In the long term electronics will give people a personal body area network (BAN) that will be used to gather vital body information into a central intelligent node. This, in turn, will communicate wirelessly with a basestation. BANs will be built on a number of small low-power sensor/actuator nodes with sufficient computing power, wireless capabilities, and integrated antenna. Each node will have enough intelligence to carry out its task. These could range from storing and forwarding algorithms to complex, nonlinear data analysis. These nodes will be able to communicate with other sensor nodes or with a central node worn on the body. The central node will communicate using standard telecommunication infrastructure, such as a WiFi or mobile phone network.

The network will also be able to deliver services to the owner of the BAN, including the management of chronic disease, medical diagnostic, home monitoring, biometrics, and sports and fitness tracking.

The realisation of BANs largely depends on extending the capabilities of existing devices; a number of medical and technological obstacles need to be removed. For example, the lifetime of battery-powered devices is limited at present and must be extended if it is to power many of these applications. Likewise, the interaction between sensors and actuators needs to be enlarged to support new applications such as multi-parameter biometrics. Also, devices need intelligence built-in so they can store, process and transfer data.

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PDF: European Group on Ethics in Science and New Technologies: Opening the discussion on safe, ethical use of ICT technologies embedded within the human body.