With faster broadband speeds, better analytics, technological improvements and more competitors in the space, the future of IoT has a greater opportunity to make a positive impact on the healthcare industry.
In the last few years, numerous vendors have entered the IoT market space. The 2020 consumer electronic eventCESsaw a record number of companies in the market withhealthcare IoT products, such as care robots, intelligent home camera systems for tracking seniors at home and, of course, smart speakers. By 2025, experts predicted that the wearable technology market will reach $74.03 billion. This is a significant increase from its valuation in 2019 of $27.91 billion. Wearable technology is especially important to healthcare because it will introduce more devices to the market that patients can use to monitor activities, vital signs and several healthcare data points.
为什么医学互联网是医疗保健的未来
Beyond the growing market for healthcare IoT, the COVID-19 pandemic has刺激了关于医疗物联网未来的对话and how it can safely connect healthcare professionals and patients. Hospitals and clinics were forced to quickly evaluate telehealth to continue to treat some patients without increasing their risk of infection by bringing them into care facilities. Hospitals are also under constant pressure to identify ways to reduce costs. Wearable devices that enable some patients to be treated and monitored at home could reduce the number of resources needed at the healthcare facility.
Another technology contributing to the future of IoT in healthcare is the介绍5G网络，该连通性的速度比传统的4G网络更快。物联网设备依靠连接性来传达和传输患者和护理提供者之间的数据。更快的蜂窝数据传输可根据其可以交换的数据量和更快的速度提供物联网灵活性。通过这些改进，新的医疗体系使用包括可以帮助患者在家中遵守药物的设备；可以追踪高危患者心率，氧气水平和运动的睡眠监测设备；远程温度监控工具；以及连接到移动设备的连续葡萄糖监测传感器，并提醒患者和临床医生的血糖水平改变。
随着云服务与AI相结合的越来越多的使用，IoT设备变得更加聪明，并且不仅仅是将数据从患者传输到医疗保健专业人员。例如，使用云服务进行数据分析的物联网设备是smart glucose monitoring system and smart insulin pen. These two technologies not only continuously capture information regarding glucose levels, but also upload the data to a cloud service or a mobile app to be analyzed. Based on the outcome of the analysis, the insulin pump can then inject the patient with the appropriate dosage of insulin. Another example is the use of smart nanny cameras for monitoring elderly patients. These smart cameras recognize when routines deviate from the norm, such as if an elderly person goes into the bathroom but does not come out after a short period of time. Another application of the camera is for fall detection, which would then alert emergency services or caregivers.
AI will continue to convert many traditional internet of medical things devices from data collection points to smarter devices that can facilitate meaningful interactions with the data.
Other uses of IoT that will begin to trend in the future include the use of bots or virtual agents to interact with patients. By combining sensor information collected by different IoT devices and sensors and using voice-enabled speakers, seniors can have access to a personal virtual assistant to remind them to take their medication, survey them for any relevant information that relates to their health or pain levels, and react to any collected information from their devices, such as glucose levels, fall detection or oxygen levels.
Beyond wearables and patient-specific interactions,healthcare organizations will adopt IoT in facilities用于库存管理和设备跟踪。这项技术 - 通常称为real-time location systems-- continues to improve because of advancements in wireless technology and the size of the sensors. By tracking the movement of equipment and general use, hospitals will get better visibility of potential equipment shortages and who may have come in contact with the equipment. This is especially important for preventing the spread of infection, such as how the COVID-19 pandemic forced hospitals to track equipment and staff who came in contact with infected patients.
History of IoT in healthcare
In the past decade, internet-connected devices have been introduced to patients in various forms. Whether data comes from fetal monitors, electrocardiogram machines, temperature monitors or blood glucose monitors, tracking health information is vital for some patients, though many of these measures require follow-up interaction with a healthcare professional. The use of IoT devices has been instrumental in delivering more valuable, real-time data to doctors and lessening the need for direct patient-physician interaction. Early on, the purpose of many of these devices was to transmit data to provide visibility of a patient's condition through reported vitals. For many physicians, the data was not sufficient and needed analysis to provide greater value. That's thedirection healthcare IoT has been moving toward.
AI will continue to convert many traditional internet of medical things devices from data collection points to smarter devices that can facilitate meaningful interactions with the data. With the increasedrollout of wearables, IoT technology will continue to see significant growth in healthcare.
Dig Deeper on Internet of Things (IoT) in Healthcare
