IoT Based Biomedical Waste Classification, Quantification and Management

CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
Biomedical waste is any kind of waste containing infectious (or potentially infectious)
materials. It may also include waste associated with the generation of biomedical waste that
visually appears to be of medical or laboratory origin (e.g., packaging, unused bandages,
infusion kits, etc.), as well research laboratory waste containing biomolecules or organisms
that are restricted from environmental release. As detailed below, discarded sharps are
considered biomedical waste whether they are contaminated or not, due to the possibility of
being contaminated with blood and their propensity to cause injury when not properly
contained and disposed of. Biomedical waste is a type of bio waste.

Biomedical waste may be solid or liquid. Examples of infectious waste include

discarded blood, sharps, unwanted microbiological cultures and stocks, identifiable body parts
(including those as a result of amputation), other human or animal tissue, used bandages and
dressings, discarded gloves, other medical supplies that may have been in contact with blood
and body fluids, and laboratory waste that exhibits the characteristics described above. Waste
sharps include potentially contaminated used (and unused discarded) needles, scalpels, lancets
and other devices capable of penetrating skin.

Biomedical waste is generated from biological and medical sources and activities, such
as the diagnosis, prevention, or treatment of diseases. Common generators (or producers) of
biomedical waste include hospitals, health clinics, nursing homes, emergency medical
services, medical research laboratories, offices of physicians, dentists, and veterinarians, home
health care, and morgues or funeral homes. In healthcare facilities (i.e., hospitals, clinics,
doctor's offices, veterinary hospitals and clinical laboratories), waste with these characteristics
may alternatively be called medical or clinical waste.

Biomedical waste is distinct from normal trash or general waste, and differs from other
types of hazardous waste, such as chemical, radioactive, universal or industrial waste. Medical
facilities generate waste hazardous chemicals and radioactive materials. While such wastes are
normally not infectious, they require proper disposal. Some wastes are
considered multihazardous, such as tissue samples preserved in formalities.
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The subject of biomedical waste management and handling has been assuming
increasing significance for the past few years. The responsibility of medical administrators as
regards proper handling and disposal of this category of waste has now become a statutory
requirement with the promulgation of Government of India (Min of Environment and Forests)
gazette notification no. 460 dated 27 Jul 1998. The provisions of the gazette are also applicable
to Armed Forces hospitals. The present system of biomedical waste disposal system in Armed
Forces is far from satisfactory. It is therefore highly desirable that all service officers concerned
with the administration of hospitals and other health care echelons take all steps to adhere to
the laid down directives. It is equally important that all service medical, dental, nursing officers,
other paramedical staff and waste handlers such as safaiwalas be well oriented to the basic
requirements of handling and management of biomedical waste. It is with this objective of
providing such basic information that the present article has been composed.

Problems faced by government authorities is to keep surveillance on HCF and organizations

that produce Biomedical waste for

1. Understanding the day to day quantity of waste being generated

2. Understanding the ratio & proportion of type of waste being generated

3. Understanding the status of disposal of waste (collection to final processing)

4. Collecting and analysing the periodic reports While currently the reports are being
filled, submitted and analysed manually, it is difficult to understand which organization
produces certain waste above the cap/tolerance limit.

Risk to Human Health

Disposal of this waste is an environmental concern, as many medical wastes are

classified as infectious or biohazardous and could potentially lead to the spread of infectious
disease. The most common danger for humans is the infection which also affects other living
organisms in the region. Daily exposure to the waste (landfill) leads to accumulation of harmful
substances or microbes in the person's body.

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A 1990 report by the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry concluded that
the general public is not likely to be adversely affected by biomedical waste generated in the
traditional healthcare setting. They found, however, that biomedical waste from those settings
may pose an injury and exposure risks via occupational contact with medical waste for doctors,
nurses, and janitorial, laundry and refuse workers. Further, there are opportunities for the
general public to come into contact medical waste, such as needles used illicitly outside
healthcare settings, or biomedical waste generated via home health care.

