This is an open access article under the CC BY license: 

 

 

 
Al-Khwarizmi 

Engineering 

Journal 
                          Al-Khwarizmi Engineering Journal 

           ISSN (printed): 1818 – 1171, ISSN (online): 2312 – 0789 

                           Vol. 20, No. 2, June, (2024), P P. 65- 72 
 

 

GSM-enabled Wireless Patient Monitoring System Integrating 

Microcontroller for Managing Vital Signs 
 

Tariq Emad Ali*,   Faten Imad Ali**,   Máté TEJFEL*** 

and Alwahab Dhulfiqar Zoltán**** 

*,**University Sains Malaysia, Gelugor 11800, Penang, Malaysia 

***,**** Faculty of Informatics, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary 

Corresponding Author: *Email: tariqemad@kecbu.uobaghdad.edu.iq 

**Email: fatenemadali@gmail.com 

***Email: matej@inf.elte.hu 
****Email: dolfi@inf.elte.hu 

 
(Received 20 November 2023; Accepted 23 May 2024; Published 1 June 2024) 

https://doi.org/10.22153/kej.2024.05.001 

 
 

Abstract 
 

The primary focus of this project is developing a cutting-edge remote monitoring of patients device for use in an 

intensive care unit (ICU). The gadget is designed to capture and transmit vital health data from the patient's body, 

including oxygen saturation levels, heart rate, and temperatures. It is also capable of monitoring a pacemaker. Information 

is then sent to a remote location after that. The suggested system receives the patient's vital signs and uses them as input 

on a computer in the nursing room. This transmission is made possible via a transmitter-receiver system consisting of two 

Arduino kits connected to Bluetooth devices. If any anomalous numbers are discovered as the data is processed, the 

computer notifies the doctor via the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and the doctor's mobile device. 

The primary objective of this device is to enable remote monitoring of a patient's medical parameters and prompt alerting 

of doctors who are situated in remote places of any concerning circumstances. The doctor's mobile device receives the 

collected values from the workstation. The entire system's structure is implemented using the Visual Basic programming 

dialect. 

 

Keywords: Arduino kit; medical sensors; Bluetooth; visual basic; GSM mobile; ICU 

 
 

1. Introduction 

 

The subject of health monitoring has 

significantly advanced as a result of breakthroughs 

in the biological sciences and healthcare field [1]. 

Many applications have been studied in-depth over 

the years, including emergencies, home care, 

hospitals, military, and sports training [2]. In the 

field of health monitoring, the use of telemedicine 

has been crucial [3]. The Intensive Care Unit (ICU) 

network serves as an example of how this 

technology facilitates remote monitoring and 

diagnosis by enabling the electronic 

communication of a patient's medical information 

[4].  

ICU networking entails using communication 

protocols to connect ICU PCs (clients) to a nursing 

room PC (server) across Local Area Networks 

(LANs), Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs), or 

other networks. These protocols are essential for 

smooth communication between computers that 

have different operating characteristics. This 

enables nursing personnel who are not physically 

present in the ICU to recognize problematic 

circumstances right once. The doctor's mobile 

device can then get these alerts immediately 

Abdirahman et.al. 2023 [5].   

The Arduino platform, an open hardware board that 

has transformed robotics and control projects, was 

made possible by the advancement of 

microcontrollers. The open hardware programming 

mailto:fatenemadali@gmail.com
mailto:dolfi@inf.elte.hu
https://doi.org/10.22153/kej.2024.05.001


 Noor A. Mohammed                                           Al-Khwarizmi Engineering Journal, Vol. 20, No.2, P.P. 65- 72 (2024) 

 

66 

language (Arduino C) developed by Arduino is 

well-known for being easy to use, and it can be 

integrated with engineering languages such as 

MATLAB and Java. It is a well-liked option among 

microcontroller kinds because of its ease of use and 

programming capabilities Brocker et. al., 2023 [6]. 

Although there has been a great deal of research in 

this area, more work has to be done to demonstrate 

the medical benefits and economic feasibility of 

these solutions. Experts like G. Virone et al. 2023 

have created concepts for innovative healthcare 

based on mobile sensor networks (WSNs), 

highlighting the potential for low-cost deployment 

of integrative sensors to enhance quality of care 

[7]. 

