Summary
Introduction: This article is part of the Focus Theme of Methods of Information in Medicine on “Using Data from Ambient Assisted Living and Smart Homes in Electronic Health
Records”.
Background: Concepts of Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) support a long-term health monitoring and
further medical and other services for multi-morbid patients with chronic diseases.
In Germany many AAL and telemedical applications exist. Synergy effects by common
agreements for essential application components and standards are not achieved.
Objectives: It is necessary to define a communication architecture which is based on common definitions
of communication scenarios, application components and communication standards.
Methods: The development of a communication architecture requires different steps. To gain
a reference model for the problem area different AAL and telemedicine projects were
compared and relevant data elements were generalized. The derived reference model
defines standardized communication links.
Results: As a result the authors present an approach towards a reference architecture for
AAL-communication. The focus of the architecture lays on the communication layer.
The necessary application components are identified and a communication based on standards
and their extensions is highlighted.
Conclusion: The exchange of patient in -dividual events supported by an event classification
model, raw and aggregated data from the personal home area over a tele-medicine center
to health care providers is possible.
Keywords
Communication architecture - ambient assisted living - long-term health monitoring
- assistive technology - living quarters
