In the quintessential small English village of Chorleywood, the local health centre has placed its first patient on their Hydra network of smart electricity meters and is now monitoring the weight and blood pressure of the patient in their own home. The system uses Zigbee wireless technology to send readings from the devices to the smart electricity meter. The meter then sends the reading through to the health centre for staff to review. The purpose-built surgery was opened in 1997 and provides comprehensive general medical services including treatment and prevention of illness, health promotion and screening services. The Health Centre was selected to participate in 3 major research projects that will investigate how technology can be used to better manage patients with chronic diseases. The Hydra project investigates the concept of using smart electricity meters to act as a method of allowing patients to make simple measurements of blood pressure or weight and send them […]