The Internet of Things (IoT) technology is currently being embedded in multiple applications of healthcare and changing the way of its operations. Remote monitoring, smart sensors, and medical device integration are turning the data into meaningful insights to boost the growth of the healthcare industry.
Internet of Things for Healthcare
IoT has the ability to not only keep patients safe and healthy but also improve how physicians deliver care. In addition, it enhances customer engagement and satisfaction by enabling patients to spend quality time interacting with their doctors. Combining some powerful technologies like 5G mobile wireless, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Big Data will more likely to modernize the healthcare industry.
Why IoT is Important in Healthcare?
The IoT is described as a network of external devices or objects that uses connectivity to exchange the data. IoT gadgets streamline processes like remote patient monitoring, a housing of vaccines, treatment project examinations that allows healthcare workers to complete their respective jobs in a timely manner. Hundreds of electronic devices can be installed in a hospital to check patients’ health status around-the-clock, interact with each other, fast decision-making, and upload necessary data to a healthcare cloud platform.
IoT Devices in Healthcare
Well, not all IoT devices should involve a sensor, they at least require to have a radio and TCP/IP address to enable connectivity with the Internet. When a device has access to the internet, it can be called as an IoT gadget. A smartphone with healthcare apps can help you to identify diseases and suggest tips to improve your health. However, dedicated healthcare IoT devices can perform significantly more tasks.
1. Smartwatch:
Wearables feature a sensor and internet connection. They have the potential to monitor your heart rate, assist in speech treatment, help in improving body postures, and detect seizures.
2. Insulin Pen & CGM (Continuous Glucose Monitoring):
These can help to monitor blood glucose levels and transfer the data to a smartphone app. It is ideal for diabetic patients to track their glucose levels and even forward this data to a healthcare provider.
3. Brain Swelling Sensors:
Such tiny sensors are embedded within the cranium to help brain surgeons aware of critical brain injuries and avoid life-threatening swelling.
4. Ingestible Sensors:
Prescribed medicine is consumed with a tiny digestible medical sensor that delivers reminders through a smartphone app to patients for taking their medication on time.
5. Smart Video Pills:
A smart pill can go through a patients’ intestinal tract and capture images as it travels. It can transfer the accumulated data to a wearable device.
Internet of Things (IoT) in healthcare can create innovative ways to treat several diseases and enhance applications like telemedicine, medication management, patient health monitoring, imaging, and overall workflows. It can help to tremendously improve or maximize the chances of positive treatment results as the data collected by IoT devices is quite accurate that allows making informed decisions.
IoT has already been using AI-driven and Big Data solutions to improve the communication process, security, and compliance in the healthcare sector. The constant implementation of the Internet of Things (IoT) within healthcare will result in a drastic increase in efficiency and analysis of data.
