Citation: Zhong, L.; He, S.; Lin, J.;
Wu, J.; Li, X.; Pang, Y.; Li, Z.
Technological Requirements and
Challenges in Wireless Body Area
Networks for Health Monitoring: A
Comprehensive Survey. Sensors 2022,
22, 3539. https://doi.org/
10.3390/s22093539
Academic Editors: Alvaro
Araujo Pinto and Hacene Fouchal
Received: 4 April 2022
Accepted: 28 April 2022
Published: 6 May 2022
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Review
Technological Requirements and Challenges in Wireless
Body Area Networks for Health Monitoring:
A Comprehensive Survey
Lisha Zhong
1,2
, Shuling He
1
, Jinzhao Lin
1
, Jia Wu
1,2
, Xi Li
1
, Yu Pang
1
and Zhangyong Li
3,
*
1
School of Communication and Information Engineering, Chongqing University of Posts and
Telecommunications, Chongqing 400065, China; zhonglisha@swmu.edu.cn (L.Z.);
heshuling11@163.com (S.H.); linjz@cqupt.edu.cn (J.L.); wujia@swmu.edu.cn (J.W.); lixixyz@126.com (X.L.);
pangy@cqupt.edu.cn (Y.P.)
2
School of Medical Information and Engineering, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou 646000, China
3
School of Bioinformatics, Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Chongqing 400065, China
* Correspondence: lizy@cqupt.edu.cn
Abstract:
With the rapid growth in healthcare demand, an emergent, novel technology called wireless
body area networks (WBANs) have become promising and have been widely used in the field of
human health monitoring. A WBAN can collect human physical parameters through the medical
sensors in or around the patient’s body to realize real-time continuous remote monitoring. Compared
to other wireless transmission technologies, a WBAN has more stringent technical requirements and
challenges in terms of power efficiency, security and privacy, quality of service and other specifications.
In this paper, we review the recent WBAN medical applications, existing requirements and challenges
and their solutions. We conducted a comprehensive investigation of WBANs, from the sensor
technology for the collection to the wireless transmission technology for the transmission process,
such as frequency bands, channel models, medium access control (MAC) and networking protocols.
Then we reviewed its unique safety and energy consumption issues. In particular, an application-
specific integrated circuit (ASIC)-based WBAN scheme is presented to improve its security and
privacy and achieve ultra-low energy consumption.
Keywords:
wireless body area networks; application-specific integrated circuit; security and privacy;
energy efficiency; health monitoring
1. Introduction
The prevalence of chronic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes and obesity is cur-
rently aggravating the burden on public-funded healthcare systems and causing many
economic and social challenges in some countries. According to the World Health Or-
ganization (WHO), the global population over the age of 60 will reach about 2.1 billion
by 2050 [
1
]. These public healthcare problems are exacerbated by the rapid growth of
the elderly population, as elderly people are more prone to suffer from chronic diseases.
Chronic diseases constitute a major portion of human health risks, accounting for more
than two-thirds of all deaths worldwide [
2
]. Cardiovascular disease accounts for 30 percent
of all deaths. Globally, more than 180 million people have diabetes, which is estimated
to affect about 360 million people by 2030 [
3
,
4
]. In 2015, more than 2.3 billion people
were overweight, the leading cause of these chronic diseases. Moreover, the rapid rise in
debilitating neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, threatens
millions of people. These diseases are not simply the result of an aging population, but
are caused by sedentary behavior, inappropriate eating habits and insufficient physical
activity [
5
,
6
]. Many studies [
7
–
9
] have demonstrated that chronic diseases can be effec-
tively prevented at an early stage, suggesting that early diagnosis and detection are vitally
Sensors 2022, 22, 3539. https://doi.org/10.3390/s22093539 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sensors