BK Harsha et al., 2023 [8] state that this 

technique provides women with protection during 

moments of insecurity, enabling people to venture 

forth with trust. In a threatening circumstance, a 

woman may use the tool's warning button to defend 

itself by utilizing analgesic inject in addition to the 

poison. The device incorporates an automatic 

painkiller injector, an alarm, a stun gun, an Arduino 

UNO, and technologies like GPS and GSM. A 

handheld actual time global surveillance device 

that enables controlled manipulation of a patient's 

heart rate and oxygen level in the blood was 

developed in 2023 by Dr. Deepak et al. With an 

operational area of 10–15 square meters, the gadget 

was built utilizing ZigBee connectivity and may 

monitor medical in customer houses [2].  A patient 

monitoring device was used in this research to keep 

an eye on the patient's condition in real time. The 

main element of the design of the system was an 

Arduino framework computer kit, which was 

utilized to send critical medical data from the 

patient's body over a Bluetooth network. The 

Intensive Care Unit (ICU), a computer with special 

capabilities dedicated with gathering and 

evaluating this critical information, received the 

data from a remote location. By avoiding problems 

with connection and data transmission 

dependability, this method offers a substitute to the 

traditional usage of networks of computers for the 

observation and exchange of significant data. 

 

 

2. Proposed Work 

 

The purpose of this study is to develop a 

wireless clinical monitoring device and can 

measure and track the vital indicators of a person, 

including body temperature, heart rate as indicated 

by blood pressure measurements, and the ability of 

cardiac pacemakers to regulate erratic heartbeats. 

This method is shown in Figure 1. 

 

 
 

Fig. 1. General Block Diagram of The Monitoring System. 

 

 

2.1 System Descriptions 
 

The purpose of this research is to create a 

wireless medical monitoring system capable of 

tracking a person's health, involving their internal 

temperatures and heart rate, as determined by 

pressure measures, as well as pacemaker-assisted 

heart control. Figure 1 illustrates this strategy. 

 

 

 
Fig. 2. Main Components of the Health Monitoring System. 



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67 

2.1.1 Sensors 
 

The ports on the Arduino were used to attach a 

variety of medical sensors to gather and track the 

patient's vital signs. 

a) The temperature sensor is in charge of taking 

the patient's body temperature and determining 

how they are feeling right now. 

b) The number of heartbeats per minute, or heart 

rate, is depicted in Figure 3, each heartbeat 

represents a representation of the heart's 

contraction and relaxation. 

c) The pacemaker sensor is a tool for controlling 

irregular cardiac rhythms. The input/output 

leads, sensor circuit, and pulse generator are its 

three basic components. The electrodes known 

as the input/output leads are affixed to the heart 

chambers and serve to transfer signals from the 

heart to the pulse generator and the pacemaker's 

output back to the heart. The heart's input signal 

is processed by the sensor circuit, and the 

output—a square wave—is utilized by the pulse 

generator. 

 

 
 

Fig. 3. Circuit diagram of Heart Rate [9]. 

 

 

The pulse generator, which functions as a 

preprogrammed microprocessor, is an essential 

part of the pacemaker. Through the sensing circuit, 

it receives input signals from the heart and 

responds by sending stimuli back to the heart. As 

shown in Figure 4, these stimuli are produced in 

line with the generator's pre-programmed schedule. 

It's important to remember that the pacemaker's 

pacing mode should only be used when required to 

avoid interfering with the heart's normal pacing 

process [10]. This guarantees that the pacemaker 

will only need to intervene when the heartbeat 

doesn't follow its typical pattern. When it comes to 

artificial pacing, the R wave represents the 

ventricular contraction that pumps blood into the 

main arteries. A single-chamber pacemaker works 

in the following order: RESET Timer, WAIT, and 

PACE. It is designed to regulate only one chamber 

of the heart. The pacemaker detects an R wave, 

counts down to 0.83 seconds—typically the gap 

between two R waves—and then goes into the 

RESET Timer state. During this waiting period, the 

gadget returns to the WAIT mode if another R wave 

is detected. If no more R waves are found during 

the wait, the pacemaker switches to the PACE 

mode and uses leads to stimulate the heart with 

electricity. By syncing with the heart's natural 

rhythm and only stimulating the pacemaker when a 

normal pulse is absent, this clever pacing 

mechanism makes sure that the pacemaker only 

acts when needed [8]. 

 

 
 

Fig. 4. Block diagram of Pacemaker. 



 Noor A. Mohammed                                           Al-Khwarizmi Engineering Journal, Vol. 20, No.2, P.P. 65- 72 (2024) 

 

