The reason of this documental note is to underline the elements that should be took in account with the project respect the use of some connection strategies, i.e. the adoption of the Bluetooth for printing and - where it is possible - some probes and the WiFi connecting the diagnostic part with the display control.
I tried to keep this document as short as possible argumenting the aspects with some attached PDF and specialised sites links. A general-interest document is Know your regulations before you design medical electronics (see the attached document).
The Bluetooth question
Bluetooth is adapt and with few precautions is one of the better ways to connect small medical devices, especially probes, to the controlling parts. It is continuously growing and is well accepted as it involves very few risks for the patient: this last is a point to take in special attention when operating in conditions where the patient has an unknown anamnesis.
In general take a look on a actual state-of-the-art in the attached document Medical device connectivity from Wikipedia. In detail, there is an interesting article about the growing use of the Bluetooth technology on the Bluetooth.org SIG (Special Interest Group) in the two parts article published by Bluetooth.com. Links: Part one & Part two (documents are also attached to this post).
In the second part of the article mentioned above there is also a note about the problems related to the security of the communication, involving potential risks for the patient privacy. In this case the attached document Securing Legacy Mobile Medical Devices analyses in-depth this aspect.
In Meditech I have considered this potential risk as a must to be took in account referred to all the communication aspects adopted in the device components.
BLE New Bluetooth technology
As in some cases BLE, the Bluetooth Low Energy technology is not yet reliable and can't be applied due the reduced speed there is a lot of cases where this can be the solution, as a real good alternative to the traditional, more consuming Bluetooth 4.0 In the project initial definitions I have considered the adoption of the BLE I have already used just in a health-fitness development solution during the second half of 2014 as a real improvement option at least where it is possible. In fact it will not be present in the prototype for problems of sort deadline but it will be part of the production version of the same project.
More about the Bluetooth adoption in the health and wellness medical electronic devices market can be found in this other article from Bluetooth.com
The WiFi question
Despite what is mentioned in many social sites, the adoption of the WiFi wireless communication - also in this case with some precaution - is one of the fastest growing technologies in medical structures.
A good explanation of the low-risk and the advantages, pros and cons can be found in the attached article Building a Reliable Wireless Medial Device Network.