If you live in a populated area, you’ve no doubt seen the ubiquitous Bluetooth headsets worn by hardcore techies and people who want to look like hardcore techies. While the common conception is that Bluetooth is reserved for the webmaster coming out of the comic book store, the majority of Bluetooth applications are industrial and healthcare-related. In fact, some of the new technology circulating in the Bluetooth arena is downright exciting. One of the main reasons for this is the dedicated work of organizations like the Bluetooth Working Group and Bluetooth SIG.
Bluetooth SIG, which stands for special interest group, is working on some incredible new medical technologies that would allow Bluetooth-sharing between health-related products and consumer electronics products. Currently, a team of tech-industry heavy hitters has relied behind Bluetooth SIG to start creating some really earth-shattering new technologies in the wireless healthcare realm. “This team, made up of 19 member companies including IBM, Intel, Motorola, Nonin Medical, Philips Electronics and Welch Allyn, will work together to create and ratify a Bluetooth Medical Device Profile that will expand the use of Bluetooth technology into the medical, health and fitness markets.”
An article in embedded computing about the Bluetooth SIG quoted the project’s chairman, Robert Hughes, “Health-related devices in the home, such as weight scales, blood pressure monitors and exercise equipment, which implement the new standard will be able to send information wirelessly to Bluetooth enabled PCs or cell phones so that users can monitor their health information or share this information with a doctor or fitness coach anywhere in the world.”
In fact, as the industry is expanding the use of Bluetooth, efforts are currently underway to improve Bluetooth itself and provide a further sense of speed and reliability. An article at Telecom Magazine quoted Michael Foley, the executive director of Bluetooth SIG“The working group will touch on work in progress between Bluetooth and Ultra-Wideband (UWB) organizations to incorporate that higher-speed technology into the overall interoperability focus but “they are somewhat independent of each other,” Foley said.
There are some genuinely incredible technologies coming out of the sphere of Bluetooth, but some people are raising concerns as to whether concerns over Bluetooth frequencies could be potentially harmful much like the recent controversy over cellphone frequencies. All of these advances in Bluetooth healthcare would seem pretty ridiculous if it turned out that Bluetooth wasn’t actually a safe product, but in all honesty it looks to be a completely safe product and uses a lower frequency than most cell phones. Wikipedia provides some background on the potential health concerns related to Bluetooth.
“Bluetooth uses the microwave radio frequency spectrum in the 2.4 GHz to 2.4835 GHz range. Maximum power output from a Bluetooth radio is 1 mW, 2.5 mW, and 100 mW for Class 3, Class 2, and Class 1 devices respectively, which puts Class 1 at roughly the same level as cell phones, and the other two classes much lower.[25] Accordingly, Class 2 and Class 3 Bluetooth devices are considered less of a potential hazard than cell phones, and Class 1 may be comparable to that of cell phones, which are of little concern.”
Definitely something to chew on.
