Digital Healthcare IoT Technology Transforming Medical Services

The diagnostic, biomedical and e-healthcare sectors have been substantially impacted by the digital revolution and advancement of information technologies, such as the smartphone industry, 5G network and the emergence of Big data era. Internet of Things (IoT) has recently had a significant impact on various industries, including digital imaging/diagnostics, telemedicine/telehealth, smart sensing, lab-on-a-phone, etc. IoT applications in diagnostic and healthcare pave the way to personalized care based on individual needs and well-organized methods for remote healthcare and management. Diagnostic, sensing and imaging-based IoT allow remarkable precision and automation in the diagnostic process and hence, have the potential to improve biomedical and e-healthcare.

Architecture and Technologies of Healthcare IoT (HIoT)

The IoT framework for healthcare applications assists in integrating the advantages of IoT technology and cloud computing into the field of medicine. It also specifies the protocols for transmitting patient data from various sensors and medical devices to a particular healthcare network. The arrangement of various components of a digital healthcare system/network that is coherently integrated into the healthcare environment is known as the topology of digital healthcare IoT or HIoT.

The success of the IoT system is determined by how well it satisfies the needs of healthcare practitioners. The topologies must follow the medical norms and processes in the diagnosis procedure because each disease requires a complex healthcare procedure.

A  basic HIoT system includes three components such as publisher, broker, and subscriber, as shown in the figure below. Wherein the publisher represents a network of connected sensors and other medical devices that can process data and provide feedback after observing the patient’s health condition. Further, brokers can receive the information continuously via a network.

HIoT Services and Applications

The recent evolution in IoT technology has allowed medical devices to perform real-time analyses that doctors couldn’t conduct a few years ago. Big data and cloud computing applications have significantly improved the reliability and ease of communication between patients and caregivers.

As a result, the patient’s engagement in the treatment process increases while the patient’s financial burden is reduced. The significant impact of IoT in recent years has witnessed the evolution of HIoT applications, which include disease diagnostics, personal care for pediatric and geriatric patients, health and fitness management, and chronic disease monitoring.

HIoT Services:

Services and concepts that provide solutions to various healthcare problems have transformed the healthcare industry. As healthcare demands rise and technology advances, more services are being integrated into HIoT.

The subcategories include various types of IoT healthcare services such as ambient assisted living used for monitoring patients in real-time and ensuring that they receive human service-like support in case of a medical emergency, mobile IoT that provides an efficient Internet-based healthcare service, a communication interface between personal area networks and mobile networks, the wearable device allows healthcare professionals and patients to deal with various health conditions by processing and visualizing acquired patient data, etc. Other HIoT services are illustrated in the given list.

HIoT Applications: The HIoT services are used to develop different user-centric IoT-based applications. Due to the rapid advancements in IoT technology, wearable sensors, portable gadgets, and medical devices have become more affordable and user-friendly. These systems can be used to acquire patient data, diagnose diseases, monitor patients’ health, and provide alerts in case of a medical emergency.

The applications of IoT healthcare include ECG monitoring, which employs search automation to detect cardiac abnormalities in real-time and can also communicate wirelessly to other devices; temperature monitoring with IoT-based technologies, which tracks core body temperature using smart wireless sensors in real-time; and others.

Significant Applications of IoT for the COVID-19 Pandemic

In the pandemic situation, a rise in the number of infected people has led to the requirement of well-adequate and organized facilities employed with the internet of healthcare/medical things. This has resulted in the increasing requirement for user-centric solutions and awareness of innovative IoT technologies and their significance. The existing detection method for COVID-19 is a PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) test that is identified by the genetic fingerprint. According to a recent research article, an application-specific IoT architecture has been proposed to avoid the spread of COVID-19. The architecture consists of the first level of sensors. These sensors capture physiological input. The system transmits the captured data over a network.

Cloud gateways receive data from gateway devices and transmit it to the cloud gateways. The big data warehouse extracts the required data using machine learning technology. Visualizing results from data analysis is also possible. Deep learning and artificial intelligence can aid in understanding healthcare trends, modeling risk associations, and outcome prediction.

Digital Healthcare IoT: Intelligent Solutions

Major applications of IoT for the COVID-19 pandemic include Wireless healthcare networks to identify COVID-19 patients, smart tracing of infected patients, accurate forecasting of the virus, Internet-connected hospitals, automated treatment processes, and Telehealth consultations.

Intelligent solution providers WMW with an adaptive registration dashboard with micro-modules, Abeeway with a location intelligence solution provider, and Actility with Low-Power WAN networking have integrated their solutions that can save people from COVID-19, which include:

1. Private proximity registration: This comprises a kit that provides a private network and personal monitoring that maintains a virtual geographic boundary around a person. The solutions assist in preventing and alerting against proximity.
2. MySpace Monitoring: Elderly people that we want to follow up with and communicate more directly with their caretakers or relatives. Motion sensors, panic buttons, and door sensors have applications in hospitals, rest homes, and home settings. They enhance safety and security for individuals. This enables the reporting of direct and indirect anomalies to take prompt action.
3. Quarantine Monitoring: People who should be in quarantine may not always follow the regulations and occasionally attempt to leave their zone, posing a significant risk of virus propagation. This solution detects the breach and notifies the user.

