GE Audio & Video: Podcasts, Stream GE, On Demand
skip to main contentskip to secondary navigationClick on any phrase to jump to that point in the video.
[[David Davenport] My name is David Davenport.]
[I'm a member of the RF and photonics labs here at GE global research.]
[I'm an electronic system engineer. I work primarily on wireless sensor applications,]
[and most recently, on various medical applications.]
[A critical care patient today receives their monitoring using a bedside device,]
[and often a dozen or more wired connections and electrodes.]
[All of those wires present many challenges, both to the patient, as well as the caregiver.]
[The patient has reduced comfort and also reduced mobility with all of those wires ]
[kind of burdening them and restricting their motion.]
[The patient is also now at risk for infection, as those wires all have to be]
[cleaned and sterilized between different patient's stay.]
[The caregiver now has many challenges.]
[They have to manage those connections and those wires,]
[and the ability for a caregiver to collect the vital signs and parameters of interest]
[is also restricted, especially when the patient is now transported throughout the hospital,]
[and those wires have to either be stretched or moved along with the patient. ]
[Here at GE, we're working to change the game in patient monitoring]
[by developing medical body sensor networks.]
[By leveraging miniaturization of electronics and wireless technology,]
[we can develop a collection of body sensor networks.]
[These body wonder devices would measure vital signs such as heart rate,]
[blood pressure, glucose, even posture and motion of the patient. ]
[These can be measured throughout the entire stay of the patient,]
[whether they're in the operating room, the intensive care unit, or elsewhere.]
[All of that provides great benefits to the patient, in terms of their comfort and mobility,]
[It also benefits the caregivers as they can now collect data continuously]
[with very little effort, very little intervention, and also having improved conditions ]
[and improved outcomes with less errors for the patient.]
[All of the technology exists today to build medical body sensor networks.]
[One challenge remains, and that challenge is wireless interference. ]
[When you consider the large number of patients moving about amongst each other]
[in a hospital, a well as moving about wireless computer networks, Bluetooth devices, ]
[cell phones, cordless phones, you have to address the potential ]
[for all of those wireless signals to interfere with each other.]
[We're very pleased by the FCC's recent release of a notice of proposed rule making]
[to allocate dedicated spectrum for medical body area networks. ]
[We believe and feel very strongly that that's the last key ingredient needed ]
[to realize the benefits of medical body area networks ]
[to reduce the cost to deliver healthcare and to improve the quality of healthcare delivered]