According to the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) gross generation of BMW in
India is 4,05,702 kg/day of which only 2,91,983 kg/day is disposed, which means that almost
28% of the wastes is left untreated and not disposed finding its way in dumps or water bodies
and re-enters our system. The indiscriminate dumping of biomedical wastes by hospitals and
nursing homes was a source of pollution that caused dangers to the health and environment.
In order to overcome this crisis, the Bio Medical Waste (Handling and Management) Rules,
were notified in July 1998. The rules seek to introduce biomedical waste disposal practices in
India. The emphasis is on ensuring a process change that will enable health care facilities to
handle their waste through proper training and capacity building.

These Rules are applicable to all persons who generate, collect, receive, store, transport,
treat, dispose or handle biomedical wastes. This includes hospitals, nursing homes, clinics,
dispensaries, veterinary institutions, animal houses, pathological laboratories and blood
banks.

The hospitals and the private nursing homes have raised a hue and cry against the cost of
treatment and bio-medical waste. It has been reported that the private agencies have quoted a
disposal charge at Rs.20/bed does not seem to be unreasonable.

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IoT Based Biomedical Waste Classification, Quantification and Management

CHAPTER 2
CLASSIFICATION OF BIOMEDICAL WASTE
Approximately 75-90% of the biomedical waste is non-hazardous and as harmless as
any other Municipal waste. The rest 10-25%, though mixed with non-hazardous waste, can be
injurious to humans or animals and deleterious to environment. Biomedical wastes can be
categorized based on their origin and physical, chemical or biological characteristics

1. General waste:
Largely composed of domestic or household type waste. It is non-hazardous to human
beings, e.g. kitchen waste, packaging material, paper, wrappers, and plastics.

2. Pathological waste:
Pathological waste is a category of biohazardous waste. The parent category includes
infectious animal bedding/faeces, human and/or animal pathogens and disposable items
contaminated with human blood or body fluids.

3. Infectious waste:
The wastes which contain pathogens in sufficient concentration or quantity that could
cause diseases. It includes cultures and stocks of infectious agents from laboratories, waste
from surgery, waste originating from infectious patients.

4. Sharps:

Physically hazardous biomedical waste like needles, broken glass, saws, nail, blades,
and scalpels.

5. Pharmaceutical waste:
Drugs and pharmaceutical products that are contaminated outdated or have been spilled.

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IoT Based Biomedical Waste Classification, Quantification and Management

6. Chemical waste:
Chemical waste may or may not be classed as hazardous waste. A chemical hazardous
waste is a solid, liquid, or gaseous material that displays either a “Hazardous Characteristic”
or is specifically “listed” by name as a hazardous waste.

7. Radioactive waste:

It includes solid, liquid, and gaseous waste that is contaminated with radionuclides
generated from in-vitro analysis of body tissues and fluid, in-vivo body organ imaging and
tumour localization and therapeutic procedures.

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IoT Based Biomedical Waste Classification, Quantification and Management

CHAPTER 3
LITERATURE SURVEY
1) Smart and wireless waste management:
In many places, the Municipal garbage bins are overflowing and they are not cleaned
at proper time. As a result of which the consequences are severe. It includes overflow of
garbage which results in land pollution, spread of diseases, also it creates unhygienic conditions
for people, and ugliness to that place. There needs to be system that gives prior information of
the filling of the bin that alerts the municipality so that they can clean the bin on time and
safeguard the environment. To avoid all such situations, we intend to propose a solution for
this problem “Smart Garbage Bin”, which will alarm and inform the authorized person when
the garbage bin is about to fill. Now, instead of dumping the waste on land fill area, we propose
a method to separate the 5 types of plastic resins (which are not biodegradable) by using NIR
spectroscopy and use the rest of biodegradable waste to produce biogas.

Figure 1: Smart and wireless waste management

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IoT Based Biomedical Waste Classification, Quantification and Management

2) Smartbin: Smart waste management system:

They present the Smartbin system that identifies fullness of litter bin. The system is
designed to collect data and to deliver the data through wireless mesh network. The system
also employs duty cycle technique to reduce power consumption and to maximize operational
time. The Smartbin system was tested in an outdoor environment. Through the testbed, we
collected data and applied sense-making methods to obtain litter bin utilization and litter bin
daily seasonality information. With such information, litter bin providers and cleaning
contractors are able to make better decision to increase productivity.

