Bluetooth Low Energy Medical Devices

With more devices embracing wireless communications each day a flaw in the technology providing full access to medical devices is a major risk to digital health product manufacturers not to mention their customers.

Bluetooth low energy medical devices.

Sweyntooth affects the wireless communication technology known as bluetooth low energy ble. As these devices get more prevalent with increasing levels of connectivity the need for strengthened security in iot has also become vital. Internet of things iot such as smart home locks and medical devices depend largely on bluetooth low energy ble technology to function and connect across other devices with reduced energy consumption. For example canadian company aterica health has developed veta smart case a bluetooth le connected carrier for epipen auto injectors.

Bluetooth s latest iteration bluetooth low energy is providing plenty of opportunity for medical device designers but the technology also has its downsides. Wireless medical monitoring with bluetooth low energy will initially be targeted at bg measurement but applications such as body temperature blood pressure pulse oximetry and heart rate will follow shortly after. Bluetooth low energy is distinct from the previous often called classic bluetooth basic rate enhanced data rate br edr protocol but the two protocols can both be supported by one device. However bluetooth low energy is a new technology and medical products equipped with it are unlikely to appear before 2011.

Pioneering medical product companies are already improving the lives of diabetes allergy and asthma sufferers by equipping their products with bluetooth low energy bluetooth le technology. Bluetooth low energy uses the same 2 4 ghz radio frequencies as classic bluetooth. The bluetooth 4 0 specification permits devices to implement either or both of the le and br edr systems. By september they had found their first bug in certain implementations of bluetooth low energy the version of the protocol designed for devices with limited resources and power.

Bluetooth low energy is a mainstay among devices found in hospitals and on retail store shelves. A team of academics from singapore has published this week a research paper detailing a collection of vulnerabilities named sweyntooth that impact devices running the bluetooth low energy ble. While different types of wireless technologies have been used for decades in medical devices and healthcare bluetooth low energy ble is a fairly recent innovation that is changing the way the healthcare industry is experiencing wireless connectivity.