Energy-Efficient IoT Sensor Design for Continuous Patient Monitoring in Smart Hospitals

The integration of Internet of Things (IoT) technology is fundamentally transforming healthcare delivery, particularly in smart hospital environments where continuous patient monitoring is paramount. Connected sensor devices gather vital physiological data, including heart rate, blood pressure, and oxygen saturation, transmitting this information to centralized platforms for real-time analysis and clinical decision-making. This capability significantly enhances patient safety, facilitates proactive medical intervention, and optimizes resource allocation within healthcare facilities. However, sustaining uninterrupted monitoring necessitates highly energy-efficient sensor designs to ensure prolonged operational lifespans and minimize maintenance overhead. This paper delves into the development and evaluation of an energy-efficient IoT sensor architecture specifically tailored for continuous patient monitoring in smart hospitals. The study commences with a comprehensive analysis of existing lowpower communication protocols and power management strategies relevant to medical IoT applications. Subsequently, a novel sensor prototype incorporating optimized data acquisition and transmission algorithms is presented. Through extensive simulation and hardware-based validation, the proposed design demonstrates a substantial reduction in power consumption, achieving an average battery life extension of 45% compared to conventional approaches, while maintaining data transmission reliability exceeding 98% in diverse clinical settings. This advancement promises to bolster the practicality and scalability of pervasive patient monitoring systems.