Figure 2: SmartBin: Smart waste management system

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IoT Based Biomedical Waste Classification, Quantification and Management

3) Integrated Sensing Systems and Algorithms for Solid Waste Bin State
Management Automation:
Intelligent solid waste bin is essential to develop an efficient and dynamic waste
management system. This research presents the implementation and execution of an integrated
sensing system and algorithm for solid waste bin to automate the solid waste management
process. Several sensing methods have been integrated and have combined their verdicts that
offer the detection of bin condition and its parameter measurement. A number of test runs have
been conducted to assess the functioning of the prototype system. The outcomes showed that
the sensing system with the algorithm is efficient and intelligent and can be simply used to
automate any solid waste bin management process.

Figure 3: Integrated Sensing System

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IoT Based Biomedical Waste Classification, Quantification and Management

CHAPTER 4

TECHINCAL BACKGROUND
Bio-Medical Waste (BMW) refers to any waste, which is generated during the
diagnosis, treatment or immunization of human beings or animals or in research activities
pertaining thereto or in the production or testing of biological and including categories
mentioned in Schedule I of the BioMedical Waste (Management and Handling) Rules.

While currently the reports are being filled, submitted and analysed manually, it is
difficult to understand which organization produces certain waste above the cap/tolerance limit.

Categories of Bio-Medical Waste

Current System:

Biomedical waste generated at sources which include hospitals, factories and chemical
laboratories is segregated manually in various types color coded as yellow, red, blue/white,
black by employees of the organization. Those simple color coded waste is further segregated
into waste categories 1, 2, 3 and so on. At a high level, the sources that generate the waste
transport it to central facilities called Common Biomedical Medical Waste Treatment Facilities
(CBMWTF) through vans. These CBMWTF which receive waste in mammoth quantity are
responsible for quantifying, record-keeping and proper treatment of waste. A governing body
is authorized to keep a close contact with such facilities and monitor their daily functioning.
The Governing body also demands reports every year from these CBMWTF as well as sources
every year called annexure to analyse

1. How much, what kind of waste was generated

2. Are the CBWTF abiding the rules by which they can: Ask sources to change the way
they handle the operations to reduce the amount of wastage they make Ask sources to change
the way they tune the CBMWTF to handle the waste properly. Carry out actions under legally
for violation of provisions Understand how many times the CBMWTF/HCF has been violating
the rules in order to make decisions of validating/cancelling their licences.

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IoT Based Biomedical Waste Classification, Quantification and Management

Figure 4: Current System

Limitations of existing system :

Even though the existing system in place has been working well for years, there are
flaws that are potentially hazardous to environment and life of human beings. Some of the flaws
include:

1) Unnecessary cost incurred in transportation contributing to 43% (fig.5)

2) Weak decision making capabilities & algorithms to route the transportation

3) Human error: As currently the process of quantification and segregation is

completely human based, a chance of human error is more.

4) Fraud: Sources like hospitals could hide the actual facts and lie about them to fool
the authorities to extend or get the license.

5) Delay: as the mechanisms are human oriented it takes time for segregating correct
data and measuring it

6) Bureaucracy: As with any other government managed system, the hierarchy of

authority and Bureaucracy is a cause of delay

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IoT Based Biomedical Waste Classification, Quantification and Management

7) Corruption: corrupt employees could take bribery and destroy the entire purpose of
the system.

8) Not real time: The data is not real-time as its collected annually, which is does not
provide the authorities with the instant action plan.

Figure 5: Monthly breakup of Expense

Proposed System:

The proposed system by making utilization of recent advancements in technology and

wireless connectivity could help to fully automate this system. For purpose of automating this
system IoT devices can easily be used as they are very cheap to invest in and setting them up
is easy. Generally the IoT COTS components are used.

The existing internet infrastructure is used for real-time data transfer. At a high level
the proposed system would be implemented at sources, the color coded bags will be marked
with RFID tags which are automatically issues and indexed by a system. The bins in which
these bags are put into would have weighing sensors which would immediately trigger the Van
that carries the waste to CBMWTF.

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IoT Based Biomedical Waste Classification, Quantification and Management

This quantified weighted value for a particular color coded bag will be sent to the
government authorities directly by IoT based microcomputer connected to internet. This would
instantly record the correct and non-fraudulent data on governments servers.

