In recent years, technological advances have significantly improved the healthcare landscape, enabling doctors and nurses to excel in their roles. Using innovative machines, computers, and devices, healthcare professionals can now access a range of tools that streamline their work and improve patient care. |
Technology has gotten better and better in recent years and this has helped doctors and nurses do their jobs even better. They can use things like machines and computers to help them with their work. They can also use special glasses to see things in a different way, as if they were really there. They can also use computers to help them gather and analyze a lot of information to make better decisions. And they can even use special devices that are connected to the Internet of Things to help them care for patients even when they are far away.
The Internet of Things is like a big network that connects many different things, including cars, home appliances and even shoes or measuring devices, as you can read in our previous post: "BIOSENSORS, SMART HOMES AND HEALTHY DIET". As explained in that publication, biosensors are also part of this website. However, today we will focus on the internet of things and its connection with medicine, or also known as "the internet of medical things".
THE INTERNET OF MEDICAL THINGS
The Internet of Medical Things (IoMT for short) is when medical devices can communicate with each other and share information about patients using the Internet and other networking systems. This is really useful in healthcare because it helps doctors and nurses take better care of patients. It includes special devices and applications that help improve medical care. These devices can do all kinds of things, like take care of patients, help doctors do their jobs, and even help scientists do research. It's like using technology to make healthcare easier and smarter.
THE HISTORY AND ECONOMICS BEHIND THE GROWTH OF IOMT
Before the Internet of Things (IoT), when people got sick, they could only talk to their doctors in person or on the phone. This meant that doctors could not keep an eye on their patients all the time and give advice when necessary. Now, IoT-connected devices have made it possible for doctors to monitor patients from afar. This helps ensure that patients are kept safe and healthy, and helps doctors provide really good care. It also makes it easier for patients to talk to their doctors. Using these devices to check on patients' health helps them get out of the hospital faster and prevents them from having to come back again. IoT also helps save money on healthcare and improves treatments.
The Covid-19 pandemic has had a big effect on the use of technology in healthcare. Reports say that the global healthcare technology market grew a lot and experts believe it will continue to grow even more. The global market grew by 24% in 2020 (compared to 2017-2019 averages). Experts predict that the market will increase by $357.45 billion between 2021 and 2028. This is because people want to use wearable devices and automated patient care, and governments are investing in new technology for things like seeing a doctor from afar.
IMPORTANCE AND BENEFITS OF IOMT
Among the companies that manufacture medical devices, such as pacemakers and blood glucose monitors, there are also those that manufacture devices that can connect to the Internet. These devices allow them to send information to doctors immediately, which is really important for today's medicine. Overall, IoMT is like having a special assistant that makes sure we stay healthy and get the right care when we need it.
Among the main benefits, we find:
They help doctors keep a close eye on patients and give them the right treatments right away.
They help hospitals save money by using resources more efficiently.
They make it less likely that doctors will make mistakes in diagnosing and treating patients.
They streamline the procurement of medical care, such as appointments and surgeries.
IoMT-enabled devices are becoming more popular in hospitals and clinics because they can do new and useful things. The medical field is always getting bigger and bigger, and more and more people need medical care as they age. IoMT devices will become even more important in the future because they can help doctors and nurses do their jobs faster and better.
TYPES OF IOMT AND THEIR MOST COMMON DEVICES
When we talk about IoMT, we refer to the use of special devices for health and medicine, but it is not only about those devices. Even a cell phone or smartphone can be used for IoMT, such as by checking heart rate. There are other devices called IoMT that can help people with their health. For example, there are inhalers that can make breathing easier, glucose meters that can send information to the doctor, and systems that can remind patients when to take their medications. All of these devices are part of IoMT.
With these concepts clear, we can now talk about how we use special devices and how we can classify them. These devices are called health IoT devices:
Wearables: these are special devices that people can use to track important information about their health, which can be implemented on the skin or as accessories for everyday use. These devices send the information to a special place called the cloud, so that doctors can see it immediately. This helps doctors know what is happening with their patients, even if they are not in the doctor's office or hospital.
Telemedicine: is when doctors and nurses help people with their health through technology such as video calls or messages. It helps people who live far away from hospitals or doctors, or who do not have a lot of money. It can also help when there are no doctors who know a specific type of medication in an area. With IoMT, doctors can check on patients without them having to go to the doctor's office.
