Continuous healthcare monitoring systems generate non-stationary physiological data streams, where evolving statistical properties and patterns often invalidate static models and fixed user classifications. To address this challenge, we propose drift-aware adaptive architecture that integrates concept drift detection into a distributed edge–cloud data analytics pipeline. In the proposed design, a concept drift is elevated from a maintenance signal to the primary mechanism governing user-state adaptation, model evolution, and inference consistency. Within the proposed system, the edge tier performs low-latency inference and preliminary drift screening under strict resource constraints, while the cloud tier executes advanced drift detection and validation, orchestrates user reclassification and model retraining, and manages model evolution. A feedback loop synchronizes edge and cloud operations, ensuring that detected drift triggers appropriate system transitions, either reassigning a user to an updated state category or initiating targeted model updates. This architecture reduces reliance on static group assignments, improves personalization, and preserves model fidelity under evolving physiological conditions. We analyze the drift types most relevant to healthcare data streams, evaluate the suitability of lightweight and cloud-grade drift detectors, and define the system requirements for stability, responsiveness, and clinical safety. Evaluation across 21 concurrent users demonstrates that drift-aware adaptation reduced prediction MAE by 40.6% relative to periodic retraining, with an end-to-end adaptation latency of 66 ± 37 s. Hierarchical cloud validation reduced the false-positive retraining rate from 88.9% (edge-only triggering) to 27.3%, while maintaining uninterrupted inference throughout all adaptation events.
Ilić et al. (Tue,) studied this question.