Evaluation of Bluetooth as a Replacement
for Cables in Intensive Care and Surgery
Mats K. E. B. Wallin, MD, MSc*†, and Samson
Wajntraub, MSc†
From the *Department of Anesthesiology
and
Intensive Care,
Karolinska Hospital and the †Division
of
Medical Engineering,
Department of Medical Laboratory Science
and Technology, Karolinska Insititute,
Stockholm, Sweden.
In today’s intensive care and surgery, a
great number of cables are attached to patients.
These cables can make the care and
nursing
of the patient difficult. Replacing
them
with wireless communications technology
would
facilitate patient care. Bluetooth
is
a modern radio technology developed specifically
to replace cables
between different pieces of communications
equipment.
In this studywesought to determine
whether
Bluetooth is a suitable replacement
for cables in intensive care and during
surgery with respect to electromagnetic compatibility.
The following questions were addressed:
Does Bluetooth interfere with medical
equipment?
And does the medical equipment decrease
the
quality of the Bluetooth communication?
A Bluetooth link, simulating a patient monitoring
system, was constructed with two laptops.
The prototype was then used in laboratory
and clinical tests according to American
standards
at the Karolinska Hospital in Stockholm.
The tests, which included 44 different pieces
of medical equipment, indicated that
Bluetooth
does not cause any interference.
The tests also showed that the hospital environment
does not affect
the Bluetooth communication negatively.
(Anesth Analg 2004;98:763.7) |
