FCC Mulls Spectrum For Medical GearFCC Mulls Spectrum For Medical Gear

While President Obama Tuesday signed the healthcare reform bill into law, other segments of the federal government are in the midst of decision-making that could also influence a proliferation of new healthcare services.

Several months ago, the FCC issued a notice of proposed rulemaking, or NPRM, seeking public comment on allocating a spectrum for medical body area networks, or MBAN. Some healthcare technology vendors are hoping the FCC will approve a low frequency band that they say would allow for the fast development of inexpensive medical monitoring gear for hospital and home use.

The FCC is expected to issue a draft rule on MBAN by early summer.

The spectrums being considered by the FCC include a band of 40 MHz at 2360-2400 MHz, which is a band considered underutilized, or "quiet" right now, and has been used primarily by aerospace firms and the U.S. Dept. of Defense, said Paul Coss, Philips Healthcare's MBAN and wireless strategy lead.

If allocated for MBANs, the 40 MHz swath of spectrum would allow manufacturers such as Philips to leverage existing technologies and components that work in a neighboring band and quickly develop new, very low-power wireless sensors for use in healthcare, said Coss in an interview.

New low-cost MBAN products would complement U.S. healthcare providers' ongoing efforts to roll out and "meaningfully" use e-medical records and other health IT systems in accordance with the federal government's $20 billion HITECH stimulus bill signed into law in February 2009.

Health data collected via low-cost patient monitoring devices in homes, hospitals, and even in ambulances could be integrated into these e-medical record systems.

Together, those efforts could drive the use of less costly in-home patient monitoring and fuel growth and innovation in telehealth applications, said Coss.

Healthcare products companies such as Philips Healthcare (and GE, which has been lobbying for a dedicated, low frequency radio band for patient monitoring systems for a number of years) are in favor of establishing the 2360 to 2400 MHz band for health IT purposes because the band is a "sub band" of the 2400 MHz band used for some consumer-oriented products today.

By making a few "tweaks" in existing technology components already available today, healthcare products companies like Phillips -- and suppliers like Texas Instruments -- could adjust their sensors for use in patient monitoring gear that to be used in hospital and home environments, said Delroy Smith, Philips Healthcare's technical product design lead.

The sensors would be used to monitor "core functions" and vital signs, helping remote clinicians or family members at home identify when a patient is "getting into trouble," Coss said.

"It's like a check engine light coming on" before a car breaks down, he said.

"Young children in neonatal units of hospitals could come home sooner, and continue being monitored from home," said Coss. "Eighty percent of [wellness, chronic illness and other health] care is provided in the home environment, but most healthcare dollars [are] spent in hospitals," he said. The use of medical monitoring from home could help reduce some of those costs while improving patient medical outcomes, he said.

It could also help rein in costs and improve patient safety as 32 million previously uninsured Americans gain access to healthcare coverage through new healthcare reform legislation.

Philips, GE, and several other medical equipment companies would also like to see the FCC allocate the 2360 to 2400 band for MBANs over higher frequency bands, such as 5150 to 5250 MHz.

Those higher bands would require more power consumption, reducing the chances for manufacturers to develop lower cost, disposable medical sensors and the batteries to run them.

"You'd end up having to create new radio chips, and that would be cost-prohibitive," Smith said.

As for the existing aeronautical and Department of Defense users in the 2360 to 2400 MHz spectrum favored by Philips for MBAN, some parts could be protected by designating them "exclusive" zones, said Smith.