Safe introduction of in-hospital wireless LAN

Insufficient research on electromagnetic interference (EMI) with medical electronic equipment by the signals of wireless LAN has been done. Therefore, electromagnetic compatibility between medical electronic equipment and wireless LAN data communications was done (IEEE802.11a, b, and g). First, to determine if medical electronic equipment is affected by EMI caused by radio waves, we irradiated radio waves to ten types of medical electronic equipment in an electromagnetic anechoic chamber. EMI were observed on three pieces of equipment. Next, to determine if the electromagnetic field emitted by the medical devices might interfere with wireless LAN communication, we measured the electric field intensity. Data analysis showed that the electromagnetic wave emitted by microwave ovens was at almost the same center frequency of the communication channel specified by the IEEE802.11b for wireless LAN. Although the number of medical electronic equipment investigated in this study was small, hospital administrators should consider electromagnetic wave testing of all medical electronic equipment to be used in areas of common wireless LAN use when planning the installation of wireless LAN.