Wireless Workshop Stresses Need for Spectrum Management
Radio spectrum is like air to wireless medical devices, and experts say smartphones and iPads are making it harder for those technologies to breath.
Spectrum management was one of the challenges identified by more than 100 experts during an Oct. 4-5 workshop on wireless technology systems in healthcare hosted by AAMI in Herndon, VA, outside of Washington, DC. Attendees listened to presentations on topics such as spectrum management, infrastructure, security, and then participated in collaborative discussions to identify priorities.
“Wireless devices breath spectrum. It is the water that floats their boats,” said Mark Gibson, director of business development for Comsearch a wireless engineering company based in Ashburn, VA, during his presentation.
The problem is that mobile devices such as smartphones and iPads are starting to crowd hospital networks.
“Radio spectrum is a finite resource,” Gibson said
He said it is a critical asset that must be managed accordingly by hospitals. The first step is creating a database of wireless medical devices.
“You can’t just do spectrum management without knowing what you have to operate,” he said.
Most spectrum is shared with other users. “If you are in a hospital and you are using wireless spectrum, you should know who those users are,” Gibson said.
But that management is lacking in many hospitals, said attendee John Collins, engineering & compliance director of the American Society for Healthcare Engineering, during one of the discussion sessions.
“Nobody is in charge of hospitals’ spectrum management in the U.S.,” Collins said.
The workshop takes place a week after a unanimous decision by the Federal Communications Commission to move forward on a process to auction off broadcast television spectrum for use by mobile broadband. The ramifications for hospitals lies in TV channel 37, which is designated for half of the spectrum available for wireless medical telemetry service, used to remotely monitor patient health.
Other subjects beyond the spectrum question were addressed at the workshop.
Speakers also talked about the proliferation of mobile apps and their impact on healthcare.
One problem is most app producers previously made games and other things, and don’t understand the need to mitigate risk in healthcare apps, said Bill Saltzstein, president of connectBlue Inc., a wireless module manufacturer.
“There is no safety or reliability involved in a game. It can crash and you can restart,” he said.
When the workshop concludes, attendees will reach consensus on the “clarion themes” or priorities. AAMI will then develop an action plan that will address the themes. The workshop was also convened by the American College of Clinical Engineering, the ECRI Institute, and the American Society for Healthcare Engineering.
Immediately preceding the workshop, AAMI and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) held a two-day summit on interoperability.
Posted: October 5, 2012