Introduction of Wireless Services and Devices in a Hospital Environment Following a Risk-based EMC Approach

This paper emphasizes the need for a risk-based EMC approach in the hospital environment. A modern hospital with various kinds of wireless medical electronic equipment especially in the intensive care, operation theatre, neonatology, etc., pollutes the environment by creating electromagnetic interference with other equipment in the vicinity or even implanted equipment inside the patient. Even following the IEC 60601-1-2 product standard for medical equipment which is based on a rule-based approach, suppressing electromagnetic interference effectively is an arduous task. In the upcoming years, the number of wireless devices in a modern hospital will significantly increase and might cause EMC instability in this highly complex system. Hence, an urgent requirement for an advanced and smarter approach leads to the use of a risk-based EMC approach. The detrimental effect of intentional sources causing electromagnetic interference in the hospital environment is briefly discussed. The risk-based EMC approach has been applied in the Medisch Spectrum Twente hospital, where it was discovered that wireless devices such as digital mobile radio, cell phone, and radio frequency identification equipment critically affect equipment pumps and patient monitors.