UK scientists seek to cut radiation, interference in wireless implantables

With all this activity around standards for wireless communications in healthcare, device designers are just as busy developing the next generation of hardware that standards support. Researchers at Queen Mary University of London are testing a new class of small, durable, low-power antennas for implantable medical devices that limit radiation to protect the wearer and minimize interference.

Interference long has been a problem in testing such antennae, but the UK's National Physical Laboratory has found a way to remove distortion while also cutting down on radiation by connecting the receivers to optical fiber rather than coaxial cable. "This breakthrough could help the development of the next generation of miniature in-body technology designed to save even more lives," says Martin Alexander, principal research scientist for the National Physical Laboratory. "Together we developed a very small RF-optical converter which reproduces the RF signal in full and has a minimal effect on the antenna performance."

For further details:
- have a look at this National Physical Laboratory press release