The wireless future of medicine

Another domain in which wireless technology has a broad future is Medicine. In this TED talk, Eric Topol demonstrates how wireless devices can be used to monitor vital functions of human beings. Advantages of applying this approach are reducing clinic costs and resources and better monitoring of diseases.

Today, you can already check your heart rhythm, blood pressure, oxygen, temperature, … by simply using your Iphone. Also wireless glucose sensors are available, which are now implanted under the skin, but this can change in the future. In this way it is possible to continuously monitor the glucose level of diabetes.

Another technology that exists in the present is wireless monitoring of every minute of your sleep on your smartphone, making sleep labs needless. In the same way every calorie you consume can be mesured.There are also handheld ultrasound devices which can be used as a stethoscope and for fetal monitoring.

All those technologies will have a huge impact on diseases and how they are treated. In my opinion, medicine is one of the domains in which wireless technologies are preferred over wired alternatives. Diabetes for example won’t have to worry anymore by each bite they take if their glucose level is not too high. The wireless monitoring device will tell when it crosses the boundary. Maybe in the future it will even be possible to automatically adjust the insulin levels…

 

The future is wireless … and wired.

In this article “Broadband future: NBN should be wired, not wireless” the usefulness of wireless isn’t denied, but wired networks will remain having some advantages.

At the center near a hotspot the wireless peaks can be as fast as a fiber network but at the edges of a hotspots range this speed has a large decrease.

Quigley said:
“It is simply very difficult to overcome the limits imposed by physics. Spectrum is a scare resource and there is just so much you can do to increase spectral efficiency using better modulation techniques and coding schemes.”

From this they concluded that for high data rates wired connections remain the best option. Wireless technology will be used next to wired technonolgies.

Net neutrality: how about 3g networks?

In this article , the collaboration between Google and Verizon on Net Neutrality is discussed. While Google has always claimed to stand behind net neutrality, it appears they think this doesn’t apply for mobile networks. Simply, neutralism is the commons ideology behind the net neutrality movement. Neutralists believe that digital information and communications networks should be a public commons, not private propertyrequiring permission or payment to use. Neutralists believe that:

•Digital technology, if unshackled from ownership restrictions and payment requirements, is a powerful means for creating a more egalitarian society;

•The end-to-end design of the Internet creates a digital commons that is open to decentralized innovation; and

•The Internet should not be controlled by market players because it is necessary for democratic discourse.

This comment on the Google Blog pretty much sums it up. In the proposal, Google and Verizon pretty much butcher the concept of the internet, slicing it up into three different parts, and only one of those parts gets enforced net neutrality.

My opinion on this is a bit divided. Although i use a lot of google services (mail, maps, docs, youtube) and thus it would be in my advantage to have more bandwith for these, i think its wrong from google to claim to be for neutrality, and then do something like this. Net neutrality should apply to all forms of networks, especially since mobile networks become more important every day.

Wireless power will become reality

Technologies like PLC, PoE and Home Plug all sound very promising and can be useful for specific applications, but there is still one major issue… Wires!
It is a nice idea to use the same cable to transfer data and power, but by doing that, redundance disappears. Everything depends upon one cable and I think that is a little bit risky. Also it does not look like a long-term solution, but rather like a postponement of the ‘wire problem’.

In this article the technique of resonant magnetic coupling is discussed. This is also the technique me and Jan are using for our thesis. I will not discuss the technique in detail, but some of the advantages are: high efficiency for short and medium distances, acceptable amounts of radiation, limited interaction by non-tuned objects, …
In his article about hotspots, Jeroen already said that our exposure to radiation has increased the past few decades. Well, this technique is not based on radiation unlike RF harvesting for example. Also it has an efficiency which is acceptable for real applications.
It is not my intention to focus on this one technique, but I just want to point out that good wireless power techniques already exist and are being improved continuously.

I think that keeping wireless data wireless and improving wireless power is the way to go! (Of course wireless data should still be improved as well)
Most modern people really dislike wires and are waiting to get rid of the last ones.
Just by looking at all the possibilities (wireless charging of vehicles, medical implants, …) one should realize that wireless power is the future!

