Wireless may disrupt IV devices

June 24, 2008

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It have recently been reported that Wireless systems used by many hospitals to keep track of medical equipment can cause potentially deadly breakdowns in lifesaving devices such as electronic infusion devices.

Some of the microchip-based “smart” systems are touted as improving patient safety, but a Dutch study of equipment — without the patients — suggests the systems could actually cause harm.

The wireless systems send out radio waves that can interfere with equipment such as respirators, external pacemakers and kidney dialysis machines, according to the study.

Researchers discovered the problem in 123 tests they performed in an intensive-care unit at an Amsterdam hospital. Patients were not using the equipment at the time. Nearly 20 percent of the cases involved hazardous malfunctions that would probably harm patients. These included breathing machines that switched off; mechanical syringe pumps that stopped delivering medication; and external pacemakers, which regulate the heart, that malfunctioned.

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UPDATE - Another news item - Wireless Hospital Tracking System Study Needlessly Alarms Public.