AMSTERDAM (AP) -- Royal Philips Electronics NV says its medical arm plans to push into a largely untapped market: wireless monitoring of patients in hospital general wards.
The company, which makes consumer products such as televisions, light bulbs and shavers, is also a major seller of high-tech medical imaging equipment.
Medical division chief Steve Rusckowski says the company is now introducing a system of sensors that transmit information wirelessly from the patient to a nearby monitor, which in turn can alert nurses if a patient's vital signs worsen.
The company declined on Thursday to give financial targets or growth timeframes. The potential market is large: only about 40 percent of hospital beds currently use monitors, mostly in surgery and intensive care settings.
The company, which makes consumer products such as televisions, light bulbs and shavers, is also a major seller of high-tech medical imaging equipment.
Medical division chief Steve Rusckowski says the company is now introducing a system of sensors that transmit information wirelessly from the patient to a nearby monitor, which in turn can alert nurses if a patient's vital signs worsen.
The company declined on Thursday to give financial targets or growth timeframes. The potential market is large: only about 40 percent of hospital beds currently use monitors, mostly in surgery and intensive care settings.
