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Mobile body area network (MBAN) technology has the potential to be a
boon to the healthcare system of the future by enabling remote patient
monitoring through disposable wireless devices -- meaning fewer doctor
visits for everyone and great news for latrophobes. Until now, MBAN
was opposed by the Aerospace & Flight Test Radio Coordinating
Council (AFTRCC) because it utilizes the same radio bands that
aircraft manufacturers do when they're testing new planes. AFTRCC
didn't want all that medical chatter "polluting their spectrum" but
decided to get on board with MBAN when the health care industry
promised to create a way to stop signals that disrupt aeronautical
traffic. MBAN is a part of the FCC's National Broadband Plan and
purports to use short-length radio waves (not unlike Bluetooth) in the
2300 and 2400 MHz range to transmit physiological info to treating
physicians -- as opposed to other patient monitors that use web-based
communications. MBAN would initially be used in hospitals but could
later find its way into residential use by employing home
entertainment systems (Wii Fit integration, here we come!) to collect
and transmit data. With the FCC expected to decide on the final rules
for MBAN later this year, the Intel Health Guide may have some company
in the at-home patient monitoring business. We can only hope that the
next time the aeronautic and health care industries combine forces, it
will take the form of jetpack-wearing doctors making house calls.
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