. 138-144. ISSN 1358-3948 http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10550-006-0051-8 doi:10.1007/s10550-006-0051-8 doi:10.1007/s10550-006-0051-8
spellingShingle TA Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General)
Ng, H. S.
Sim, M. L.
Tan, C. M.
Security issues of wireless sensor networks in healthcare applications
title Security issues of wireless sensor networks in healthcare applications
title_full Security issues of wireless sensor networks in healthcare applications
title_fullStr Security issues of wireless sensor networks in healthcare applications
title_full_unstemmed Security issues of wireless sensor networks in healthcare applications
title_short Security issues of wireless sensor networks in healthcare applications
title_sort security issues of wireless sensor networks in healthcare applications
topic TA Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General)
url http://shdl.mmu.edu.my/1990/
http://shdl.mmu.edu.my/1990/
http://shdl.mmu.edu.my/1990/