A review of big data applications of physiological signal data

The proliferation of smart physiological signal monitoring sensors, combined with the advancement of telemetry and intelligent communication systems, has led to an explosion in healthcare data in the past few years. Additionally, access to cheaper and more effective power and storage mechanisms has significantly increased the availability of healthcare data for the development of big data applications. Big data applications in healthcare are concerned with the analysis of datasets which are too big, too fast, and too complex for healthcare providers to process and interpret with existing tools. The driver for the development of such systems is the continuing effort in making healthcare services more efficient and sustainable. In this paper, we provide a review of current big data applications which utilize physiological waveforms or derived measurements in order to provide medical decision support, often in real time, in the clinical and home environment. We focus mainly on systems developed for continuous patient monitoring in critical care and discuss the challenges that need to be overcome such that these systems can be incorporated into clinical practice. Once these challenges are overcome, big data systems have the potential to transform healthcare management in the hospital of the future.