Ullah, SanaLi, Changle2016-01-112016-01-112015-02http://hdl.handle.net/10400.22/7361Wireless body area networks (WBANs) are expected to play a significant role in smart healthcare systems. One of the most important attributes of WBANs is to increase network lifetime by introducing novel and low-power techniques on the energy-constrained sensor nodes. Medium access control (MAC) protocols play a significant role in determining the energy consumption in WBANs. Existing MAC protocols are unable to accommodate communication requirements in WBANs. There is a need to develop novel, scalable and reliable MAC protocols that must be able to address all these requirements in a reliable manner. In this special issue, we attracted high quality research and review papers on the recent advances in MAC protocols for WBANs.engAdaptive Mac ProtocolMac Protocol DesignWireless Body Area NetworkHybrid Mac ProtocolPacket Inter-arrival TimeWBAN Macjournal article10.1007/s11235-014-9896-1