Healthc Inform Res.  2011 Mar;17(1):18-23. 10.4258/hir.2011.17.1.18.

Hospital Wireless Local Area Network-Based Tracking System

• Woo H
• Lee HJ
• Kim HC
• Kang KJ
• Seo SS

• KMID: 2166591
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4258/hir.2011.17.1.18

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
The purpose of this study was to develop a prototype wireless local area network (LAN)-based tracking system and evaluate its efficacy.
METHODS
A wireless LAN-based tracking system was developed with a personal digital assistant (PDA) having a simple text messaging function and a prototype stand-alone tracking device. Evaluation of the effectiveness of the tracking system was performed in two ways. Twenty-five messages were sent to nurses by direct communication and 46 messages were sent by the wireless system. Thirty cases by nurses and 30 cases by the wireless system to locate hospital equipment were performed. The time required to transfer messages and to locate equipment was measured and analyzed with a Mann-Whitney test and a paired t-test, respectively.
RESULTS
The mean time required to transfer messages by direct communication and by the wireless system were 37.92 +/- 19.19 seconds and 30.65 +/- 9.80 seconds, respectively which were not statistically different (p = 0.108). The mean time required to locate equipment by the nurses and by the wireless system was 234.00 +/- 59.99 and 23.97 +/- 6.17 seconds, respectively which was statistically different (p < 0.001).
CONCLUSIONS
The wireless LAN-based tracking system can save time for nurses to communicate and to check for the location of equipment in wards which allows nurses to spend more time and attention to patient care and safety.

Keyword

Local Area Networks; Hospital Communication Systems

MeSH Terms

Computers, Handheld
Equipment and Supplies, Hospital
Hospital Communication Systems
Local Area Networks
Patient Care
Text Messaging
Track and Field

Figure

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  Figure 1 A diagram representing the components and localization process of the tracking system. The PDA receives signals of the access points (AP) and sends the signal strength to the localization server. The localization server computes the location of the PDA and the administrator computer displays the location on the monitor screen.

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  Figure 2 Screen capture of the PDA screen. The prototype of the PDA program shows the MAC address and signal strength of each access point for the purpose of debugging. When the administrative computer sends a message to the PDA, the message appears in the textbox with an alarm sound and the OK button becomes enabled. If a user clicks the OK button, the administrative computer indicates that the message has been successfully transmitted and the user confirmed that the message was received.

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  Figure 3 Screen capture of the administrative computer. Each PDA is marked as an icon with an alphabetical character on the screen. Each icon appears at the window titled with the patient room number where the corresponding PDA is located, allowing easy recognition. A message can be entered in the pop-up window that appears by double clicking the PDA icon.

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  Figure 4 Signal strength profile measured in the patient rooms. The signal from an access point is strongest at the room where the access point is located and gradually weakens as the distance increases. Signal strengths were measured with a laptop computer having IEEE 802.11g wireless connectivity and a scanning program (NetStumbler 0.4.0; http://www.netstumbler.com/downloads/). Each value of signal strength was averaged from four measurements with a few seconds interval in order to compensate for the time variability of the wireless signals.

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  Figure 5 Pictures of a stand-alone tracking device. The tracking device can be attached to any equipment, which can be tracked and located as long as the tracking device is attached to the equipment.

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  Figure 6 Column scatter graphs of the time delay required to send messages and locate equipment by the nurses and the wireless system.

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