Home Plug

Home Plug is a technology for broadband communication using the power lines. It is an alternative for ethernet and WiFi.

The current standard for home use is the Home Plug AV specification. This standard specifies a channel rate of 200 million bits per second and an information rate of 150 million bits per second. This means that the devices can send maximum 200 million zeros or ones per second, but the actual meaningful information, without the communication overhead of the Home Plug devices can only be sent at a speed of 150 Mbps.

The standard has also native support for Quality of Service (QoS). So when you are watching television using Home Plug or you are skyping, the Home Plug devices can detect this and they will give priority to this communication over the other network traffic, which is less time sensitive.

Home Plug devices make use of 128-bit AES encryption. This feature makes them more secure than ethernet which has no data encryption.

A new standard is in development, the Home Plug AV2 specification. This specification will be backwards compatible with the previous specifications and is designed to fulfill the growing requirements of the digitally connected home.

With a reduction in communication overhead and an increased bandwidth, an increase in performance of 5 times the performance of the current technology is expected. This will lead to improvements in reliable delivery of (multiple streams of) 1080p HD video, internet gaming, security camera video and so on.

In an article on De Standaard Online (Een netwerk via het stopcontact, 08-03-2010), a Home Plug AV network is compared to a WiFi network (802.11g, 54 Mbps) and an ethernet network (100 Mbps). For the test a video file of about 700 Mb is sent over the network. With ethernet the average speed was 62 Mbps. With WiFi it was 11 Mbps or 18 Mpbs depending on the location and with Home Plug Av it was 28 Mbps or 33 Mbps depending on the location.

So the conclusion of the authors of this article is that Home Plug is faster than WiFi, but slower than ethernet.

At home I use an ethernet network for desktop pc’s, a WiFi 802.11n connection for laptop and wireless devices and a Home Plug AV connection for my tv (200 Mbps). When I compare the wireless connection with the Home Plug connection in the same room, the wireless connection is not only faster, it is also more stable.  When trying to watch a YouTube video for example, only the first minute is received without problems. The buffering gets slower and slower and eventually the status indicators on the Home Plug device all become red, meaning it has lost it’s connection or it is confused. To get it to work again, I have to unplug the device from the power line and re-plug it.

So in my experience, WiFi devices work better than Home Plug AV devices for broadband communication. Although I have to add that in my setup, one of the Home Plug devices is connected to the power lines using a distributing-plug, which decreases the speed significantly according to the article in De Standaard Online. The Home Plug AV2 specification looks promising and if it really becomes as good as specified, it can be a good alternative for WiFi.

Power over Ethernet and Power Line Communication

A main disadvantage of wired communication is the need of installing a cable. It is costly and not always possible. Power over Ethernet (PoE) and Power Line Communication (PLC) provide a way to reuse existing infrastructure simultaneously with their original purpose.

Power Line Communication (PLC):
http://www.electronics-manufacturers.com/info/communication-equipment/power-line-communication-plc.html
With PLC you don’t need new wiring, a power source is always  present. Wireless networks can sometimes provide an alternative but are less secure and the wireless signal quality is often not good enough because of obstacles like concrete floors and walls.
PLC networks are often used to register low data rate signals (e.g. a sensor network). At the present however a data transfer of several Mbits/s can be achieved, which makes it suitable for HD video streams. It can be used for broadband internet connections but often there are better alternatives.
Outside the home low voltage power grid there are other uses of PLC:
http://www.iet.unipi.it/f.giannetti/documenti/powerlines/PowerLineCom/Bibliografia/Rif23.pdf

Power over Ethernet (PoE):
http://www.poweroverethernet.com/articles.php?article_id=52
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_over_Ethernet
A  standard(IEEE802.3af) has been defined to supply a DC power from one Ethernet pluggable device to another. It is an extension of the available Ethernet standard. This means that you don’t need an extra power source (cable).

Some main advantages:

• 48V power injection from both directions possible
• Cheaper cabling, even cheaper than USB.
• You don’t need an extra power supply
• Gigabit data transfer is possible

Uses:

• Network routers
• VoIP phones
• Wireless acces points
• Network webcams

Harvesting Energy From Small Vibrations for Use in Pacemakers and Implants

I want to add something to Jan’s article about ‘Design Considerations For Wireless Implants’.
First of all I want to say that I also think wireless implants can have enormous benefits for the medical world.

