To monitor the health of patients and to make diagnoses, doctors routinely use the results of measurements such as blood pressure levels, blood oxygen levels and electrocardiograms. It is often useful to take these kinds of measurements continuously over a long period of time but the number of wires associated with these devices makes this all but impossible unless the patient is bed?bound.
But now the electronics giant Philips
has develop a wireless sensor network that transmits data from a patient's body to a central computer.
Philips says an important feature of its network is the ease with which it can be set up securely using Bluetooth wireless technology. Sensors also hunt for the central computer and connect to it automatically, meaning medical staff can concentrate on their traditional roll of healthcare rather than IT support.
Read the full medical sensor body network patent applicationJustin Mullins, New Scientist contributor