How Bluetooth and Cloud Computing Could Revolutionize the Medical Device Industry

Qmed Staff

August 29, 2013

3 Min Read
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For many years, Bluetooth wireless technology has been relegated to the world of hands-free mobile headsets. However, this wireless protocol has found a new home in miniature integrated medical devices. These devices can be worn, carried or even swallowed by patients.Some novel wireless medical devices that have emerged in recent years include bandanas that record epilepsy-related brain waves, body bands that monitor a patient's cardiovascular health and underwear that monitor a patient's vital signs. All of these technologies are made possible by Bluetooth wireless technology.

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When combined with a tablet or mobile phone, Bluetooth-powered medical devices can provide both medical body area monitoring and remote patient monitoring. With these new networks, physicians and heathcare providers can achieve an always-connected health care delivery environment. However, challenges await those who want to use this unique technology. In part, medical device manufacturers must work with programmers to create software that supports these types of devices. In many cases, manufacturers will be required to use software developers from different domains to ensure reliability and ease-of-use for their wireless Bluetooth medical devices.Next-generation medical devices are self-managing, self-documenting, portable, adaptable and multifunctional. Many of these features are made possible due to advances in data storage and processing. In the past, many medical devices were limited due to their hardware. However, wireless medical devices can use the cloud to "outsource" analysis of patient biometric data.For example, imagine a Bluetooth-enabled blood pressure monitoring system. In the past, this type of device could provide one-off readings to a patient. While the device could potentially store a number of previous blood pressure readings, patients would have few ways to analyze their biometric data and incorporate it into a broad overview of their health. With Bluetooth-enabled devices, a wireless blood pressure cuff could send data to a cloud-based patient health profile. By combining blood pressure readings with other biometric data like weight, blood lipid profiles, heart rate, body fat percentage and more, patients can effective ways to improve their overall health and wellness.High blood pressure is often linked to obesity, a sedentary lifestyle and excessive consumption of sodium. As of now, there are a variety of mobile applications for Android and Apple devices that allow users to record the foods they consume during the day. For the most part, these applications are designed to monitor a person's calorie consumption.With a Bluetooth-enabled blood pressure cuff and a smartphone-based food diary, patients could see how their consumption of sodium impacts their blood pressure over time. When patients input data on the food they consume, a cloud database could track the amount of sodium associated with those foods. Based on this, patients would have an effective way to reduce their blood pressure while staying accountable to themselves and to their physicians. There are hundreds of different electronic sensing devices that could incorporate Bluetooth chips. By digitizing patient biometric storage and retrieval, companies can find new ways to improve patient health and quality of life.

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