Case History: Healthy Transmissions From Wireless Patient Monitors Ensured By Spectrum Master

Interference has a way of weakening even the strongest signal. That's why when it comes to ensuring the transmission of any wireless signal in the field, most professionals rely on Anritsu to help find the cure for their transmission ills. That's true from a mountaintop, where a base station may sit, all the way to the halls of hospitals, where patients are being given more freedom to move, thanks, in part, to wireless communications.

One of the leaders in implementing wireless technology into the medical world is Philips Medical Systems, which has developed patient monitors that are wireless, portable, and networked. These systems are used to monitor patients' vital signs and allow them to get out of bed and move around. As is the case with any wireless signal, those transmitted by these monitors are subject to many problems, including interference.

Dara McLain, EMC engineer, Hardware Quality Engineering for Philips, is charged with the task of ensuring the performance of these patient monitors in hospitals and medical centers. After careful evaluation, she selected the Spectrum Master MS2721A to help her measure and track down interfering signals so they can be eliminated, or at least reduced to a tolerable level.

"Hospital environments can be very noisy due to medical equipment and a variety of other factors. That makes it imperative for us to visit hospitals and test the areas so that there are no interference issues," explains McLain. "The sensitivity of the application also makes it important that the signal transmissions are of the highest quality."

McLain visits hospitals to solve interference problems. Sometimes that requires that she spend hours in a small equipment closet to conduct measurements. That means she needs a small instrument that delivers accurate results quickly and easily, and that those results can be easily seen on a display.

While the Spectrum Master offered much of what McLain needed, it didn't meet all her unique needs. So, Anritsu engineers worked with McLain to add new features to make her job easier. These new features included a "save on event" to free her and others from onerous chores. This feature automatically saves measurements that meet criteria set by the user. The instrument saves signals of interest for later viewing, eliminating the need for users to stare at the instrument screen waiting for an interfering signal to appear so it can be identified.

"Anritsu has been committed to helping us with our specific requirements. Their service and support has been able to work through some challenges and has been diligent in providing us with the test tools we need," said McLain.

Test tools that are designed to keep signal transmissions as healthy as possible.

SOURCE: Anritsu Company