[The technical possibilities in telemonitoring of physiological parameters]

For decades, telemonitoring of vital parameters has been a recurring topic among experts. Because of its lack of economical advantages it has not established itself as a standard up to now. Thanks to novel wireless communication technologies such as Bluetooth or Zigbee, the enormous technological progress in mobile communication via GSM, GPRS, as well as UMTS and various radical medical changes within disease management programs, currently very promising new potentials for telemonitoring are appearing. This article summarizes the current technological developments, discusses their advantages and drawbacks, and deduces scenarios and technical requirements for future system architectures.