Systems, methods, and devices for balancing power consumption and utility of medical sensors are provided. For example, a wireless medical sensor device may include a sensor, data processing circuitry, and wireless transmission circuitry. The sensor may be capable of obtaining a raw measurement from a patient, and the data processing circuitry may be capable of sampling the raw measurement to obtain values. Further, the data processing circuitry also may be capable of determining an update interval based at least in part on an update factor associated with a status of the patient, and the wireless transmission circuitry may be capable of wirelessly transmitting one of the values to an external wireless receiver at the update interval.
