The US Federal Communications Commission will vote this week (24 May) on whether to allow greater use of spectrum for sensor-based patient monitoring, the regulator’s chairman Julius Genachowski said at the end of last week. The US would be the first country in the world to adopt such rules, he said.

Genachowski used the term medical body area network, or MBAN, devices to describe what he wants to encourage. The aim of the new rules is to enable more intensive use of available spectrum by medical devices. The FCC has targeted the 2360-2400 MHz band for this purpose.

The FCC chief gave three examples of the type of service that could receive a boost from the new spectrum rules: the monitoring of newborn babies which allows mothers more freedom; telecare services that monitor the elderly or those with chronic diseases; and telehealth services which provide continuous monitoring of a patient’s condition.

Leading medical device manufacturers General Electric Healthcare and Philips Healthcare joined Genachowski for the announcement. The FCC chief described MBAN technology as consisting of small, low-powered sensors attached to the patient’s body giving off a wireless signal. At present the sensors are typically wired rather than using radio technology.

The proposal is for one part of the 2360-2400 MHz band to be used for sensor-based monitoring in medical facilities with a separate part for home-based monitoring. Monitoring services in the band would co-exist with existing occupants which include telemetry and amateur users.

Back in December 2011 Genachowski said he would make new rules for the 2360-2400 MHz band in a speech to the mHealth Summit in Washington DC, as reported by Mobile Health Live. In addition to improving access to spectrum for health devices, he said the regulator was fostering mobile health services through ensuring sufficient availability of radio frequencies and promoting national availability of broadband services.