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This review is divided into three sections: technologies for monitoring physiological parameters; biosensors for chemical assays and wireless communications technologies including image transmissions. Applications range from monitoring high risk patients for heart, respiratory activity and falls to sensing levels of physical activity in military, rescue, and sports personnel. The range of measurements include, heart rate, pulse wave form, respiratory rate, blood oxygen, tissue pCO2, exhaled carbon dioxide and physical activity. Other feasible measurements will employ miniature chemical laboratories on silicon or plastic chips. The measurements can be extended to clinical chemical assays ranging from common blood assays to protein or specialized protein measurements (e.g., troponin, creatine, and cytokines such as TNF and IL6). Though the feasibility of using wireless technology to communicate vital signs has been demonstrated 32 years ago (1) it has been only recently that practical and portable devices and communications net works have become generally available for inexpensive deployment of comfortable and affordable devices and systems.

"At the beginning of the 20th century an estimated five percent of the world's population lived in cities. Today, half the world's population is urbanized. Urban sustainability is multifaceted and encompasses security, economics, environment and resources, health, and quality of life. It can be viewed as the intersection of two extremely complex and not yet fully understood processes, urbanization and global sustainability, which will increasingly overlap as urban populations continue to grow. Effective policies are critical for addressing urban sustainability, and must be politically realistic in deciding on appropriate balances, such as centralized versus decentralized systems, "soft" versus "hard" solutions, local versus regional focus, agriculture versus pollution, and free markets versus interventions."--Publisher's description