Digital Healthcare IoT: Innovators and Their Industry Impact

The healthcare and personal health sectors continue quickly adopting and developing new technologies using IoT. IoT technology improves patient-doctor communication through remote monitoring and virtual visits and aids hospitals in tracking patients and staff. IoT healthcare devices help with chronic disease management, automate patient care workflow and analysis, reduce errors and inefficiency, and optimize pharmaceutical manufacturing processes that can potentially lower drug prices. Moreover, IoT maintains quality control, manages sensitive items in transit, and lowers healthcare costs by streamlining the overall process.

Innovators of Digital Healthcare IoT Technology in Healthcare

1. Spry’s wearable loop device provides “hospital bed monitoring in the form of a fitness tracker” that includes continuous monitoring of vital sign data and patient status via the cloud, as well as actionable insights for enhanced care. Spry recently announced a call for grants to attract academic researchers working on health and chronic diseases using wearable loop monitoring systems.
2. Beddit, owned by Apple, has produced an app-driven and Bluetooth-connected sleep monitor that monitors snoring, heart rate, breathing, and sleep environment and evaluates acquired data to plan a suitable course of action for improved sleep quality. The system connects with Apple Watches and iPhone sleep monitoring functions.
3. GE Healthcare has invented an Auto bed platform that monitors around 1200 beds, processes 80-bed requests at once, and monitors patient requirements. This platform has helped many hospitals reduce their waiting time in emergency rooms by 50 percent.
4. The Genesis Touch system, produced by Honeywell, connects patients with remotely located caregivers who receive data transmitted via a patient dashboard. According to estimates, the system will increase the global remote patient monitoring market by 2025. Additionally, the system can integrate with blood pressure monitors and oximeters and facilitate virtual visits.

The other technology innovators with emerging applications of IoT in healthcare are Google, Aclima, Nexleaf Analytics, SystemOne, Pfizer, IBM, Eight, Happiest Baby, AdhereTech, Aeris Communication, Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Stanley Healthcare, Philips, etc.

Benefits and Drawbacks of IoT in Healthcare

Internet-connected healthcare devices and data integration bring various benefits to the healthcare ecosystem, as mentioned below:

• Technology-Equipped Environment: Smart hospitals have advanced technologies to prevent unnecessary visits and collect patient health data for analysis
• Cost Savings: Fewer visits to hospitals and rapid treatments lead to fewer patient expenses
• Improved Approachability/ Remote Patient Care: Doctors are able to monitor patients anytime from anywhere using a telemedicine system based on IoT
• Proactive and Dynamic Treatment: Continuous patient health monitoring ensures easy healthcare operations
• Quicker Detection of Disease: The continuous monitoring of the patient’s condition and access to real-time diagnostic data helps detect the disease at an early stage or even before the onset of the disease due to symptoms
• Reduced Errors: Automated processes such as data analysis, segmentation, and data-based decisions reduce diagnosis errors
• Improved Treatment Results: The physicians make decisions based on the real-time patient condition that provides transparency and accurate information in patient care
• Improved Disease Control: With the use of cloud computing and connectivity between medical devices, clinicians may obtain real-time data for early disease identification and plan and carry out the necessary treatments

Disadvantages of the HIoT for the Healthcare Sector

• Lack of Encryption: A customized encryption system protects from unauthorized access. However, not all systems have dedicated encryption so that people can get access to the system.
• Accidental Failure: IoT-based health systems can have serious consequences due to small errors. Therefore, it is important to consider all the details of application development and hardware manufacturing.
• Privacy of Patients: Physicians make decisions based on the patient’s real-time condition, providing transparency and accurate patient care information.
• Malware: Operating systems and IoT applications for healthcare can contract viruses as a result of internet viruses. However, implementing reliable antivirus software and firewalls might help to secure the software.

Digital Healthcare IoT: Challenges, Limitations, and Future Scope

Many researchers have worked on designing and implementing various IoT-based medical services and resolving various associated technical and architectural issues. Several challenges and open issues require careful attention.

• Cybersecurity: The healthcare system requires layers of security due to its confidentiality and regulations to protect patient privacy. A private IoT network is an important starting point such as VPNs, APNs, and IPsec protocols create a private environment that is only accessible by authorized devices.
• Reliable Connectivity: As with many medical devices, network failures are unacceptable for devices with real-time access to data requirements. Maintaining connection is a challenge in mobile devices such as wearables. Cellular connectivity is often the best solution for IoT deployments covering large geographic areas.
• Data Storage Issue: Internet-connected devices continuously generate large amounts of real-time data, occupying a large amount of storage space in memory. A huge data store that can store all data indefinitely is still required.
• Standardization: Many vendors that manufacture a diverse range of products and devices do not follow standard rules and regulations for compatible interfaces and protocols across devices and management of electronic health records, leading to interoperability issues. Standardizing communications layers and protocol stacks for IoT-based healthcare solutions is necessary.

Conclusion

Hospitals are constantly pressured to identify ways to reduce patient expenses. The invention of wearable technologies has reduced the number of resources required at healthcare facilities. Just like metaverse in healthcare, Another technology contributing to the future of the IoT in healthcare is the introduction of 5G networks, which offer 100 times faster connection speeds than traditional networks.

As cloud services combined with AI increase, IoT devices become smarter and are more than just sending data from patients to healthcare professionals. Future IoT applications could also involve communicating with patients through chatbots or virtual assistants. By combining sensor information collected from various IoT devices and sensors and using voice-controlled speakers, seniors can access personal virtual assistants, encourage them to take medications, survey them for their health or pain levels, and react to acquired information from devices such as glucose levels, fall detection or oxygen levels.