68 

Oximeter sensor:  As seen in Figure 5, the 

oximeter sensor is a complex circuit made up of red 

and infrared LEDs that produce the corresponding 

wavelengths. These wavelengths are sent to a 

photodiode detector via the finger. A portion of 

these wavelengths are absorbed by blood vessels, 

especially arterioles, in the finger. The percentage 

of oxygen saturation, or the proportion of 

oxyhemoglobin and deoxyhemoglobin molecules 

to total hemoglobin molecules, determines the 

absorption ratio. One photodiode receives the 

wavelengths that are delivered by both LEDs. The 

received light then passes through some 

procedures. By producing pulses at the proper 

repetition rate, a timing circuit functions as a digital 

switch.  Then, using an operational amplifier (op-

amp) in a current-to-voltage converter circuit, these 

pulsed wavelengths—both red and infrared—are 

amplified and converted to voltage. A sample and 

hold circuit is used to separate the wavelengths 

separately because the pulsatile nature of arterial 

blood flow causes the wavelengths to be received 

in pulsed form. Control pulses for the sample and 

hold circuit are produced once again using the 

timing circuit. After that, a band-pass filter is used 

to filter out both high- and low-frequency noise 

from the output voltage. Ultimately, the voltage 

signal is cleaned and delivered to an Arduino, 

which uses Bluetooth to transform it into a digital 

signal that can be sent to a computer [11]. 

 

 

 
 

Fig. 5. Block diagram of Oximetry Sensor [11]. 

 

 

2.1.2 Connecting the Bluetooth with 

microcontroller kit (Arduino) 
 

Using a particular communication protocol, 

Bluetooth is a wireless communication technology 

that allows data to be sent between devices across 

short distances. Bluetooth is employed in this work 

to enable the transfer of data from medical sensors 

to a computer. As shown in Figure 6, this is 

achieved by connecting the Bluetooth module—

more precisely, the HC-05 Bluetooth module—to 

an Arduino Uno microcontroller kit on both ends. 

The Arduino kit and the Bluetooth module 

communicate wirelessly over the serial. To do this, 

mark two pins on the Arduino board to act as the 

serial port connection points between the Arduino 

and the Bluetooth shield. The Arduino's Tx pin is 

linked to the Bluetooth module's Tx (Transmit) pin, 

and the Arduino's Rx (Receive) pin is linked to the 

Bluetooth module's Tx pin. It is possible to enable 

data transfer using suitable Arduino software. As 

seen in Figure 7, the system's overall function is 

designed to monitor the patient's condition by 

effortlessly sending critical data from the sensors 

to the computer via this Bluetooth-enabled 

configuration. 

 



 Noor A. Mohammed                                           Al-Khwarizmi Engineering Journal, Vol. 20, No.2, P.P. 65- 72 (2024) 

 

69 

 
Fig. 6. Shows the block diagram of Bluetooth connection with microcontroller kit (Arduino). 

 

 
 

Fig. 7. The interface between personal computer and mobile phone through GSM modem. 

 

 

2.1.3 Connecting Mobile Phone with 

Personal Computer 
 

Advancements in mobile phone technology in 

recent times have made it possible to send Short 

Message Service (SMS) messages from a computer 

to a mobile phone using various programs. Within 

the framework of the monitoring system that is 

being described, this technology is activated either 

upon detection of a medical condition that is 

dangerous or high-risk or upon the achievement of 

a predetermined threshold. In these situations, the 

monitoring system instantly notifies the doctor of 

the emergency by sending SMS notifications via 

the Global System for Mobile Communication 

(GSM) to their cell phone. The SMS gateway is 

responsible for handling SMS transmission. The 

contact number of the attending physician is kept 

up to date in a database maintained by the Patient 

Information Management System. Consequently, 

the system sends an SMS after starting a database 

query. Using the patient's ID guarantees that the 

SMS message with precise information about the 

patient's health reaches the appropriate doctor. The 

responsible healthcare professional and medical 

monitoring system may communicate promptly 

thanks to this integrated system. 

 

 

3. Working of the System 
 

The clarity of the health monitoring system's 

operational procedures and decision-making 

processes is enhanced through the visual 

representation provided in Figure 8, which depicts 

the system's flowchart. This graphical 

representation offers an accessible means of 

understanding how the system functions and the 

sequential steps it undertakes to monitor and 

respond to a patient's health state. The 

comprehensive flowchart serves as a valuable tool, 

summarizing the intricate reasoning and 

procedures utilized across the entirety of the health 

monitoring system, contributing to a more 

insightful comprehension of its functionality. 



 Noor A. Mohammed                                           Al-Khwarizmi Engineering Journal, Vol. 20, No.2, P.P. 65- 72 (2024) 

 

70 

 
Fig. 8. Flowchart illustrates the overall system mechanism. 

 

 

4. Implementing the Proposed System 
 

Our surveillance method's installation is the 

result of careful preparation, creative engineering, 

and a resolute dedication to the highest standards 

of medical technology. Every element of our 

execution, from the deliberate design of the 

software's structure to the meticulous selection of 

equipment, has been created with intention and 

accuracy. We go into great detail in the parts that 

proceed, emphasizing the user-centric designs, 

strong security measures, future-ready capacity, 

and the smooth integration of hardware and 

software as the main components that make the 

system, we are using rich yet efficient. 
 

