Development of an Electronic Health Monitoring Wristband for Elderly Patients in Calabar, Cross River State

This project develops a wearable electronic health monitoring wristband for elderly patients in Calabar, Cross River State, South South Nigeria. The elderly population faces elevated risks from conditions including hypertension, cardiac arrhythmias, and falls, and continuous health parameter monitoring can enable early warning of deteriorating health events, particularly relevant in settings where healthcare access involves travel to distant facilities. The wristband integrates a MAX30102 pulse oximetry and heart rate sensor, an MPU6050 accelerometer and gyroscope for fall detection, a DS18B20 digital temperature sensor, and a Bluetooth Low Energy module for wireless data transmission to a companion smartphone application. An Arduino Pro Mini microcontroller manages sensor reading, fall detection algorithm execution, and BLE communication. The fall detection algorithm uses threshold-based acceleration magnitude analysis to distinguish fall events from normal activities, sending an emergency alert to the caregiver's mobile phone via the companion app. Heart rate, oxygen saturation, and body temperature readings are continuously displayed on the app and logged with timestamps. Battery life was optimised through sleep mode scheduling of the microcontroller and sensors when not actively monitoring, achieving a continuous operating time of 18 hours per charge. Clinical validation of the sensor readings was performed against a certified hospital pulse oximeter and electronic thermometer at University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, demonstrating heart rate accuracy within 3 beats per minute and SpO2 accuracy within 2 percent. Keywords: wearable health monitor, elderly care, fall detection, pulse oximetry, Calabar.