An Energy-Efficient, Low-Cost Hybrid OWC–RF IoT Architecture for Biomedical Telemonitoring in Resource-Constrained Environments

This paper presents the design, modeling, and experimental validation of a hybrid optical wireless-radio frequency (OWC-RF) IoT architecture for biomedical telemonitoring, specifically tailored to resource-constrained healthcare environments.Unlike conventional RF-only body area networks, the proposed system exploits optical wireless communication for short-range intra-BAN transmission, combined with low-power RF technologies (BLE, LoRa, and GSM) for resilient backhaul connectivity.The platform integrates a multisensor acquisition unit supporting electrocardiogram (ECG), SpO₂, body temperature, blood pressure, phonocardiogram (PCG), and photoplethysmography (PPG) signals.Local embedded processing enables data preprocessing and compression, while a standards-based interoperability pipeline ensures compliance with ISO/IEEE 11073, HL7 v2.x, and HL7 FHIR.Experimental validation conducted on a laboratory testbed and clinically inspired simulation scenarios demonstrates an end-to-end latency below 3 s, communication reliability exceeding 97%, battery autonomy greater than 34 h, and a per-node hardware cost below 30 USD.These results confirm the feasibility of frugal, energy-efficient, and interoperable telemonitoring systems, and establish a scalable foundation for next-generation IoT-enabled digital health infrastructures in low-and middle-income countries.