Internet of Healthy Things (IoHT) MEMS & Blockchain
Internet of Healthy Things (IoHT)
Internet of Things is our everyday life but Internet of Healthy Things is also becoming our future. Internet of Healthy (or Healthcare) Things is a connected infrastructure of software applications and devices that is able to communicate with different healthcare IT systems. By 2020, experts believe that over 20 billion everyday objects will have the ability to capture, receive and share information via a large, interconnected global network that is linked together by GPS, inexpensive sensors, and “the cloud.” Meaning that real time biometric data will automatically get captured in order to learn more about the impact of your lifestyle on wellness, potential or current chronic diseases and finally, change your behavior to help you improve your health and live a better life.
This kind of shift will be felt by every industry sector, every company and every person across the globe. This also means that connecting to the Internet of Healthy Things is a huge opportunity for all businesses no matter the sector. The revolution will occur in the following decade and it will revolve around the treatment and diagnosis of diseases. When an ordinary medical device is connected to the internet, it collects additional data thus providing that extra insight into symptoms, enabling remote care, and giving patients more control over their treatment and lives.
The IOT in healthcare has numerous applications from smart sensors, medicinal gadget integration to remote observing. 35% of executives in healthcare are planning to implement blockchain in the next year with increased investments.
IoHT Disruptive Market Trends
The Internet of Healthy Things will make up more than 40% of IoT-related technology by 2020. This convergence, between information technologies and medicine will completely transform the healthcare by reducing inefficiencies, saving lives and curbing costs.
By 2022, IOT in healthcare is expected to be more than $ 158.07 billion at a CAGR of 30.8%. By 2025, the IOT in healthcare is projected to reach $ 534.3 billion at a CAGR of 19.9% according to a report by Grand View Research, Inc.
US spends around 18% of their GPD on healthcare every year and experts at Goldman Sachs believe that a major reduction of costs is possible via the IOHT. It is believed that around $305 billion could be saved this way and around $200 would account for chronic disease management such as asthma, diabetes, and heart diseases through remote patient monitoring.
This chart demonstrates some of the possible savings and opportunities. The amounts of $ billion are only regarded the US and not globally. This includes over $200B savings in Counterfeit Drugs, $100B in Data breach related costs and $45B in savings as a consequence of higher supply chain visibility.
Main challenges of IOT in healthcare (or IOHT) are identified on the below picture. It is clear that blockchain represents the answer for:
- Data Security Issues — Blockchain is a distributed ledger where security is of essence.
- Data Control & Access Privacy — Blockchain provides users with complete privacy.
- No Uniform Standards/ Structure — Blockchain comes with a set of rules which are not changeable.
- Large Volumes of Data Produced — Blockchain can store enormous amounts of data.
In UK, 75% of people go online for health information and 97% are highly satisfied with 94% whom implied better treatment compliance. A tele-health hub across 210 care homes shows that there is a 35% decrease in hospital admissions and 59% less hospital bed days. The paperwork time has decreased by a staggering 60% and patient face time increased by 29%. Clearly, Internet of Healthy Things and Blockchain are beneficial for the healthcare industry.
As the diagram shows, as the organization’s IT budget increases so does the investment into IoHT. Organizations with over $200M IT budgets invest nearly 14% of their overall budgets into IoHT. Small organizations with total IT Budgets of $26M or less invested less into innovative technologies with only 5.8% of their IT budget for IoHT endeavors.
Another use case is found within the RFID (radio-frequency identification) technology. The RFID market is around $16 billion with its accompanying hardware market worth $12 billion and software $4 billion in 2016. RFID technology as according to Rubicon Blockchain Corporation.
Zhang (2018) writes about the use of blockchain and RFID to treat and/or prevent cancer. All of the data about the patient is collected into a single database (blockchain) and also cancer data about all of the cancer cases and treatments. All of this will be available through our smartphones increasing the mobility.
How do IOHT and Blockchain work together?
The answer is interoperability since within the healthcare industry, there will be different blockchains, protocols, and smart contracts. These different blockchain platforms will need to evolve in order to handle interoperability and also data diversity of the Internet of Healthy Things since the connected medical devices will contribute with an insane amount of diverse data.
MEMS and Blockchain
MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) is basically a sensor that measures different data and transforms it into electrical signal. These sensors are the key element of Internet of Things and thus Internet of Healthy Things too. It is a revolutionary technology that has found its way into our everyday lives. This results in one small physical device that is actually a system in which mechanical and electrical components work together to implement the wanted functionality.
MEMS measure thermal, magnetic, chemical, mechanical, electromagnetic and other variations. They are found in cars, smartphones, accelerometers, microphones and pretty much any device that a person can think off.
MEMS market has exploded when Steve Jobs converted a cell phone into a small and powerful computer, the smart phone. The market will grow at 17.5% CAGR between 2018 and 2023. The market value is projected to be worth more than $100 billion by 2023. In medical market, MEMS is projected to reach $6.5 billion globally by 2019 according to Transparency Market Research.
MEMS, healthcare, and blockchain are the wholly trio. Imagine MEMS as devices that would allow for a wide range of measurements that relate to your own personal biometrics, blockchain as the uncompromised ledger where this is gathered, transferred and stored and healthcare to help you understand. Here is where IOHT comes in the game too.
Motion trackers are the most common use of MEMS in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Gyroscopes, accelerometers, and magnetometers are used among others to ensure the correct tracking systems. Data collected and properly stored in a blockchain system could save millions of lives throughout the world through prevention and proper treatment.
One use case study can be seen in the Bosch Sensortec. Bosch uses MEMS to monitor everything from sleep quality, motion control, steps, meetings, and many more to monitor the health and obligations of a person throughout the day via small wearable devices.
According to Shaari et al. (2017), around 1.85 % of people around the world require the use of wheelchairs. Smart Wheelchair applications are thus of importance for allowing these patients with the proper mobility, safety, and ease of use. Through an accelerometer (MEMS) that is mounted on the hand glove, users are able to move the wheelchair in any desired way. The wheelchair market was valued at $1.23 billion in 2013 growing at 19.2% of CAGR according to Market Research.
Goldwater implies that one of the best uses of blockchain in healthcare will be the collection and storage of data across multiple devices (from the IOHT right) — IOHT devices, smartphone applications, patient portals and send these data to healthcare providers that will monitor the quality of care every day. Thus, patients will gain more control over their data and providers will know when and how to act. The data will be connected via devices but what provides the data are MEMS.
There are trillions of dollars of possibilities in these industries. A single app or a MEMS can track anything from sleep monitoring, motion control, heart rate, and so much more. You can see if you washed your teeth properly. Maybe you run too fast on your exercises. All of these and so much more are already operational MEMS as wearable devices. The future is here and the possibilities are enormous. The IOHT, MEMS and blockchain in healthcare will own the majority of the market value. The Internet of Healthy Things will make up more than 40% of IoT-related technology by 2020.
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