It can also help government to analyse and fetch the data every month or even instantly
every second. Big data analysing techniques can further be used to classify.

As this system is completely distributed and based on real-time data, it can overcome
every possible flaw of the previous decentralized system, the server arrangement in case of IoT
based architectured devices allows individual devices to connect to their local servers and also
peer to peer with each other, Such a smart and instantaneously reactant network could help
prevent frauds in the data as the data at any point is available on many nodes before it is
synchronized into main server as a backup.

Figure 6: Distribution of beds in 75, 50 and 25 km radii with CBMWTDF in centre

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IoT Based Biomedical Waste Classification, Quantification and Management

Figure 7: Proposed System

Waste generation & storage at hospital

Generation of Bio Medical waste and collection into slave bins.

[Link] waste will be stored in disposable color coded bags which act as self-identifying
objects. These bags will be attached with QR code. The slave bins will be locked and won’t

open until the disposable bags matches its own color code, and will be connected to sensor
network which will read the self-identifying bags and open respective slave bins.
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IoT Based Biomedical Waste Classification, Quantification and Management

This will ensure the appropriate segregation and quantification of waste. Each smart
bin will have filler sensors & weighing capabilities.

2. Collection from slave bins to master bins Before the time of point of collection, the
Bio Medical Waste will be moved from slave to master bin which will calculate and identifying
whether all the generated Waste is collected.

[Link] collection van about status of capacity of collection. The vans will have
cheap smartphone device that will be notified about capacity of various healthcare facilities.

4. Collection from master bin to van.

5. Collection from van to treatment centres.

The hospitals CBWTF will have the following technical architecture:

• Self identifying disposable baggage’s

• SmartBins(classified as slave and master) with capability to weigh the contents, open
close according to certain parameters, send data to local server

• Microcomputer/Raspberry Pi

• Application Server

• Notification Server

• Local Database

The CBWTF

• Smart Bins (classified as processing bins) with capability to weigh the contents and
send information to the local server

• Microcomputer/Raspberry Pi

• Application Server

• Notification Server

• Local Database

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IoT Based Biomedical Waste Classification, Quantification and Management

The Central governing authority

• Application Server

• Notification Server

• Local Database (Altogether termed as central system) At each of the places, the
communication will operate and follow standard TCP based communication
protocols([Link])

The SmartBins, processing bins will sense the change in weights and send the data to
local system.

Certain part of local system will be available to CBWTF to understand the amount of
biomedical waste generated and collection status, which will be achieved by syncing the
collection status with CBWTF and in turn with the smart trucks.

Data Flow

All the slave bins are connected with a master bin through 900-1900 MHz (2G
spectrum) network. As this network has the widest area coverage these bins will easily be able
to connect to internet from most places.

This way the challenge of connecting at remote places is achieved as the 2G spectrum
is available at most places. The current available sensors use the least amount of power to
connect to this spectrum.

Although, 2G spectrum comes with a trade-off of having less bandwidth available. This
is where the IoT based specialized protocols can help us transfer data in an extremely fragile
and slow internet connectivity as they are meant to work in very less bandwidth.

Challenges of using existing application level protocols:

HTTP: This protocol uses 40 bytes of header, which is a complete overhead to actual
payload and completely beats our purpose.

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IoT Based Biomedical Waste Classification, Quantification and Management

TCP: this protocol makes it sure that the message is delivered, in fragile network like
2G.

Following is the section wise list of IoT protocols that can be used:

Discovery: The master bin in rural area would require a list of bins registered under it
so that it can keep track record of the status of those bins also the quantity of particular material
in it. For which purpose

The following two discovery protocols can be made use of:

mDNS (multicast Domain Name System): slave bins will be able to figure out the IP of
the master bin to report to HyperCat: An open, lightweight JSON-based hypermedia catalogue
format for exposing collections of URIs. Can be used to by slave bins. To figure out where to
report the data about.