1. Equipment Collaboration: We start the 

process by carefully choosing and integrating 

components that are made to specifically address 

health care tracking requirements. This consists of 

networking devices for smooth data transfer and 

detectors that record vital indicators including 

blood sugar, humidity, and pulse. Every component 

of the hardware is put through a thorough 

certification and validation process to guarantee 

peak functionality and dependability in actual 

medical settings. 

2. Visual Basic Programming Expertise: 

We create a program architecture which will 

function as the nerve center for the control 

structure by utilizing the powerful features of 

Visual Basic version 6. Each element of the 

program, from the layout of the interface to 

computing algorithms, is painstakingly designed to 

satisfy the highest requirements for accuracy and 

reliability. 



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71 

3. Integration Architecture: A complex 

integrative design is responsible for coordinating 

the smooth operation of hardware and software 

components under each other. This covers the 

protocols used for sending data safely across 

several networks, as well as middleware layers for 

data translation and protocol transformation. As a 

consequence, a coherent system is created in which 

many components cooperate to give doctors useful 

information. 

4. User-Centric Design: the needs and tastes 

of users as well as healthcare providers are 

carefully considered throughout the creation of the 

interface for patients seen in Figure 11. The user 

engagement is streamlined by the interface's 

obvious visual signals and functionalities, which 

are arranged naturally. Users may customize their 

monitoring experience and be updated regarding 

their physical condition with features like real-time 

notifications and customizable displays. 

5. Compliance and Security Measures: 

Tight legal and safety procedures are followed 

during the setting up phase to guarantee the 

protection of private medical information. This 

entails access control methods for user 

authentication, encryption techniques for data 

transfer, and routine security checks to find and fix 

any weaknesses. 

6. Scalability and Future-Proofing: As 

medical technology advances, our solution can 

easily expand and include novel functions since it 

is built with these two factors in mind. Usability 

with current healthcare systems is ensured by 

flexible designs and open standards, while long-

term viability and performance optimization are 

guaranteed by continuous upkeep and assistance 

initiatives. 

 

Our solution exceeds the constraints of 

conventional surveillance equipment and ushers in 

a new era of proactive healthcare management by 

fusing various disparate pieces into a coherent 

whole. Our surveillance system, with its advanced 

software architecture, user-centric design theory, 

and strong hardware facilities is ready to transform 

the way medical data is collected, analyzed, and 

used to enhance treatment of patients. Lastly, we 

graphically represent the result of our work in 

Figures 9 and 10, which illustrate how all of the 

hardware and software components work together 

to produce a cohesive whole.  The illustrations 

show how the software platform and the physical 

framework operate together seamlessly, giving a 

clear picture of the complex unification process. 

The creative combining technique at the heart of 

our monitoring system allows vital medical data to 

be seamlessly collected, processed, and 

transmitted. As seen in Figure 11, this strategy not 

only guarantees a successful flow of information 

but also establishes the framework for an interface 

that is easy to use. This interface acts as the starting 

point for interactions between medical personnel 

and patients, promoting effective dialogue and 

ensuring thorough surveillance of health. 

 

 
 
Fig. 9. Hardware implementation of monitoring 

systems 
 

 
 

Fig. 10. Hardware implementation of monitoring 

systems with GSM and mobile phone. 

 

 

 
 



 Noor A. Mohammed                                           Al-Khwarizmi Engineering Journal, Vol. 20, No.2, P.P. 65- 72 (2024) 

 

72 

 
Fig. 11. Monitoring systems GUI. 

 

 

5. Conclusions 
 

By using a Bluetooth connection between the 

first and second Arduino, the system gains more 

versatility. With this configuration, the server's PC 

may receive real-time vital signs and parameter 

data transmissions. Alarm messages can also be 

sent to a mobile phone to notify the person in 

charge of the patient's status. Utilizing the HC-05 

Bluetooth module is essential as its range of about 

10 meters is enough to cover a sizable structure and 

ensure smooth data transfer. The HC-05 module, 

interestingly, uses different pins for Tx (Transmit) 

and Rx (Receive) connections instead of using the 

pins on the microcontroller kit (Arduino) port. 

Because these distinct pins are devoted to the 

Bluetooth module, this design decision helps to 

decrease reaction times for data transmission and 

reception. The effective transfer of data from all the 

sensors to the mobile phone is made possible by the 

use of the GSM network, which has a faster baud 

rate. This improves the system's responsiveness 

and data transmission capabilities even more. 

 

 

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http://duino4projects.com/diy-arduino-pulse-sensor
http://duino4projects.com/diy-arduino-pulse-sensor
http://hdl.handle.net/2445/200772