Li-Fi can be a good solution to cluttering wires in hospitals

Hospitals get cluttered with bulky wirings used for different machines and medical equipment. But researchers from Pukyong National University in Busan, South Korea, have found a solution. They want to use light instead of the wirings. The researchers want to use Li-Fi or visible-light communications (VLC), which could be a better solution if it works accurately. According to the researchers, VLC would be able to transmit signals from an electroencephalograph (EEG), that measures brain activity, over 50 centimeters. Their findings were published in IEEE Sensors Journal. The team of researchers used LEDs’ line of sight to communicate the EEG signals.
The transmitter consisted of RGB LEDs, and the receiver used three photodiodes with red, green, and blue filters.
Photodiodes are semiconductors that convert light into current—photons are absorbed by the diodes. “It is a very friendlier means of transmitting biomedical signals in a hospital,” said Yeon Ho Chung, an engineer at the university, said in an IEEE article. The EEG signals were relatively weak, he said. Power ranged from one half to 100 millivolts, and frequencies between one half and 45 hertz. So the signals had to be amplified.
Distortion was also an issue, according to the article. That’s where the filters came in. The group used them to match each of the three LED colors, thus eliminating bit errors. Electrocardiogram (EKG) readings have also been obtained with light by fellow scientists of the EEG team. EKGs measure electrical activity in the heart and are used for finding health problems.