Data Protocols

MQTT: To transfer the real time data from slave bins to master bins we use MQTT
(Message Queuing Telemetry Transport), it is a publisher subscriber based serialized data
publishing mechanism, therefore we can pump events into queue to which all the subscribers
would react, hence when a slave bin is full, slave bin can queue an event of full to the queue to
which the van would react by coming to the bin.

LLAP (lightweight local automation protocol): LLAP is a simple short message that is
sent between intelligent objects using normal text, it's not like TCP/IP, Bluetooth, ZigBee,
6lowpan, Wi-Fi, etc. which achieve at a low level "how" to move data around. This means
LLAP can run over any communication medium. The three strengths of LLAP are, it'll run on
anything now, anything in the future and it's easily understandable by humans.

Cost/Expense

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IoT Based Biomedical Waste Classification, Quantification and Management

1) IoT Microcomputer ($5): A microcomputer is a small, relatively

inexpensive computer with a microprocessor as its central processing unit (CPU). It includes a
microprocessor, memory, and minimal input/output (I/O) circuitry mounted on a single printed
circuit board.

2) Weight sensor ($1): A load cell is a transducer that is used to create an electrical
signal whose magnitude is directly proportional to the force being measured. The various load
cell types include hydraulic, pneumatic, and strain gauge.

3) Tilt Sensors ($1): A tilt sensor is an instrument that is used for measuring the tilt in
multiple axes of a reference plane. Tilt sensors measure the tilting position with reference to
gravity, and are used in numerous applications. They enable the easy detection of orientation
or inclination.

4) Central Application/Database Servers ($15): A centralized database (sometimes

abbreviated CDB) is a database that is located, stored, and maintained in a single location. This
location is most often a central computer or database system, for example a desktop or
server CPU, or a mainframe computer. Users access a centralized database through a computer
network which is able to give them access to the central CPU, which in turn maintains to the
database itself.

5) Local Application/Database Server ($5): A database server is the client-server

application that serves the content of those files to applications and users while also providing
access control, concurrency, transactions, a high level language to manipulate data, etc.

6) RFID Tags & Reader kit ($2): Radio-frequency identification (RFID)

uses electromagnetic fields to automatically identify and track tags attached to objects. The
tags contain electronically-stored information. Passive tags collect energy from a nearby RFID
reader's interrogating radio waves. Active tags have a local power source (such as a battery)
and may operate hundreds of meters from the RFID reader. Unlike a barcode, the tag need not
be within the line of sight of the reader, so it may be embedded in the tracked object. RFID is
one method for Automatic Identification and Data Capture (AIDC).

CHAPTER 5
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CONCLUSION
Biomedical waste management and treatment is one of the critical process for
organizations (HCF and CBMWTF) because if not handled properly would lead to hazardous
effects like mass infection.

Segregation plans are proposed in order to maximize the recycling of waste and proper
handling of non-recyclable waste.

The solution proposed by the system aims to successfully solve various problems as
described. It aims to reduce human interaction and fully automate the waste management
system for hospitals, laboratories and pathological labs. The system designed is capable of
completing entire plaster management plan without a single user input or manipulation.

Therefore, it can be thought of as a Black box system which can’t be altered to create
wrong data. The data that is generated though the IoT systems are generated based on real-time
sensor information, which is constantly fed to authorities at their server which in turn allows
full automation of the data monitoring system.

The system also reduces the data transportation cost by optimizing the van timings as a
when required. This project entirely touches and solves the management biomedical waste by
introducing automation in the field.

REFERENCES
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[1] S Thakker,R Narayanamoorthi, Smart and Wireless Waste Management, ICIIECS15

[2] Fachmin F olianto,Y ong Sheng Low, Wai Leong Yeow, Smartbin: Smart Waste
Management System, 2015 IEEE Tenth International Conference on Intelligent Sensors,
Sensor Networks and Information Processing (ISSNIP) April 2014

[3] Md. Abdulla Al Mamun, Mahammad A. Hannan, Integrated Sensing Systems and
Algorithms for Solid Waste Bin State Management Automation, IEEE SENSORS JOURNAL,
VOL. 15, NO. 1, JANUARY 2015

[4] [Link]

[5] Bio-medical waste management: situational analysis & predictors of performances in 25

districts across 20 Indian States , Page 1 [Link]

[6] Press release, Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB)

[Link]

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