Abstract: Described are patient data communication devices that may be used as wearable patient monitors. The devices are adapted to accept essentially any type of data from essentially any data source, and are reconfigurable, such that each device can determine which data inputs and outputs should be active, and can reconfigure itself based on new configuration instructions. The devices include wireless transceiver units that allow them to form networks, and particularly mesh networks, with other devices. In a mesh network, any one of the devices may serve as a data source, a data forwarder, or a data sink, and the processor of each device may determine whether data should be outputted, displayed, or processed on the local device or on a remote device in the network. Data from other devices in a mesh network may be accepted selectively, depending on the number of hops between the sending and receiving devices.

Abstract: A wireless medical monitoring system and medical monitoring devices adapted to communicate using a plurality of wireless protocols and networks. For each transmission of data, a wireless protocol or network is selected based on the properties of the available protocols and networks and the nature of the data that is to be transmitted. Thus, the medical system and devices can move seamlessly from one context and location to another. The medical devices may also include additional features, such as detection of improperly positioned or disconnected sensors and auditory and/or visual prompting of the patient to correct the problem. In some embodiments, the medical monitoring devices may comprise body area networks of individual sensors communicating and cooperating with one another wirelessly.