Internet Of Things For Healthcare

Last Updated on: July 5, 2022

The Internet of Things, IoT has penetrated into many industries: smart cities, smart homes, agriculture, manufacturing, museums, events, smart cars and in the healthcare industry. There are a huge number of IoT Use Cases in the Healthcare Industry. Therefore, it is one of the fastest-growing industries to adopt and utilise the benefits of IoT in all its might. Before IoT in healthcare, doctor-patient interactions were limited to visits and phone communications, doctors or hospitals had no way to monitor patient health continuously.

 IoT Use Cases in the Healthcare Industry has a transformational impact. It is providing revolutionary devices to enhance patient engagement and satisfaction by delivering effective and efficient healthcare solutions by utilising the benefits of IoT in healthcare.

IoT use cases in the healthcare industry can be seen for patients, physicians and hospitals alike.

IoT for Patients – Wearable or smart devices like fitness bands, blood pressure, and heart monitoring cuffs, glucometers, etc. enable individuals to constantly monitor their own health conditions in case of chronic diseases. They can notify healthcare professionals, doctors, caretakers in case of any anomaly.

IoT for Physicians – When patients use monitoring equipment, data collected from these IoT healthcare devices can be used to track patient health, devise treatment plans and reach expected outcomes.

IoT for Hospitals – Using sensor-based IoT healthcare devices to track and manage medical equipment like wheelchairs, defibrillators, nebulizers, oxygen pumps, and other monitoring equipment. IoT in healthcare also includes: Hygiene monitoring devices, asset management devices, environmental monitoring devices, etc.

IoT in Healthcare Workflow

Benefits of IoT in healthcare can be huge. The data that is generated from IoT healthcare devices can redefine healthcare.
Data Collection: A sensor collects data from a patient or a doctor/nurse inputs data.
Data Aggregation: An IoT device analyzes the collected data with the help of AI-driven algorithms like machine learning (ML).
Data Storage: The device makes a decision whether to act or send the information to the cloud.
Data Analysis: Doctors, health practitioners, or even robots are enabled to make actionable and informed decisions based on the data provided by the IoT device.

 

Benefits of IoT in Healthcare

• Cost Reduction: IoT enables patient monitoring in real-time, thus significantly cutting down unnecessary visits to doctors, hospital stays and re-admissions
• Simultaneous reporting and monitoring: It enables physicians to make evidence-based informed decisions and brings absolute transparency. A study conducted by the Centre of Connected Health Policy suggests a 50% reduction in 30-day readmission rate because of remote patient monitoring on heart failure patients.
• Faster Disease Diagnosis: Continuous patient monitoring and real-time data helps in diagnosing diseases at an early stage or even before the disease develops based on symptoms
• Remote medical assistance: With mobility solutions in healthcare, the medics can instantly check the patients and identify the ailments on-the-go.
• Tracking and Alert Notifications: The data generated by these IoT healthcare devices are analysed. These reports give better insights to the wearer and the doctors. This enables the wearer to take needed steps and doctors to make well-versed decisions and provide on-time treatment. 
• Drugs and Equipment Management: Using connected devices, equipment like wheelchairs, incubators, etc can be easily and effectively managed with reduced costs.
• Research: This data thus collected can be used for the statistical study that would support the medical research. 

IoT Use Cases in the Healthcare Industry

There are a huge number of IoT Use cases in the healthcare Industry. But here are a few that Systango believes will prove to provide the biggest benefits of IoT in Healthcare and is working with clients to better healthcare in the world. 

Smartwatch

Smartwatches have transformed into clinically viable healthcare tools. Apple launched the Apple Heart Study app in 2017 to monitor users’ heart rhythms and alert those who are experiencing atrial fibrillation. The ECG app on Apple Watch Series 4 allows patients who experience rapid or skipped heart-beat to have irregular rhythm, to capture an ECG and record their symptoms. This real-time data can enable you to make more informed and timely decisions regarding further evaluation and care.

Ingestible Sensors

Capsule sized ingestible electronic devices, composed of biocompatible materials like a power supply, microprocessor, controller, sensors, etc., allowing the device to observe and store data for disease diagnostics and monitoring. Currently being used to measure pH, temperature, and pressure or monitor whether or not patients have taken their meds.

Insulin Pens and Smart CGM (Continuous Glucose Monitoring)

Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM) is a device for diabetics to monitor their blood glucose levels for several days, by taking readings at regular intervals. There are a number of smart CGMs available in the market today like Eversense and Freestyle Libre. They send data on blood glucose levels to apps on your phone enabling continuous monitoring. 

Smart  pills

Smart pills, or digital pills, are a new gene of medications being prescribed to patients using edible electronic sensors. These pills send wireless messages to devices like patches, tablets or smartphones. In January, the first digital cancer pill was released. The capsule was filled with capecitabine along with a chip. 

Doctors, patients, and families can track medication adherence using a signal sent by the chip on hitting the stomach lining. Smart pills can also be used to monitor the chemical state of the stomach.

ADAMM Asthma Monitor

ADAMM is a wearable smart asthma monitor that helps in detecting symptoms of an asthma attack before its onset, allowing users to manage it before the attack gets worse. It notifies the person wearer of an impending asthma attack and sends text messages to the designated carer. 

It uses AI to learn what ‘normal’ is for the wearer over time, allowing it to better understand when something has changed. ADAMM is available on both a mobile app and web portal. You can also set medication reminders, view data from the devices, and keep track of your treatment plan.

Systango and IoT in Healthcare

Systango is currently working with a client, winner of the UKBAA’s Best Investment in Disruptive Technology Award. We are helping them build AI Tools that enable access to early diagnosis for patients via data collected from wearables and digital medical equipments. 1 Million Children die of pneumonia every year. Pneumonia is easily treatable but we get late in diagnosing it. Our client aims to develop ethical AI tools that are integrated with digital medical equipment like stethoscope, and other wearable devices. The data recorded is then processed and Machine Learning Algorithms are applied to convert information into actionable diagnostic output before it’s too late.  

Use cases of IoT in healthcare range from remote monitoring to smart sensors and medical device integration leading to digital transformation. This can revolutionise healthcare by keeping patients safe and healthy and at the same time improving how physicians deliver care. 

IoT in Healthcare comes with a few challenges. The amount of data captured by these IoT healthcare devices will be huge. And with data capturing comes concerns about data security.

Implementing security measures is crucial. IoT in healthcare provides a new dimension for patient care using real-time health monitoring and patient’s health data analysis. Systango is prepared to unleash the power of IoT to create a much better and bigger impact on our everyday lives. Are you?