Wireless Medical Devices

One of the newest developments in the medical field today is the use of wireless medical devices. The devices, which are also called Radio Frequency wireless medical devices, use wireless RF communication to assist in health care delivery. Two examples of the technologies these devices use are Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and Wireless Medical Telemetry. RFID is a system that has two parts, which include a tag and a reader. The reader emits radio waves, which then will receive signals back from the tag. Some of the major uses of this technology include, equipment and inventory tracking, making sure patients receive correct medication and dosage, out-of-bed and falling detection, and several others. Wireless medical telemetry is usually used in order to monitor patients’ vital signs, including things such as respiration and pulse.

            These new advancements have numerous benefits. For the medical telemetry the biggest perk is that it allows the patient to be able to move around without restricting them to a bed. Some of the other benefits of these devices include giving health care providers the ability to be able to program devices, and the also allow doctors to be able to access the information of patients whether they are in the hospital, doctor’s office, or at home. These benefits will greatly impact the medical field, for it will allow physicians to be able to monitor their patients in the comfort of their own homes, and change things such as medication dosage. These devices will also greatly help in taking care of groups such as senior citizens, for they can be constantly monitored.

            Although these devices have multiple benefits, they also have quite a few drawbacks, due to the fact that they are so new and some of the glitches are still in the process of being worked out. The biggest issue currently with these devices is that of multi-path propagation. This occurs when there is interference with signals due to walls houses or other structures. If signals are interfered with, then critical information such as a patient’s vitals or a change in a medication dosage may not reach the doctor or patient, which can have dire consequences. Another downfall of these technologies is spectrum limitations. This occurs when different frequency wavelengths are restricted by the government. Like the multi-path propagation, spectrum limitations can result in the same consequences due to important information not being received by doctors or patients. Some other drawbacks that are not as serious as the first two mentioned, include user mobility and security issues. Although these devices do have some setbacks, they are quite new to the field and still can be greatly improved. The benefits outweigh the flaws, and over time these devices will greatly improve the medical field.