Internet of Things for healthcare – the present and the future
Internet of Things: stats and facts
- The term ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT) was coined in 1999 by Kevin Ashton to describe a wireless network that connects devices
Internet of Things for healthcare – the present and the future
Internet of Things: stats and facts
- The term ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT) was coined in 1999 by Kevin Ashton to describe a wireless network that connects devices and objects remotely.
- Almost 20 years on, 87% of consumers still don’t understand what IoT actually is – we hope to make things a little bit clearer with this series.
- According to Intel, by 2020 there will be over 200 billion devices connected by the IoT, with the average person owning 5 connected devices.
- By 2020, it is estimated that over half of new businesses will incorporate the IoT into their products, processes, or systems.
How did we get here?
From talking fridges to intelligent kettles and smart hair brushes, everyday devices powered by the IoT range from the frivolous to the fantastical. While the volume and variety of devices continues to escalate, the real power of the IoT isn’t within the devices themselves, but in the value of the data they generate. It’s the classic snowball effect: the more information we have, the more we can do with it.
While the IoT has potential and purpose in almost every industry on earth, healthcare is one of the most exciting: mainly because, unlike a £65 connected umbrella, its solutions have the potential to radically alter the way medicine is practiced across the globe, changing people’s lives for the better.
Over the past decade, more and more device users have adopted personal health and wellbeing tech: there are currently around 165,000 health related mobile apps, from sleep monitors to calorie counters. More recently, the explosion of wearable technology – such as FitBit and Apple Watch – has increased the variety and accuracy of vital stats that can be measured in an instant, from glucose levels to alcohol intake.
What does all this mean for healthcare on a general scale? In essence: people want to know, understand, and control more aspects of their health and wellbeing. For the healthcare sector, its potentially life-changing applications are far from hyperbole.
What’s happening now?
The IoT is powered by information. Healthcare, too, is powered by information: doctors have traditionally relied on a mixture of patient recall, examination observances, and test data to guide them in their diagnoses and treatment.
But with the sector under the significant pressure of an ageing population and an increase in those with long-term, chronic conditions, services are feeling the stretch. While hospitals are short on beds, medical staff at all levels are short on the time they need to continuously monitor patients with conditions such as diabetes, arthritis, heart disease, and dementia.
Under pressure: Medical staff are short on the monitoring time that’s needed
Some have hailed the IoT as the Uberfication of healthcare, referring to the way in