Characterization of the 2.4 GHz ISM band electromagnetic interference in a hospital environment

In today´s world, the ubiquitous nature of wireless personal systems has lead to an increasing concern regarding the safety and reliability of the electromagnetic environment (EME) in hospitals and clinics. Additionally, modern hospitals are becoming populated with wireless medical applications. Research conducted on the EME so far has only considered frequency ranges below 2 GHz. However, many short-range wireless devices such as Bluetooth and wireless LANs operate in the 2.4 GHz ISM band and are already seeing significant use for medical applications such as transferring patient records. These devices are also expected to be integrated in consumer electronics, to the point where patients or visitors may unknowingly bring wireless transmitters into the hospital environment. Electromagnetic interference (EMI) measurements in the 2.4 GHz ISM band were performed in two hospitals. These measurements are considered to be very first effort to characterize the entire 2.4 GHz ISM band in hospitals. Emphasis was given to critical locations such as emergency rooms (ER), intensive care units (ICU), surgery blocks, and radiology.