Augmented Reality: this is when you use special technology to add things to the real world. In medicine, it helps doctors keep patients safe and perform major surgeries. It also helps find out what's wrong with a patient by showing them their medical records and signs of how they're doing. Another way augmented reality IoMT devices are useful in medicine is for training your students. They can be used to simulate situations and help doctors practice their skills. They can also be used to teach patients about their treatments to make them work better. Virtual and augmented reality can also be used in medicine to help people recovering from injuries or illnesses by being able to create special places that make patients feel less stressed and distract them from any pain or discomfort they may feel.
Drones: are like flying robots that help doctors and nurses deliver important medical items more quickly. They can carry things like medications, samples and other supplies that doctors need to care for their patients. These special devices can tell people where they are and how long it takes to deliver things. In medicine, it is very important to know the time so that doctors can help patients quickly. With devices like drones, medicine delivery is faster.
Artificial Intelligence and Big Data: when patients use smart devices to share information about their health, such as heart rate or temperature, with their doctors, a lot of data is created. This data is like a big jigsaw puzzle and Artificial Intelligence helps put all the pieces together to make sense of it and track it. It's like having a really smart computer that can organize and understand all the information to help people be healthier.
IoMT-enabled devices help us by using smart technology to analyze the vast amount of information they collect. This can help doctors detect diseases early, so they can treat them sooner. It can also help them find out faster what's wrong with someone and give them the right medication. They can even use the information to find out if someone might be at risk of injury or drug use, so they can try to prevent it, and collaborate with scientific research in real time.
SOME EXAMPLES OF ITS USES IN MEDICAL ADVANCES
In the surgical area, in the operating room: in 2019 at the Hospital Clinic in Barcelona, Spain, they used special IoMT-connected devices to help doctors perform surgery. The surgery was streamed live on the Internet so that people could watch it. It was the first time this type of remote guided surgery was performed using super-fast Internet called 5G.
In the nursing branch: the company myDevices created something called Push&Protect. It's a special technology for nurses that helps them take care of patients. They made a button that can be put on every bed in a hospital. If a patient feels scared or needs help, they can push the button. When they press it, a message is sent to the nurse's phone immediately, even over long distances.
In pulmonology: Amiko created special inhalers called "Respiro" that can collect information about how people with breathing problems are doing. These inhalers have sensors that can indicate whether treatments are working and how much they are helping. There is also ADAMM, which is a special machine that helps people with asthma. It can tell when they are more likely to have an asthma attack. When it detects this, it shakes to let the person know to be careful. It also sends a message to the doctor so he or she can monitor the person to make sure he or she is doing well.
BUT WHAT ARE THE MAIN PROBLEMS WITH IOMT?
In short, there are three major problems that the IoMT sector needs to solve for the healthcare sector.
The first problem is compatibility: getting different technologies and medical devices to work together so that patients can easily use them in their daily lives.
The second problem is effectiveness: using patients' data throughout their lives to help with their medical care, in addition to the constant availability of electricity and the internet.
And the third problem is confidentiality: keeping patients' medical data secure and private so that they can share it with other doctors or hospitals without any problems.
THE FUTURE OF THE INTERNET OF MEDICAL THINGS
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, more physicians started using technology to care for patients from afar and began using special devices (IoMT) to assist them. The number of these devices will continue to increase. As IoT technology improves, the elements we use in healthcare will also improve. For example, sensors that help gather information will become even more advanced and provide us with more accurate and up-to-date information. At the same time, computers will become smarter and will be able to analyze this information to predict and help with medical care.
IoMT devices are special tools that can help doctors and scientists learn more about our health. They can also make it easier for doctors to care for us, save money, and share important information with other doctors and hospitals. In short, they are the future of medical practice.
About the author:
Verónica Lovera Rojas graduated as a medical doctor in 2022 with concentration in the areas of surgery and gynecology. She has spent the past 8 years working as a medical writer and researcher, writing technical articles on a wide variety of topics in the medical field. She is currently practicing at a hospital and working as a professional medical writer.
About the translator / editor:
Brian Hoy has over 20 years of experience in the medical device industry and business formation, supporting the full lifecycle with global scope. Brian consults for industry and provides general advisory and off-hours support.
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