A group of SMU engineering students has designed a wireless heart monitor that will better ensure a signal free of interference from new digital television broadcasts and other wireless technology transmissions.

The students designed their prototype, named "Casper," to transmit in a new frequency range set last year by the Federal Communication Commission (FCC). The FCC established the new range after hospitals across the nation experienced interference and even temporary failures in their medical telemetry systems. The systems shared a frequency range with TV broadcasting stations, many of which are beginning to send digital signals, also known as High Definition Digital Television (HDTV).

Medical telemetry systems that can use the new frequency range include heart, blood pressure, and respiration monitors. Wireless systems allow patients to move around early in their recovery while still being monitored for adverse symptoms. With such systems, one health care worker can monitor several patients remotely.

Peter Bastawros ('00) came up with the idea of the wireless monitor using the new FCC frequency after taking a biomedical engineering class and learning about the problem and the FCC's response. He joined students Brent Smith, Bo Fishback, and Paige Lockett to research, design, and build "Casper" for their senior design class taught by Mechanical Engineering Professor Paul Packman.

The students demonstrated their prototype before a panel of health care professionals assembled by the Kent Waldrep National Paralysis Foundation last May. Each year the Waldrep Foundation and the United Service Association for Health Care Foundation give $15,000 to the senior design class to work on devices for the physically disabled. Bastawros hopes to pursue work on "Casper" in the future.

For more information: Peter Bastawros
peteb@moyesco.com