Radio Waves Are Shared with the Hospital
■ Improving its own signal disrupted the screens around it
To fix the problem of dropped connections deep in the ward, Makihara fitted Hakobukun with a powerful wireless antenna. The goal made sense. But right after, at the nurses' station, the screen of a device that wirelessly sends patients' ECG data flickered for a moment. The nurses exchanged glances. Boosting a robot's wireless signal also means changing the radio environment of the whole building.
■ A hospital shares its airwaves with medical devices
In hospitals, wireless signals can affect medical equipment. Devices that send ECG data and the like over the air are part of how patients are monitored. That is why many hospitals have a team that manages which radio frequencies are used where. This is why Shiraishi asked, "Did you clear it with the hospital's radio manager?" Makihara's answer: "…No, I didn't."
■ Conclusion: When adding radio, get the hospital's approval
Next to Hakobukun, its antenna now removed, Shiraishi and Makihara are filling out an application to the hospital's radio manager. Adding or strengthening a robot's wireless is not an upgrade that stays inside the robot. Get approval from the hospital's radio manager before using it. Follow that procedure, and robot communications and medical-device communications can coexist in the same building.
Even invisible radio waves have an order to respect inside a hospital.
