(Reuters) - The U.S. telecommunications regulator is expected to announce plans on Thursday to set aside spectrum to connect wireless medical devices for more convenient health monitoring.

The Federal Communications Commission said it is scheduled to vote on May 24 to adopt the plan for so-called Medical Body Area Networks, according to the telecom regulator, which has been working on the project for about two years.

The idea is that doctors could monitor a patient's vital signs at home or in hospital via low-cost wearable sensors that are attached to the patient's body and wirelessly connected to the machines that process and display the data for doctors.

Last week, the Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI) in collaboration with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), held a webinar on Industry Collaboration and Problem Solving for Version 5010. Officials from CMS, WEDI, and other industry partners discussed and highlighted efforts to resolve ASC X12 5010 implementation issues.

The market for mobile health care applications for smartphones and tablets continues to expand and this year it could double.

The worldwide demand for mobile health (or mHealth) could translate to $1.3 billion in revenues in 2012, according to a study by research2guidance, mobile researchers and consultants.

Revenue increases have been driven by downloads, in part. This year, the number of mHealth application users (those who download a smartphone mHealth app at least once) will reach 247 million — double the 124 million users who downloaded mHealth smartphone apps in 2011, research2guidance said.