What Superfast Wi-Fi Could Mean for MedtechWhat Superfast Wi-Fi Could Mean for Medtech

This week Samsung announced its plans to develop a 60 GHz Wi-Fi that can operate at speeds five times faster than today's traditional standard speeds. While to most, this may simply equate to faster download speeds for Youtube videos and downloading music, it could prove truly revolutionary to the medtech industry.  

The news follows on the heels of its announcement last year to debut a 5G wireless standard that is slated to debut in 2020.  

The tech giant reports that the new Wi-Fi technology will accelerate data transmissions, enabling users to transfer an astounding 575 MB per second, and provide the ability to stream uncompressed HD video without any delays of buffering. This could be a benefit for a variety of medical applications, which increasingly rely on WiFi and other wireless protocols for data transfer.

Samsung itself has been growing its presence in the medtech and health-tracking niches. In 2010, it bought Medison, a maker of ultrasonic equipment. Samsung also has a presence in healthcare IT and debuted a new wearable health tracker this year.

As the medtech market becomes more and more saturated with apps and devices that help users manage their own healthcare unlike ever before, staying connected has never been more crucial. From Apple's new HealthKit app, to Google's latest foray into video chatting with your doctor, our mobile devices are fast becoming one of the most powerful tools in the industry. These tools would be rendered useless without adequate connection speeds.

Kim Chang Yong is head of research and development in Samsung's Digital Media and Communications department. He recently spoke to Yahoo news about the development, and its potential for the future.

"New and innovative changes await Samsung's next-generation devices," Yong said. "While new possibilities have been opened up for the future development of Wi-Fi technology."

Samsung was eventually able to develop the groundbreaking speeds by eliminating co-channel interference, which occurs when multiple devices are using the same network. They also developed the world's first "micro beam-forming control technology," which optimizes the data transmission process in less than 0.0003 seconds. This enabled Samsung to create the highest quality, commercially viable 60 GHz Wi-Fi technology ever developed.

Commercial application of the new high speeds is expected to reach across a variety of devices, from multimedia and medical devices, to telecommunications equipment. Many believe that such speeds will also bring us one step closer to the Internet of Things, as we edge even closer to connecting all of the major devices around us into one cohesive network.

As the digital market increases, an efficient Wi-Fi standard that allows for rapid transmission of large amounts of data will become more and more essential. Faster speeds and transmissions of data could open the door to a constant stream of medical data between doctors and patients, medical devices that operate more efficiently, and decreasing both wait times and health costs for outcare patient treatments.

Commercialization of the technology is expected from Samsung as early as 2015, as the tech company gears up for a new wave of innovative gadgets and devices to hit the market. As medtech devices continue to become an increasing presence in our lives, the hope is that the network that keeps them all connected can efficiently keep up.

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Kristopher Sturgis is a contributor to Qmed and MPMN.

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