The Internet of Things (IoT) may be poised to transform nearly every aspect of people’s lives. Healthcare is an industry that is already seeing significant adoption of IoT technology. Connected medical devices help doctors and nurses remotely monitor patients, access health data, and perform follow-ups online. Therefore, IoT in healthcare could revolutionize the industry in the next few years.
How is the healthcare industry using connected devices?
The Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) includes various devices used inside and outside of healthcare facilities. In most cases, these elements provide a some of the same benefits – including streamlined processing, reduced risk of error and greater availability of critical data, such as patient vital signs information.
Smart Patient Monitoring Devices
A popular application of IoT in healthcare is the smart patient monitor. This device continuously collects health care information from a patient, including data on heart rate, blood pressure, temperature, and blood oxygen levels.
These devices help make patient health data more accessible to doctors and nurses inside institutions. A patient’s medical team can quickly and remotely check their vital signs from a hospital workstation or secure device anywhere in the world. The smart patient monitor can also alert staff if a person’s vital signs exceed safe levels.
Smart Healthcare Wearables and remote patient monitors allow physicians to continue tracking patients’ vital signs without requiring them to stay in the facility. Additionally, people recently discharged from hospital can bring smart monitors with them, allowing them to send important health information to doctors without having to return to the hospital for follow-up. They can also access this information and get a valuable window into their health after release.
The patient and his doctor can discuss any health related information over the internet using a telemedicine video call solution. The doctor can also immediately call the patient back to the hospital if the monitor suggests that their health is in danger.
There are various IoMT patient monitoring devices, ranging from large machines designed for hospital environments to health tracking light clothing people can take with them wherever they go.
Specific use cases for IoMT monitoring technology include general-purpose smart patient monitors, motion sensors that track the progression of Parkinson’s disease symptoms, and mood sensors that can help physicians manage a patient’s mental health.
Smart infusion pumps and drug delivery devices
The correct dosage and administration of drugs is essential for the treatment of patients. However, medication errors remain a common challenge in many medical environments. These errors can cause serious injury or adverse reactions that can lead to death.
The IoMT can help prevent medication errors by streamlining the process of dosing and administering IV medications.
Smart infusion pumps are drug delivery devices that use innovative technology, barcode scanners, and drug information libraries to reduce risk when administering IV medications. The healthcare worker will designate an area of use – such as the adult ICU or NICU – which will automatically configure the pump as needed. The clinician will then select the drug to be administered from an internet drug library, select a concentration, and set up the pump dose.
Drug library information will help prevent some of the most common medication errors, such as incorrect dosages and combinations that can lead to health problems.
Some pumps may require the clinician to scan the medication using a barcode on its packaging rather than choosing one from a list.
Most pump systems incorporate a few safeguards that will help reduce the frequency of medication errors. For example, the pump can include information about the height and weight of the patient receiving medication, which helps ensure they are receiving the correct dose.
The pump system may also include information about average drug concentrations and dosage units. As a result, he can double-check with healthcare workers to make sure an unusual dosage is correct, which could prevent medication errors.
Smart Device Scanners
Manufacturers will often use laser marking at create a unique device ID (UDI) on the surface of connected medical devices such as orthopedic implants and medical instruments. They provide a wealth of information about the tagged device, including the specific version or model number.
Under current regulations, the manufacturer must provide this code in plain language and in a machine-readable format.
Smart medical scanners can instantly read the second version of the UDI, pull relevant information from cloud-based databases, and update records. This makes it a powerful tool for taking inventory, determining the specific model or lot number of an instrument, and verifying the plain language portion of a UDI.
These devices are connected to the internet, so they can also be used to update cloud-based records as they are automatically scanned. For example, hospitals that maintain an online database of critical medical devices can use a smart scanner to update it with new products.
In practice, these scanners can also make it much easier for healthcare organizations to comply with traceability requirements. For example, clinicians can use UDI information to quickly check the model number, expiration date, and recall status of a medical instrument or device before using it.
Clinicians who locate defective or expired equipment can quickly remove it, ensuring that it will not be used for a procedure.
Pills, capsules and smart drugs
New smart pills and capsules can help patients take their medications regularly. They are equipped with special sensors which activate when they touch the acid in a patient’s stomach. They then communicate with a wearable medical device – like a patch on someone’s chest – signaling that the pill has been taken.
The handheld device that receives the signal can automatically generate a log or report indicating that the medication was taken successfully.
The connected medical device may also track other information, such as patient activity and rest times.
The first smart pill approved by the FDA was Abilify Mycite, which contains aripiprazole, an antipsychotic used to treat conditions such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Patients with these conditions may find it difficult to remember if they took their medication, but missing a dose can cause side effects, including nausea, dizziness, anxiety, and a return of symptoms associated with heart failure. mental health condition that aripiprazole is intended to treat.
The smart system can help patients track their medication adherence and review regimens as they take their medications.
Smart pills aren’t widely used yet, but they could soon help patients and healthcare providers improve medication adherence and track usage at home.
Future smart pills may also provide additional functionality. For example, those with onboard sensors could help doctors track a patient’s core temperature, detect intestinal bleeding, or monitor gut health. Many of these pills already exist on an experimental basis and could become commercially viable by the end of the decade.
The Future of Connected Medical Devices and IoT in Healthcare
Connected medical devices can facilitate the delivery of efficient healthcare. The voucher can streamline care, reduce the risk of error and simplify record keeping.
IoT in healthcare is growing rapidly over the next few years. According to Fortune Business Insights, the market could be worth up to $187.6 billion by 2028, up from just $41 billion in 2020. As a result, new applications of smart medical technology may become widely available.
For example, it could also become common for healthcare facilities to adopt connected robots, such as those used in Italian hospitals during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The IoMT devices currently in use – from smart monitors to smart pills – will likely become much more common over the next few years as the market grows and healthcare facilities seek to adopt devices that make daily work easier.
Image credit: provided by the author; National Cancer Institute; Unsplash; Thanks!
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