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VLC, OCC, IR and LiFi Reliable Optical Wireless Technologies to be Embedded in Medical Facilities and Medical Devices

  • Mobile & Wireless Health
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Abstract

New, emerging technologies, transform every day our life and have direct consequence on our health and well-being. More and more wearable medical devices (MD) with wireless communication technologies embedded are being developed by innovative academic community and companies. Optical wireless communication (OWC) consisting of Visible Light Communication (VLC), infrared (IR), Optical Camera Communication (OCC) and Light Fidelity (LiFi) along with the conventional Radio Frequency (RF) wireless communication are suitable technologies to be used for hybrid Wireless Integrated Medical Assistance Systems (WIMAS). The WIMAS addressed in this paper consists of two Wireless Medical Body Area Networks (WMBAN) (an insulin wearable kit and an ECG test device with VLC/OCC are considered) and an Emergency Remote Medical Assistance (ERMA) with LiFi technology embedded. Using RF in medical facilities is subject of strict regulations due to interferences with other RF medical devices, negative effects on human health and lack of security. VLC and OCC are suitable to be embedded in MDs in order to be used by the patients with wearable WMBAN. Research on IR transdermal communication for implantable MDs has also been demonstrated as feasible and both VLC and OCC have promising future, as well. On the other hand, LiFi technology, recently deployed on the market, is mature enough to be integrated in the ERMA system addressed here.

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Funding

This study was funded with personal resources and had support from University of Petrosani.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Petrosani, Petrosani, 332006, Romania

    Simona Riurean, Monica Leba & Andreea Ionica

  2. Institute of Certified Specialists, Perm, Russia

    Tatiana Antipova

  3. University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

    Álvaro Rocha

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  1. Simona Riurean
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Correspondence to Simona Riurean.

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Author Simona Riurean declares that she has no conflict of interest. Author Tatiana Antipova declares that she has no conflict of interest. Author Alvaro Rocha declares that he has no conflict of interest. Author Monica Leba declares that she has no conflict of interest. Author Andreea Ionica declares that she has no conflict of interest.

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Riurean, S., Antipova, T., Rocha, Á. et al. VLC, OCC, IR and LiFi Reliable Optical Wireless Technologies to be Embedded in Medical Facilities and Medical Devices. J Med Syst 43, 308 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10916-019-1434-y

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