Bluetooth group targets interoperability of medical devices
30 May 2006 Bellevue, WA, USA. The Bluetooth Special Interest Group has
formed a Medical Devices Working Group with the objective to enable
health-related devices to work with consumer electronics products.
This team, made up of 19 member companies including IBM, Intel, Motorola,
Nonin Medical, Philips Electronics and Welch Allyn, will work together to
create and ratify a Bluetooth Medical Device Profile that will expand the
use of Bluetooth technology into the medical, health and fitness markets.
The new profile will ensure a comprehensive, yet easy, user experience
and optimized interoperability between health-related devices and personal
consumer electronics products such as mobile phones, PCs and PDAs where
Bluetooth technology is already common. “Health-related devices in the
home, such as weight scales, blood pressure monitors and exercise equipment,
which implement the new standard will be able to send information wirelessly
to Bluetooth enabled PCs or cell phones so that users can monitor their
health information or share this information with a doctor or fitness coach
anywhere in the world,” said Robert Hughes, chair of the new Bluetooth SIG
Medical Devices Working Group and a senior wireless standards architect in
Intel’s Digital Health Group. “The Working Group believes it can make a
difference in the lives of people, especially those with chronic conditions
or those striving to improve their fitness, by creating a Bluetooth profile
that enables medical, health, and fitness devices to better connect patient
with provider. In addition to helping people lead healthier lives, it
represents a powerful business opportunity for companies creating Bluetooth
enabled devices in a large and growing market segment.” The Working Group
will begin work immediately, drafting the specification this year with the
new profile available for use in devices in the first half of 2007. The
completed profile will run on all current versions of Bluetooth technology
including the future high-speed version. Although Bluetooth enabled medical
devices currently exist, the method of Bluetooth communications used is
proprietary and therefore not usually interoperable with devices from other
manufacturers. “With the price of healthcare continually rising, the need
exists to cut medical expenses. Many of the use cases supported by the
Medical Device Profile will minimize the need for costly hospital visits and
enable early detection of potential health problems reducing expensive
treatments,” said Michael Foley, PhD, executive director of the Bluetooth
SIG. “Because of its worldwide availability, existing pervasiveness in
mobile phones and laptops along with low power, low cost and security
features, Bluetooth technology is ideally suited for medical devices that
will provide a better quality of life for patients while reducing the cost
of healthcare.” The cases the working group plans to support with the
Medical Device Profile fall into the following primary categories:
- health and wellness management: by using a Bluetooth-enabled device
such as a blood pressure cuff, weight scale or cholesterol monitor, the
user regularly collects health data that is then wirelessly transmitted
to another Bluetooth device such as a mobile phone, PDA or health
appliance and could then be sent to the patient’s caregiver for remote
monitoring and health management of the patient.
- chronic disease management or patient recovery: using a Bluetooth
sensor, a chronically ill patient can measure their vital health
indicators on their own or with their caregiver via a Bluetooth
computation engine (PDA, PC, mobile phone, etc.).
- medication management: a patient can receive reminders to take
medication using a Bluetooth medication dispenser. If the patient has
not taken medication after several reminders, an alert with the time and
the medicine missed can be sent to their caregiver who can take the
appropriate action.
- fitness and workout tracking: the user is able to monitor fitness
goals by tracking health data during a workout with a Bluetooth sensor
such as a calorie counter, weight scale, or heart rate monitor. Data is
then wirelessly transmitted to a Bluetooth computation engine (PDA, PC,
mobile phone, etc.) where the user can track his or her progress
relative to their fitness goals.
- remote biosensor measurement – With a Bluetooth medical kit
connected to a set-top box or PC, patients can have their health status
checked from the comfort of their own home by conducting a phone or
video visit with their caregiver. Once the information is gathered it is
then transmitted to the caregiver in order for the patient’s health to
be monitored.
Additional use cases may include remote monitoring of multiple
patients, seamless device replacement and support for clinical trials.
And as with any medical and health application, the Medical Device
Profile will be compliant with the US Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act (HIPAA) and other international data privacy
requirements. To top
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