[abstract] BLUETOOTH ENABLED MEDICAL EQUIPMENT FOR WIRELESS COMMUNICATION FROM INSIDE A HYPERBARIC CHAMBER: NONIN 4100 PULSE OXIMETER

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Many hyperbaric chamber facilities are limited by the availability of penetrators capable of transmitting medical information from a monitored patient inside the chamber to attending health-care providers outside. Bluetooth wireless communications protocols provide a low energy means of communicating high-speed digital data over very short distances, typically less than 30 feet. Metal U.S. Navy chambers have been described as Faraday Cages and represent multiple obstacles to wireless communications. MATERIALS and METHODS: A commercially available Nonin 4100 Bluetooth Enabled OEM Digital Pulse Oximeter underwent NEDU s standard hyperbaric equipment testing routine, including: 1) visual and electrical inspection, 2) soak-testing, 3) implosion-explosion testing, 4) off-gas analysis, and 5) functional testing at 30, 60, and 165 feet of seawater. Wireless communication was tested using standard propagation and useful range procedures. RESULTS: The Nonin 4100 was demonstrated as safe for hyperbaric use and functioned as designed at all test depths. Bluetooth wireless signal strength was not affected by enclosure in a pressurized steel chamber. CONCLUSIONS: Bluetooth wireless communications are an appropriate option for communication of digital data over short distances through a hyperbaric chamber.