FCC Names Spectrum Coordinator, Paving Way for Remote Patient Monitoring

In a decision with implications for remotely monitoring patients throughout the care continuum, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced a frequency coordinator for medical body area network (MBAN) operations. The FCC named Enterprise Wireless Alliance (EWA) as coordinator for the 2360 to 2400 MHz frequency range. Health care organizations are required to register MBAN devices capable of operating in the spectrum with EWA.

This may be an important development for laboratory administrators and pathologists, who could eventually find opportunities to leverage diagnostics data captured by the technology. "MBAN technology will provide a flexible platform for the wireless networking of multiple body transmitters used for measuring and recording physiological parameters and other patient information or for performing diagnostic or therapeutic functions, primarily in healthcare facilities," the FCC said in its November announcement.

For its part, EWA is charged with ensuring interference-free sharing of the band, which also serves the Aeronautical Mobile Telemetry (AMT) operations. "Our role is to ensure MBAN deployments are conducted pursuant to FCC rules governing those deployments, specifically securing operational concurrence from the Aerospace and Flight Test Radio Coordinating Council to ensure there is no risk of interference to Aeronautical Mobile Telemetry devices," Mark Crosby, EWA president, told National Intelligence Report (NIR). EWA, a national association with members including communication device manufacturers and resellers, announced that it has begun developing an online system for MBAN registration in anticipation of facilitating use of the advanced technology by health care facilities.

MBAN devices may provide patient monitoring parameters including blood glucose and pressure, delivery of electrocardiogram readings, and neonatal monitoring, Dale Woodin, senior executive director of the American Society for Healthcare Engineering, told NIR.

GE Healthcare and Philips Electronics, developers of remote monitoring systems (pulse, respiration rate, blood pressure, arterial oxygen saturation, to name a few offered by Philips Electronics), provided a joint proposal to the FCC prior to the Commission's approval of a plan to allocate spectrum in May 2012. MBANs offer a variety of patient monitoring capabilities in acute care and critical care settings, as well as emergency vehicles, homes and beyond, the companies say.

How do they work? The MBANs, networks of devices worn on the body, use a wireless communication link to connect with a programmer or controller device outside the body, the FCC explains. In addition to enabling the monitoring of clinical measurements wherever a patient is located, MBAN devices have these additional benefits, developers say: 1) early intervention by allowing caregivers to see a condition before it becomes critical; 2) ease of patient transport since there is no need to disconnect and reconnect wires; 3) reduced risk of infection; and 4) flexibility in ease of removing sensors from the body.

Takeaway: With the FCC's naming of a coordinator to protect spectrum for wireless medical devices, providers intending to use the MBAN spectrum need to register with Enterprise Wireless Alliance. The decision suggests remote health monitoring is progressing—with implications for developers of the devices; labs that analyze and capture data; and patients, whose vital signs may be more conveniently assessed with the new technology.