Have you ever been in a hospital and seen someone with tubes going every which way? If you haven't, you've surely seen someone either in person or on TV. What if one of those tubes could be eliminated by using wireless technology? Sounds crazy but those at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City successfully tested this theory by noticing variations in a wireless signal strength being triggered by a person breathing. They used 2.4 gigahertz radio waves across the hospital bed and were able to estimate a persons breathing rate up to 0.4 breaths per minute! 
This would allow patients added comfort and sounds appealing. The article mentions this only occurs at certain areas in a room. So if a patient were to move to area where this did not work and stopped breathing, would it go undetected and possible cause a death? Those at the University of South Florida argue that the benefit of the tubes is that it monitors the amount of carbon dioxide in exhaled gases, wireless monitoring would not allow for that. On the surface this technology sounds great but when you are talking life or death, not sure I would feel comfortable with the wireless technology.On the flip side, this wireless technology could be used in other areas. It could be used to monitor a child's breathing at home. It could even be used by burglars or snoopers interested in knowing when and where people are within a home. The thought of not being able to see such wireless technology and the fact that it is able to penetrate walls without one knowing is scary! If this technology were to come about, it may cause people to change the way they build houses or structures to prevent such technology!
No comments:
Post a Comment