Testing and Calibration of Electronic Sensor Devices for Application of Smart Hospital Room Monitoring System

The quality of the hospital room environment is essential, as infection-causing germs can spread through airborne droplets or direct contact. Several factors, including occupancy density, humidity, lighting, and room temperature, significantly affect the transmission of infections. Therefore, monitoring inpatient rooms in hospitals is a major concern, particularly due to the absence of real-time monitoring for patients with critical conditions. Real-time remote inpatient room monitoring can provide essential information for patients, their families, as well as elderly or chronically ill patients who wish to avoid prolonged hospital stays. Motivated by realizing smart inpatient hospital room monitoring based on Internet of Things (IoT) as our long-term goal, this paper is first stage to discuss the testing and calibration of electronic sensors as part of the long-term goal. In addition, this paper presents also an initial network performance testing. The sensors tested include carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, humidity (DHT22), temperature (DS18B20), and light (LM393). Calibration is conducted by collecting 50 data points for CO and CO2, each, and 70 data points for each of temperature, humidity, and light. Calibration results indicate that these sensors can be implemented to support a smart hospital room monitoring system. It is clarified by comparing the real testing after calibration. Network testing at various locations shows variations in data transfer and bandwidth, with good data consistency despite environmental factors. Overall, the testing results show good agreement for the usage as a prototype device as part of smart inpatient hospital room monitoring system.