5 examples of Internet of Things in Medicine
The revolution brought about by the Internet Things (IoT) begins to take over more and more areas of everyday life, including the use of such type of devices in medicine and healthcare.
This phenomenon is now so common that it has been named — IoMT (Internet Medical of Things). Today we are going to present 5 examples of such use.
Electronic tattoos — a new dimension wearables
Temporary tattoos can be the next phase of wearables. They are lightweight, non-invasive, do not interfere with everyday functioning and do not require charging. They can be powered using solar energy or electromagnetic radiation.
An example of utilising the technology using super-thin semiconductors is helping pregnant women. Researchers from the University of Illinois have designed a tattoo that can constantly monitor both foetal and maternal vital processes. It turns out to be very practical in the case of premature babies because it is accompanied by the software warning against preterm birth and its potential dangers. It controls such vital parameters as heartbeat, exposure to ultraviolet radiation, and chemical substances in sweat.
Intelligent lenses help diabetics
So far, the only method for monitoring blood sugar levels in diabetes was taking a blood sample from a drop of blood drawn from the finger and reading the result using a glucometer. However, with the development of technology, new and innovative solutions appear, which are able to monitor the condition of the patient in real time
One of such solutions is smart-lenses, capable of sending and receiving data. They can be obtained, for example, directly from our bodies. For now, the only officially announced function is level of sugar in the blood measurement, and sending the information to other devices (like smartphones), but it is yet not clear in which direction this device will develop. Potential risks associated with this technology are easy to imagine by the fans of “Black Mirror”, a SF Netflix series.
What is really going on in your body?
Sano helps understand chemical reactions of the body to various external factors, track the metabolism and, thus, develop healthy habits. It can assess the chemical reaction of the body to specific type of food, physical activity, and other factors. In every individual case, the indications may be completely different, because metabolism is affected by several factors, such as gender, race and age. Other important features of this IoT include the classification of the current health status and notifications in case of emergency situations.
Retain control over the state of the air in your home
Another device which can be useful to our health is Foobot. This is the first IoT device which is not only able to monitor the status of air in the room, but also to improve it. It is equipped with an internal set of sensors which can measure the concentration of volatile organic compounds, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and particulate matter. When these substances reach a critical concentration, the device transmits the collected data to a smartphone and, from this level, you can control additional IoT devices which regulate the air composition.
A bedroom adapted to the rhythm of your day
Applications and devices measuring the quality of sleep are nothing new. Their most common flaw is the lack of real impact on the quality of sleep. What to do with statistics alone? Sense is the extension of this type of solution — a designer device with additional functions, such as the measurement of conditions in the bedroom and their impact on how we sleep. In addition, we gain access to reports with information about how we can change our environment for better, us and at what time is best to fall asleep and wake up.
