Going wireless to monitor a heart patient at home, a child’s condition in an emergency department, an

accident victim in an ambulance, and a patient’s critical condition in a hospital room took a giant step
forward after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) authorized the use of Medical Body Area
Network (MBAN) devices in 2012.

 MBAN is a wireless data system that transmits patients’ conditions continuously so that changes
can be detected quickly, and more serious problems can be detected before they fully develop.
 Small, lightweight, low-power sensors—much like Band-Aids in appearance—are attached to the
patient’s body to monitor vital signs that are transmitted over short distances to nearby “receiver
devices” that, in turn, relay data over longer distances to nurse stations, physicians’ offices, and
other staff locations for real-time noninvasive continuous observation.
 The FCC, which controls the allocation and use of U.S. wireless frequencies, has established a
unique wireless spectrum that gives MBAN devices a protected transmission frequency.
 MBAN’s uncontaminated transmissions provide more information faster, enabling better health
care at lower cost than is possible with continuous onsite observation by nurses, healthcare
technicians, and physicians.

Although wireless monitoring is noninvasive, an emerging surgical technique uses snake robots (snake-
bots) that slither through patients’ bodies while assisting in surgeries on hearts, prostates, and other body
organs.

 Snake-bots armed with miniature cameras, forceps, sensors, and scissors enable surgeons to see
more and do more than previously possible.
 Instead of opening the chest cavity for heart surgery, a small incision provides an entry for the
tiny snake that crawls to the location in need of repair. The surgeon, as if shrunken and placed
inside the patient’s heart, controls the snake’s movements and activities while repairing the heart
valve.
 The snake’s small size is less damaging to the patient, enabling faster recovery than traditional
surgery. Developers believe that, as the snakes become much smaller, the snake technology will
eventually make intricate surgeries faster and easier, thus reducing costs.

Snake-bots are but one example of a broader class of robotic-assisted surgery. The Da Vinci Surgical
System, for example, became the first robotic system approved by the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration for use in a variety of surgical applications, including vaginal and hysterectomy repair,
prostate cancer, and mitral valve (heart) repair.

 The Da Vinci System is used in more than 45,000 operations each year at more than 800 hospitals
in Europe and the Americas.
 The system’s three (3) components are: (a) a 3D vision system, (b) a surgeon’s workstation that
translates hand movements into movements of surgical instruments, and (c) a patient-side station
with robotic arms controlled by the surgeon.
 The robotic station’s surgical actions are totally under the surgeon’s control.
 Most intriguing, perhaps, is that the surgeon does not need to be at the patient’s surgical platform,
so long as assisting professionals are nearby. This makes it possible for a surgeon in New York to
remotely perform mitral valve repair on a patient in Germany or elsewhere.