ISM频段（Industrial Scientific Medical Band），中文意思分别是工业的(Industrial)、科学的(Scientific)和医学的(Medical)，因此顾名思义ISM频段就是各国挪出某一段频段主要开放给工业，科学和医学机构使用。应用这些频段无需许可证或费用，只需要遵守一定的发射功率（一般低于1W），并且不要对其它频段造成干扰即可。ISM频段在各国的规定并不统一。如在美国有三个频段902-928 MHz、2400-2484.5 MHz及5725-5850 MHz，而在欧洲900MHz的频段则有部份用于GSM通信。而2.4GHz为各国共同的ISM频段。因此无线局域网（IEEE 802.11b/IEEE 802.11g），蓝牙，ZigBee等无线网络，均可工作在2.4GHz频段上。

The industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) radio bands are radio bands (portions of the radio spectrum) reserved internationally for the use of radio frequency (RF) energy for industrial, scientific and medical purposes other than telecommunications. Examples of applications in these bands include radio-frequency process heating, microwave ovens, and medical diathermy machines. The powerful emissions of these devices can create electromagnetic interference and disrupt radio communication using the same frequency, so these devices were limited to certain bands of frequencies. In general, communications equipment operating in these bands must tolerate any interference generated by ISM applications, and users have no regulatory protection from ISM device operation.