There are already examples of Body Area Networks in place today, but many tech companies are working to vastly improve their applications in medicine. Check the link at the bottom for an article at Zarlink that delves deep into the proposed specs of how ultra-low power, high-bandwith devices can be produced and implemented.
The idea is to develop components that can be put into the body, operating on the new MICS (medical implant communication service) band, regulated by the FCC to be between 402-405 MHz. These components will be designed to utilize "ultra-low" power consumption, aided also by a dedicated wake-up sensor, operating at the 2.45 GHz range. This would allow the component to only be in power use mode when required, conserving long-term battery life. Added to the major increases in power cycles, is the improved data flow. Devices can be configured to send/receive data at up to 800 kbps, and be throttled to lower speeds as needed, to also aid in conserving power by using only enough power to get the minimum amount of bandwidth needed.
Advances such as these can lead to at-home monitoring for patients, as they can have home transceivers communicate with devices such as pacemakers and kidney monitors while they sleep, and send the data back to the necessary medical institution. Also, adjustments can be made without invasive surgery, perhaps even without the need for an office visit.
Zarlink Semiconductor
RFDesign.com article
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2 comments:
I find that interesting how they can recieve data from the patients while they are at home.
The technology sounds very interesting. It will make monitoring patients a lot easer and faster. I wonder how much this technology will advance in the future?
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