Healthcare Technology Featured Article

October 08, 2012

Medical Monitoring with Wireless Technology is Revolutionizing Medical Treatment


Wireless devices are getting smaller with each successive generation, creating opportunities for applications never before imagined. New development in the medical field is leading doctors, researchers and tech manufacturers to use wireless technology for remote patient monitoring. The successful application of this technology means doctors will be able to receive critical data about their patients and provide expert healthcare from long distances.

A report issued by GBI Research highlighted the problems, solutions and challenges the technology faces for full implementation in the medical field. Wireless monitoring devices are able to collect and transmit information about the patient as long as there is reliable transmission service. With the right infrastructure in place, patients will not have to be confined to hospital beds with monitors. This process allows the patient to be monitored 24/7 for as long as it is necessary. The information can be transmitted to the healthcare provider and experts in their field can be consulted to provide the best possible care without the need of traveling to see these doctors. 

Body Area Network or BAN is a patient monitoring system with biomedical sensors which is used to create a wireless network system. The sensors are able to measure the vital signs of the patient including electrical impulses of the heart and brain, blood pressure and blood glucose levels. Another platform called Wireless Intelligent Sensor (WISE) is able to monitor parameters set by doctors regarding the patient’s condition and alert medical personnel when conditions exceed these parameters. This type of early intervention methods gives doctors the opportunity to save the patient’s life or prevent life changing injury from taking place.

The technology can only flourish if the right infrastructure is in place. Reliable high-speed wireless access has to be implemented even in rural areas. The coverage offered by wireless service providers must have unlimited and dependable coverage when it comes to this type of critical application. The combination of solid wireless service and GPS (Global Positioning System) tools will ensure patients can be located with great accuracy if there is an emergency.

As the implementation of the technology grows, new transmission standards for BAN’s have to be regulated. A new standard was issued in May of 2012 which is able to deliver 10 Mbits/second for distances as long as three meters. Along with new transmission standards security protocols have to be increased to ensure the patients privacy and monitoring device doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.

“The existence of a body area network standard provides a myriad of opportunities to create a wide variety of new products and capabilities aimed at enhancing people’s comfort and well being in ways we can only begin to imagine,” said Art Astrin, chair of the 802.15.6 Task Group.




Edited by Brooke Neuman
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