One important disadvantage mentioned by Jan was the choice that has to be made between a battery or wireless power. A solution to this problem was a combination of both. But what to do if the battery runs empty and no wireless source is available?

In this article another energy-harvesting technique is discussed. At the university of Michigan researchers developed devices which use the energy from surrounding vibrations. These vibrations can come from any kind of source, also human movement.

That is where I think it becomes interesting. The solution that combines a battery with wireless power can now be optimized. If the battery is empty and no wireless source is near, vibrations due to body movement can charge this battery avoiding it from running empty.

Of course there is still a problem when the battery runs empty and there is no source and no movement. Maybe this can be prevented by an intelligent battery monitoring system which gives a warning when the battery runs low…

Design Considerations for Wireless Implants

In this article Mark Norris talks about the optimum balance among power consumption, range and data rate in medical wireless implants.

It is obvious that wireless technology in the medical world has enormous benefits for both patients and staff, including greater patient ease of movement, continuous data feeds and and less site-specific. Alth0ugh, we should not forget the importance of the link quality when using wireless technology to monitor vital functions in the human body. When it comes to human life, reliabilty is (off course) much more important than convenience.

From the design engineer’s perspective, this represents a great challenge. The device has to be reliable, small, consume low power and may not cause any health risk. An important choice to be made here is the energy source of the device. They can choose a battery which is fairly reliable but has the disadvantage that after a certain period it has to be replaced. They can also opt for wireless power transfer, which has the disadvantage that the sensor only works when the power source is close enough, and also designing for the often harsh, signal-blocking environment within the body is no small task. A solution that comes to mind is the combination of the two above, since this would combine the advantages of both.

I personally think this is a good evolution. The constant monitoring of body functions can ensure that diseases can be detected much earlier and thus can be more easily cured. Still, they should always do extensive research into health risks, in shot aswel as long term.

The Last Barrier

I agree on things mentioned earlier like: Wireless, whether data or power, should be safe, should guarantee privacy, should be as efficient as the not-wireless alternative, …

Otherwise one should realize that the need for wireless alternatives, especially wireless power, is growing. This is due to technological improvements like better and more powerful portable devices. For example: People having a desktop computer do not worry about one cable more or less, but people having a laptop can get really frustrated by that one cable used to power the computer.

It is because of this emergence of wireless data and power I believe it is better to embrace the fact it is being developed. The global approval of wireless technology should also allow producers to develop a standard for wireless power (like WiFi). This in turn should improve all things mentioned above like safety, privacy and efficiency.

People all over the world are already trying to develop a standard. This text published by the Wireless Power Consortium tells more about the subject.

Privacy of wireless communication

When using wireless communication devices, we often don’t think about our privacy. There are a few cases though, in which our wireless devices are misused to gather personal information.

If you are using an Adroid-telephone, Google has the ability to track you and to keep record of the places you visit. This can be derived from the privacy policy of Google. In this policy Google states that it stores location data provided by location-enabled services (for example Google Maps). This data can be GPS-signals or the cell ID. Together with the information of your Google account, Google can keep a nice log of your favourite places.
http://www.android.com/privacy.html

When Google was making pictures with its cars for Google Street View, it also collected data from wireless networks it discovered along its route. This data didn’t only contain network names and MAC-addresses (which is legal), it also consisted of passwords and e-mail messages. However, Google claims that the last part happened accidentally.
http://www.zdnet.be/news/116166/google-bekent-privacyblunder/
http://www.destandaard.be : Google-auto’s registreerden ook wachtwoorden (subscription required)

Also if you have an Iphone, you are collecting information of surrounding wireless networks and sending it unknowingly to Apple. With this information Apple has created a huge database containing information of wireless networks all over the world.
http://www.technorotic.com/2010/07/apple-use-the-iphone-as-wi-fi-scanners/

There are undoubtedly a lot more companies that collect information using wireless technologies. In my opinion we should think twice when sending information using a wireless device.