IoT In Healthcare: Transforming Patient Care With Smart Solutions
Table of contents-
● Introduction.
● What is IOT and how does it contribute to healthcare?
● Current market state of IOT in the healthcare sector.
● Elements of IOT.
● Application of IOT for different healthcare aspects.
● Advantages of IOT for the healthcare sector.
● Stages to flow of data IoT devices in the healthcare sector.
● Challenges faced while implementing IOT in the healthcare department.
● Conclusion.
Introduction
Health is the most unpredictable thing nowadays as no one knows when any medical condition will happen. The only thing we have control over is the development of healthcare facilities, machines, medicines, etc that are used to cure patients as soon as possible. A report by the National Library of Medicine says that around nearly 8 million people die every year because of lack of access to high-quality care.(https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6238021/)
Many hospitals have no proper healthcare facility which results in improper cures of patients. This is a very serious matter that needs to be solved as soon as possible. It can be cured with the help of technology as there are a lot of technologies that can contribute to curing it. IoT or the Internet of Things is one of them that has an immense ability to enhance the healthcare sector and make proper care of patients. We will talk about the role of IOT in the healthcare sector in detail, how it can contribute, and what innovation it could bring to the healthcare world.
What is IOT and how does it contribute to healthcare?
The Internet of Things or IOT refers to a technology that allows us to add a device to an inert object that can measure environmental parameters, generate associated data, and transmit them through a communications network. Generally, it functions on data to make proper use of data as it can sense, detect, and make use of data.
It enables healthcare professionals to be more watchful and connect with the patients proactively. The Data collected from IoT devices can help physicians identify the best treatment process for patients and reach the expected and positive outcomes.
Current market state of IOT in the healthcare sector
The healthcare IoT solutions market is expected to show an annual growth rate (CAGR 2023–2028) of 17.8%, leading to a market volume of US$289.2 billion by 2028. North America has the largest market share of the IOT healthcare market in 2022 and still, North America is leading the chart. It is also expected that the Asia Pacific region is projected to grow at a CAGR of 18.50% from 2023 to 2032.
Elements of IOT
To know about the role, application, and benefits of IOT in the healthcare sector, it is very important to know the elements of IOT. 6 elements of IOT are mentioned below.
Identification
Identification is the key element of IOT that lets devices connect with the data and detect the data to identify any particular name or number. There are many addressing methods like IPv4, IPv6, and 6LoWPAN addresses, as well as many former identification methods such as Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), Bluetooth, Barcode/2D code, Near Field Communication (NFC), Electronic product codes (EPC), IP address.
Sensing
Generally, Sensors are the backbone of any application calculating and handling the proposed data for sensor variations in the physical world. With the help of sensing devices and IOT integrations, data can be managed very smoothly and fluently. Sensing elements or features of IOT lets collect the data and transfer it to the cloud.
Semantic
Semantic is a feature of IOT that involves the extraction of data from the devices and offers the user service they need. It also involves the analysis of decisions denoting the wrong one and making it correct.
Services
IoT offers many services in many sectors like smart campuses/buildings, intelligent transport systems, smart industry, and smart homes belonging to collaborative-aware services. Its variety of services makes it a good technology to contribute to development.
Computation
Computation of data is a vital function of IOT as it computes the data with the help of microprocessors, CPU, microcontroller, etc. Its computation speed and accuracy are far away from human thinking and ability.
Communication
Communication is also a key element of IOT as communication in IOT can be possible through different communication protocols, such as near field communication (NFC), Wi-Fi, radio frequency identification (RFID), ultra-wide bandwidth (UWB), Bluetooth, IEEE 802.15.4, long term evolution (LTE), Z-wave, etc.
Applications of IoT for different healthcare aspects
As we have seen the elements of IOT that are outstanding in every way. To enhance healthcare and patient care, these elements or features of IOT can contribute to many use cases. There are many places where it is contributing to this sector According to a report by P&S Market Research, there was a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 37.6 percent in the healthcare Internet of Things (IoT) industry between 2015 and 2020.(https://www.wirelesswatchdogs.com/blog/iot-applications-in-healthcare)
Here are some applications of IOT mentioned in the healthcare sector that can create a safer environment in hospitals.
Proper diagnosis for diabetes patient
Diabetes is a very common disease this time, not only for older ones but for young ones too. Many diabetes patients suffer from improper diagnosis of the disease. With the IOT, they can have sensing chips inside their skin that measure the glucose level of their body. Whenever there is a risk of high or low glucose, an alert message will transfer to their phones. Doctors can also get insights for a week or month using this technology.
Heart monitoring and reporting
Patients can have wearable devices that measure their blood pressure and take out reports at the right time. Hospitals and healthcare providers also have access to patients’ blood reports that let them cure with proper data.
Medical alert system
Wearable medical alert systems can also be made for patients who can’t help themselves. A message should pop up on the phone of the person who is there to help so he/she reaches it at the right time.
Medication dispensers for doctors and patients
A device can also be created with the help of IOT that notifies the patient and doctor if they missed out on their medicine and routine visits respectively. This will not create the case of improper take of medicine doses and inappropriate cure.
Advantages of IOT in the healthcare sector
We have seen the applications and elements of IOT in the healthcare sector, now we will see some benefits of IOT in healthcare that make it immensely effective. Here are some of the benefits mentioned.
End-to-end connectivity and affordability
IoT allows end-to-end connectivity between doctors, patients, and healthcare devices. This leads to fluent workflow and cure of patients. It is also affordable at mid-range prices. Some where it can be costly but mostly it is affordable for healthcare workers.
Tracking and alerts
Integration of IOT in medical devices helps in the proper tracking of patients’ conditions and produces data that makes it easy work for doctors to provide the right treatment at the right time. It can also be used to alert doctors about patients’ conditions.
Research
IoT healthcare applications can also be used for research purposes because IoT enables the healthcare department to collect a huge amount of data about the patient’s illness which would have taken many years if collected manually.
Stages to flow of data using IOT in the healthcare sector
There are different stages of the flow of data that help doctors analyze and make decisions to cure patients. Here is the flow of data and processes mentioned.
● The sensing device collects the data from patients and doctors as inputs.
● With the help of integration of artificial intelligence with IOT leads to analysis of data.
● The responsible devices send the data to the cloud.
● Doctors can make decisions based on analyzed data about what action could be best for patients based on solutions provided by AI and IoT.
Challenges face while implementing of IOT in healthcare
With the many benefits, features, and applications, there are some challenges that the healthcare sector can face at the time of using or implanting IOT. Here are some challenges mentioned.
● IOT functions on data as it receives and transfers the data. Many IOT devices do not have security protocols which sometimes lead to threats for security.
● Implanting of multiple devices could lead to barriers in communication as many devices do not have communication addresses as the others have.
● As IoT technology is recently introduced it may be costly to implant in the healthcare sector. Many low-budget healthcare workers can’t afford too many costly machines.
Conclusion
IoT can bring an evolution to the healthcare sector and patient care through its immense power to modify devices. It can be used to monitor, sense, detect, and provide solutions with the help of data. Since it has some challenges but despite that it can enhance the face of the most important sector. Because only treatment is not necessary, proper treatment at the proper time is necessary.
