GE's Wireless Patient Monitoring System beams your vitals at 2360MHz

Patients admitted to hospitals often find themselves with dozens of wires and cables strung from their every extremity -- trying to roll over at night resulting in a very large, expensive cat's cradle with the strings ending at sticky pads affixed to sensitive areas. GE is working on a solution, the Wireless Patient Monitoring System, which would accept signals from dozens of non-tethered sensors, beaming that data straight to the people who need to view it whether they be down the hall at the nurse's station or down the road at the driving range. The company is working with the FCC to develop a vendor-neutral frequency band exclusively for such devices to communicate over, the results of which will surely become the latest impediment for whitespace wireless approval.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 2nd 2009 9:41AM]

Whatever happened to the Zigbee protocol? I thought that Panasonic and GE were sold on it?

[kgsbca Posted Sep 2nd 2009 10:14AM]

Yeah, why is this new standard necessary, other than to create an expensive new monopoly for GE? All of the vital information is low bandwidth, and could be transmitted from the patient to a gateway in the room via zigbee, z-wave or even bluetooth, all of which are low power. The data could then be sent to the hurses station over ethernet or wi-fi.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 2nd 2009 4:02PM]

Resonant frequency for water is around 2450MHz, depending on the temperature. This should be named more like Wireless Patient Microwaving System...

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 2nd 2009 4:27PM]

The FCC Notice of Proposed Rulemaking addresses technical and service regulatory rules, it does not attempt to define a technology standard. The initial petition from GE to the FCC requested frequency allocation with proposed rules allowing the entire medical community to develop body sensor networks and other low-power, short-range wireless medical devices. GE would have neither exclusive nor preferred access to this band, other companies in this space could develop products for the proposed band as well. Speaking of standards, GE and many other companies are currently participating in the IEEE 802.15 Task Group 6 to define a standard for body area networks including medical as well as consumer applications. The key challenges and requirements driving the 802.15 TG6 effort are indeed low power operation and robust wireless performance given coexistence of ten or more collocated networks (that is to say patients). Those interested can learn much more by reading the many comments submitted by GE to the FCC's docket (enter docket number 08-59 in the FCC search tool, http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov//prod/ecfs/comsrch_v2.cgi).

[windzilla Posted Sep 2nd 2009 9:45AM]

Now come on, golfing? That's not fair
Lots of doctors are more pro-active

Many play tennis for example.

Waka waka waka

[mattpreston Posted Sep 2nd 2009 9:49AM]

is that the blandest room youhave ever seen?

[Poop Chef Posted Sep 2nd 2009 11:35AM]

Haven't you ever been inside a jail??????

[ashjini Posted Sep 2nd 2009 9:52AM]

I want to be nursed ;-)

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 2nd 2009 9:55AM]

Get yourself a big butt Brazilian babe and buy her a french maid uniform she barely fits into.

After that, you really don't need much else.

[ashjini Posted Sep 2nd 2009 10:58AM]

...nice suggestion.
I would not mind the subtle change as depicted in the pic above.

[Mister Vicious Posted Sep 2nd 2009 9:58AM]

So does she come if my horny levels raise? Maybe that was a little out of line................. But I was thinkin' it

[cervantesmx Posted Sep 2nd 2009 11:06AM]

Lol you're right, I would like for a hot nurse such as the one in the pic to come Nurse me if my hornyness levels are to dramatically rise :D

[Saber Posted Sep 2nd 2009 10:09AM]

You guys are sick! Still, this nurse is really hot!
Regards,

[ashjini Posted Sep 2nd 2009 10:58AM]

..or else why would we want to be nursed ;-)

[Skipr Posted Sep 2nd 2009 10:10AM]

Those are some sexy nurse pants!

[Saber Posted Sep 2nd 2009 10:22AM]

You figured that out all on your own, did you?
Regards,

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 2nd 2009 10:26AM]

Most of the above comments are lol. The only real comment is at the top!

[darkmax Posted Sep 2nd 2009 11:06AM]

Can we use the patients to go online?

[microlomaniac Posted Sep 2nd 2009 11:24AM]

It's the Engadget Man.

[Poop Chef Posted Sep 2nd 2009 11:36AM]

hehehehehehe, that is so true!!!!

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 2nd 2009 11:32AM]

That nurse can give me a spongebath anytime with her tight pants and white shirt!

Wakka chikka wakka chikka

[SirNoDroin Posted Sep 2nd 2009 11:33AM]

Grandpa?

[Snake Robot Podium Posted Sep 2nd 2009 12:16PM]

Is that guy a Wi-Fi hotspot? Or is he watching The Engadget Show?

[dicobalt Posted Sep 2nd 2009 1:29PM]

Wireless hell no, if I go in the hospital wire me up I don't want any problems.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 2nd 2009 2:44PM]

There are another set of waves emanating from that guy, but you can't see them because he's wearing pants.

[jackbravo Posted Sep 2nd 2009 3:08PM]

is she wearing underwear?

[naz Posted Sep 2nd 2009 3:55PM]

He definitely shouldn't go to Defcon

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 2nd 2009 5:00PM]

Maybe Jobs' stay in the hospital hurried it along.