Health Wearables
Introduction
Imagine a fully modern health care system which is accessible to everyone from the comfort of their home. The Internet of medical things could allow us to monitor and share our health data with our medical providers at any time, or send alerts in an emergency. The capabilities are numerous. Wearable technology, like smartwatches and rings, fitness trackers and electronically advanced straps, patches, are able to track more than 7500 physiological and behavioral variables (Johnson, 2022) and this is just part of the many uses that can come from IoMT. The application of ubicomp technology in healthcare has always been focused on making healthcare available to everyone and everywhere. Lately, there has been a lot of progress in making this more plausible.
It is important to not only think about what technology can do to improve our academic or work and social lives but also our overall health, both physical and mental. Pervasive and ubiquitous computing technologies and approaches can have a positive impact for people affected by somatic and chronic diseases and, even help prevent them. It is important to discuss various other ways these technologies can impact health. This essay will be focusing on the positive impact ubicomp technology has on the healthcare side.
Positive Impact
Wearables and artificial intelligence are poised to transform health care in three big ways: early diagnosis, personalized treatment, and management of chronic disease. Each promises to reduce costs and save lives ((Johnson, 2022). Wearable sensors are able to track any slight change that may occur anywhere in the body. Monitoring and reporting vital signs like respiratory rate, body temperature, and blood oxygen level can be done subtly and constantly. They offer tremendous potential for accurate and early diagnosis of numerous diseases such as Covid-19 (Fang & Wu 2021). A smart ring can help a woman conceive by predicting her menstrual cycle. It can detect pregnancy less than a week after conception.
Most drugs only work in 30–50% of patients. For a particular individual, eating bananas can help regularly regulate blood sugar while for another person, the same amount can elevate blood sugar to a level that can cause damage over time (biz.crast.net). The Internet of medical things (IoMT) can help create a unique method of care or diet for each individual to lose weight, control diabetes and maintain a well rounded balanced diet. These devices could also help with detecting early stages of diseases to prescribe more accurate medical advice, medication and treatment. About 80% of the disease is preventable by changing the way people live their lives.
The transition from a health to disease state has not been easy to track over the years. With sensors of high sensitivity and flexibility, easiest stages or pre symptoms of diseases could be determined. This can lead to preventive and therapeutic interventions with substantial positive clinical impact (Fang & Wu 2021). Wearables may get rid of chronic diseases like diabetes (Johnson, 2022). These devices could also help people who already have these diseases to monitor and limit activities when needed and gain more empowerment and control of their health.
There has also been a lot of emerging research of ubiquitous technologies to support mental health. In the earlier stages of ubicomp technology impacting the health sector, there was a larger focus on technology to treat somatic diseases. However, with the increasing number of concerns affecting mental health, scientists have been prompted to research on technologies to support people suffering from these illnesses. One of the first treatments introduced by a computer scientist presented a clinical protocol for the treatment of generalized anxiety disorders (GAD) based on the ubiquitous use of a biofeedback-enhanced virtual reality (VR) system ( Arnrich, Osmani & Bardram 2013).
The protocol includes the use of a mobile exposure system allowing patients to perform the virtual experience in an outpatient setting. Virtual Exposure is used to enhance emotional processing of anxious events by helping patients face memories and situations associated with them. Patients learn to distinguish memories and associated situations from the event itself.
There have been various studies on correlating depression with measures such as skin conductance response, heart rate, and temperature. Research has shown that the autonomic branch of the central nervous system mediates both skin conductance response and heart activity ( Arnrich, Osmani & Bardram 2013).. Patients with depression exhibit an increased baseline heart rate compared with non-depressed subjects.
Wearable technology is also having a very positive impact on mental health diseases in different ways. For example, monitoring of mental workload levels during an everyday life. Studies have also shown that a continuous monitoring of heart rate rhythms can lead to breakthroughs for psychiatric illnesses. Researchers found that depressed patients exhibit a rising heart rate pattern during sleep, explaining an early awakening phenomenon that has been observed in these patients ( Arnrich, Osmani & Bardram 2013).. This could lead to early diagnoses that can make a big difference in saving lives and predicting the right treatment to use.
In cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), software tools were developed to help patients follow a particular therapy according to their needs or care. There is research supporting the investigation of long-term monitoring of electrodermal activity (EDA) to help with the diagnosis and treatment for bipolar disorder patients ( Arnrich, Osmani & Bardram 2013). In order to realize long-term monitoring of the EDA, the integration of the sensor system in the shoe or sock is followed. The research is still in early stages but the end result from it shows that foot recording location is suitable for recordings in daily life even in the presence of moderate movement.
Conclusion
Ubicomp Technology is rapidly changing the way our lives are managed. The fast pace of these changes might be a lot for humans but they come with a lot of advantages and usefulness. It is becoming increasingly clear that there is a lot of potential in products like the wearables in terms of pre-empting and proactively managing our health but they could still come with some challenges. In particular, when testing those devices in the context of traditional Research and Development models.
There is continuous work being done to improve and perfect IoMTs. When testing, researchers need to take into account the complexities of everyday life, such as how technology is carried around and how it impacts on work life, social interactions, etc. This is hard to do in a simulated context, or in a market research facility because you do not capture the full range of factors associated with real-world use (PDD, 2020). With a better and clear understanding of the outcome of wearables and other tools in real life settings, they could really change the way people live their lives. Ubicomp technologies are making it possible to expand these ideas to real outcomes.
