BAN-based m-health services: experiences and prospects

The University of Twente and partners are developing and prototyping Body Area networks (BANs) for healthcare. We define a BAN as a network of devices worn on or around the body which communicate amongst themselves and perform a set of services for the user. Our work began with the European MobiHealth project whose objective was to investigate the potential of 2.5 and 3G wireless communication technologies to support useful services and applications. In this article we discuss the main aims and results of the MobiHealth project. On the basis of these results we further discuss a particular methodology which we believe gives leverage on the problem of managing the complex of objectives and expectations of the different parties involved in the process of design, development and implementation of ICT systems for healthcare. This methodology aims at articulation and translation of the visions and expectations of both designers and prospective users in future development scenarios. These scenarios may be used to specify potential uses of health BAN technology in particular contexts, to anticipate and evaluate possible outcomes and effects, and to feed back insights obtained from this anticipatory technology assessment into the ongoing process of design, development and deployment.