Wireless vital signs from a life-supporting medical device exposed to electromagnetic disturbance

Abstract

Objectives: To evaluate the level of agreement of simulated wired and Wi-Fi vital signs output from an intra-aortic balloon pump during exposure to electromagnetic interference from frequency overlapping ZigBee sensors. Material and methods: A series of experiments with interference from single and multiple ZigBee sensors were benchmarked with wired and Wi-Fi output. Tests included single ZigBee sensor adjacent and co-channel interference, and multiple ZigBee interferences towards the Wi-Fi receiver and transmitter. Results: Interference-free differences between wired and wireless aortic blood pressure and electrocardiogram were very small, verified by time domain and Bland – Altman plots. Bland – Altman plots comparing level of agreement in wired and wireless aortic blood pressure and ECG output during interference experiments showed a difference from 0.2 to 0.3 mmHg for blood pressure, and from 0.001 to 0.004 mV for electrocardiogram. Conclusions: Level of agreement in wired and wireless (Wi-Fi) arterial blood pressure and electrocardiogram during single or multiple sensor interference was high. No clinically relevant degradation of Wi-Fi transmission of aortic blood pressure or ECG signals was observed.