FCC and FDA Joint Workshop: Promoting Medical Technology Innovation – The Role of Wireless Test Beds
On Tuesday, March 31, 2015, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) hosted 'Promoting Medical Technology Innovation - The Role of Wireless Test Beds."
The workshop convened experts from industry, medicine, academia, and government to focus on the role of wireless medical test beds and their influence on the development of converged medical technology for clinical and non-clinical settings. A wireless test bed is an environment where devices can be evaluated across a range of interference scenarios.
As the rapid pace of innovation blurs traditional boundaries between consumer health technology, medical devices, and communications, the agencies seek to better understand how wireless test beds can be used and configured to meet the challenges and to take advantage of the opportunities this convergence presents. Consumers are increasingly using wireless health and care management tools at home; indeed, the emergence of the "hospital in the home" concept opens new areas of medical technology innovation that must take into account the need for wireless coexistence.
The workshop is another step in the ongoing FDA/FCC collaboration and leadership in promoting innovative medical technologies, and was organized by the Connect2HealthFCC Task Force, the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology, and the FDA Center for Devices and Radiological Health.
The FCC and the FDA encouraged the participation of a broad range of stakeholders, including device manufacturers, health care facilities and clinicians, test labs, standard-setting bodies, innovators, other government agencies, patient safety groups, researchers, and entrepreneurs, among others.
A transcript of this event will be made available at a later date.
Presentations
Session 1: Defining the Need for and Scope of Wireless Medical Device Test Beds
- H. Stephen Berger, TEM Consulting
- Dr. Julian Goldman, Partners HealthCare System
- Donald Witters, Center for Devices and Radiological Health, FDA
Session 2: Overview of Current Public and Private Wireless Medical Device Test Bed Programs and Initiatives
Session 3: Identifying and Prioritizing Key Features, Functions and Gaps in Wireless Medical Device Test Beds
- Dr. Steven Baker, Welch Allyn
- Rick Hampton, Partners HealthCare System
- Fanny Mlinarsky, octoScope, Inc.
- Chris Riha, Carilion Clinic HealthCare System
Session 4: Driving Innovation and Safe Coexistence of Wireless Medical Devices