PCB007 Magazine

PCB-Jan2016

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20 The PCB Magazine • January 2016 2.36–2.4GHz Band. Adoption of these wireless systems will greatly reduce the clutter and com- plexity in operating and recovery rooms. Major players see this as a significant growth area. As an example, Qualcomm has created the Qual- comm Life Fund, an investment fund with the specific mission of accelerating global wireless health services and technology adoption. The key is its use in remote monitoring. Qualcomm Life Fund Director Jack Young explains, "Patient monitoring is becoming a necessary measure for hospitals and doctors to measure their business." One reason all this matters is an example provided in a study by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement which found that patients who suffered a heart attack while being electronically monitored had a 48% chance of survival vs only a 6% chance for those not monitored. Now imagine if that could be rolled out in scale to patients who were not on site in a hospital but were connected to the cloud with remote monitor - ing devices. The confluence of sensor technology, wire- less communication protocols and pressure to reduce health care costs and improve success rates is creating a whole new field of non-FDA governed consumer level remote monitoring devices. Low-cost systems that use consumer grade protocols and do not require FDA approv- al are seen as a rapid speed to market opportuni- ty for those who can produce such technology. Figure 13: typical hospital monitoring equipment. (source: Forbes) Figure 14: mimo wireless baby monitoring suit. Figure 15: printed electronics tattoo with diagnostic tools on board. ROBOTS, WEARABLES AND IMPLANTED DEVICES IN THE AGE OF BIONIC HEALTH Feature

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