Genachowski to push wireless devices for medical use

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski will advocate releasing spectrum for wireless medical devices that can operate as "mobile body area networks," the FCC announced Tuesday.

Genachowski plans to speak at a Thursday event at The George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C., on the benefits of the devices.

A mobile body area network (MBAN) is a wireless system that uses low-cost wearable sensors that allow doctors to remotely monitor patent vital signs.

The FCC has an agreement with the Food and Drug Administration to help streamline approval processes for medical devices that use wireless spectrum. The two agencies are supposed to collaborate on approving each device, with the FCC handling the technical side and the FDA scrutinizing the medical aspects of the device.

The FDA has clashed with makers of mobile apps that the agency says are meant to diagnose or offer treatments for diseases — an area that falls under the agency's authority, it says. Some software developers have chafed under the traditional requirements for approving medical devices, such as clinical trials.

Genachowksi will be joined by GE Healthcare chief technology officer Michael Harsh, Philips Healthcare chief marketing officer Anthony Jones, GW Hospital director of cardiology Richard Katz and GW Hospital CEO Barry Wolfman.

The event will start at 10:30 a.m. on May 17.

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