Technologies such as IoT (Internet of Things), AIDC (Automatic Identification and Data Capture) and LPWAN (Low Powered Wide Area Network) etc. can create disruptive innovation in healthcare. Such advanced information technologies have opened a new door to innovation providing enhancement and better solutions in not only the core healthcare fields such as patient care, sampling, causes of diseases, and integration of devices but also in medical record-keeping, medical education and medical tool tracking etc. RFID and IoT- enabled connected medical devices can also help with training young medical grads and preparing them better for future with the help of IoT-based information systems.
Connected Devices and Healthcare
‘Personalized and connected health’ as a new trend has provided a ray of hope as it holds the potential to revolutionized the existing healthcare industry. A paradigm shift is quite apparent now as people are making health their priority monitoring their heart rate, blood glucose, oxygen levels, water intake etc. It has also revolutionized the healthcare wearable market and companies are competing for coming up with best smart bands, fitness tracker and vital monitoring connected devices based on IoT technologies.
RFID and IoT-enabled connected devices come under the IoT umbrella term IoMT (Internet of Medical Things) and many IoT-based wearables, medical instruments and software are now used, enabling better care for patients and less hospitalization as people can now monitor their health vitals right on their phone (with connected fitness trackers) and take necessary precautions in advance before their health worsens. A report in UK highlighted that approx. 7B of pounds can be saved per year by National Health Services (NHS) if they use innovative technologies such as RFID, IoT (connected devices) to reduce the number of hospital visits and hospitalization by providing quality healthcare to ill patients remotely. Additionally, with the help of IOT-enabled connected devices elderly patients can be better managed remotely, minimizing their hospital visits. With devices such as insulin pumps and blood pressure cuffs, people can record and monitor their own vital signs and doctors and medical staffs can help them remotely as well. This also results in immediate medical attention for the patients and potentially saves countless lives.
The Future of Healthcare with RFID and IoT-enabled Connected Devices
In a span of few years H-IoT (Healthcare IoT) systems and Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) have seen massive adaptation. Development of RFID and IoT-enabled connected devices has also seen a rapid surge in past couple of years. The future of healthcare looks promising as various connected devices make it easy to collect data and anonymizing it when needed and integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and ML further makes it possible to generate valuable insights and take affirmative action.
The connected device segment is seeing a massive growth and people are inclined to use IoT and RFID enabled smart devices that are capable of giving out instant vital checks and alerts allowing for better care without having to visit hospitals. Remote monitoring of Blood pressure, heart rate, blood glucose levels, oxygen intake etc. also helps elderly and differently-abled. Gathering sensitive valauable data through IoT solutions such as sensors and image processing also helps doctors and healthcare professionals to monitor the health of pregnant women and newborn babies. The data thus collected is anonymized and later deleted as per individuals’ choice, elevating the privacy concerns of individuals.
The future of healthcare and connected devices based on IoT and RFID exist together and use of AI and predictive and prescriptive analytics will only embolden people in trusting IoT enabled devices when it comes to their health. These devices can not only monitor health parameters but also provide real-time alerts and notifications, prevent theft of medical devices from the hospital premises and enhance hospital security as well.
Apart from that, use of connected devices such as IoT based refrigeration units to monitor temperature at which vaccines and medicines are stored is also crucial to health practitioners and to patients.
To conclude, the rise of artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies such as deep learning and predictive analytics will open the doors to new use cases of IoT enabled connected devices. Where IoT enabled devices can gather data and alert individuals of their health conditions and alert doctors while remote monitoring of patients, AI and ML will enable further utilization of gathered data, generating insights and analyzing patterns which help with taking care of patients and future proofing their health.
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