IoT is booming significantly in all sectors be it automobile, retail or any other sector, it has borne fruits in all sectors with its benefits. However, in the medical sector, it is aiming to cater to a myriad of problems. It is about time that we acknowledge the advent of the “M” in IoT – IoMT!
“IoMT refers to a physical object embedded with technology capable of exchanging data and is pegged to create a more efficient healthcare system in terms of time, energy and cost.”
There is no doubt that in today’s technological era efficiency, automation and convenience are all defined at once by – Internet of Things (IoT). The never-ending buzz behind IoT has redefined the route of many industries allowing connected devices to evangelize some of the prevalent problems in their respective sectors. This has rightfully also influenced the healthcare sector in a very positive manner. Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) is technically a set of collective devices/applications in medical science that can be connected to a computer network with IT-based healthcare systems for easy and efficient machine-to-machine communication.
It has been consistently observed that the medical industry has always been more open to the adoption of next-gen technologies. Initially, when IoT was implemented in the Healthcare sector no one thought the impact will be so revolutionary. The Healthcare Industry per se has been very slow in growth for using IoT applications, however, the IoMT is poised enough to transform the safety and health of the common masses and cater to lower cost of medical care solutions. From an application base point of view, IoMT today helps healthcare providers and caregivers in monitoring and notifying with actual data relevant to identifying the issue through earlier intervention thereby aiding in avoiding health-related complexities in the future.
IoMT has received the boost that it has today because of several dramatic growths that the market has observed such as the decrease in the cost of sensor technology and the accessibility of wearable devices – one of the most widely used interfaces in the healthcare sector. Chronic diseases are on the rise and the demand for lower healthcare costs has become a necessity and new innovations in IoMT are only addressing the needs of such a scenario for better health-care outcomes.
One of the primary benefits of IoMT at this moment is to address the growing concern around the health-care systems catering to the needs of the elderly. The elderly people tend to have more healthcare issues. IoMT devices are the best deal for the elderly and have tremendous potential to help deal with rising costs in healthcare. Such devices can help track vital heart performance, monitor glucose and other parameters such as sleep levels, sleep patterns blood pressure and more. Portable diagnostic device for urine and blood tests make way for easier test routines for elderly people. Wearables Devices such as Fitness Trackers, Activity Trackers, Blood Glucose Monitors, Diagnostic Wearables, Cardiac Monitors and other IoT medical devices such as Pain Relief Devices, Connected Inhalers, Smart Asthma Monitor, Medicine Storage and Refiling Automation for Hospitals have also taken the healthcare industry by storm.
From an application base point of view, the IoMT provides a good amount of data from various connected devices which helps in monitoring health trends. Such information also helps in tracking the effect of a particular medicine on a patient. The launch of fitness and medical apps has also made people more conscious of their health. As mentioned earlier, wearables as well have become very popular amongst people these days for the same reason. Wearable devices give accurate data about health-related issues along with their fitness/exercise routine enabling them to lead a healthy lifestyle. IoT apps provide health notification such as medicine reminder, check-up schedule, visit the doctor and more to the patients along and also notify doctors with the status of patient’s progress and medicine effectiveness. One of the prime benefits of IoMT due to this is the treatment of chronic diseases as it helps such patients with remote health check-ups to control and monitor chronic symptoms.
Not only have such devices been used widely by healthcare professionals, but they have also been embraced by consumers for various purposes in self-health maintenance. For example, wearables such as fitness trackers and glucose monitors allow patients to manage and track illnesses on their own. Today, many physicians support the power of IoT as an efficient patient monitoring technology. It is because of the application of IoT devices there has been a significant reduction in re-admissions at hospitals of old patients and a good improvement in adherence of self-health support.
As can be seen from the current scenario, IoT has a long way in healthcare and all the paths it has embarked on. As of now, there is a lot to be achieved in the healthcare industry as far as its potential is concerned. The way ahead for IoT in healthcare is set to radically change the way healthcare itself sees the management of inventory, the optimization of workflow and integration of devices.
Glide Technology takes pride in manifesting the power of IoMT, we design and develop secure, efficient, easy to use, connected healthcare electronics products and solutions for better health of people. We support clients for Hardware Design and Software Development for medical products.
Feel free to connect with us for IoT based medical device development.
