5 Ways Wearable Technology Will Impact Healthcare
Wearable technology is an industry that continues to grow and adapt to meet the ever-changing needs of our world. Many health- and fitness-related technologies are easy to use and unobtrusive, and they make interpreting statistical feedback quite simple.
The applications are endless. They encourage wearers to be more engaged in their own fitness, help modify behavior by reminding you to exercise or take your medicine, and provide a platform for patients and physicians to share data and collaborate on health strategies.
How Wearable Technology Will Impact Healthcare
A number of innovative wearable technologies have emerged in recent years that aim to revolutionize the healthcare industry. Wearable technology will:
1. Educate and empower patients to take control of their health.
Wearable technology puts a patient’s real-time personal health data in his own hands. Ten or 15 years ago, patients relied solely on a doctor’s professional opinion for feedback on treatment and health progress. Now, patients can monitor their own health from home or on the go. They can educate themselves and make decisions on issues that affect their bodies.
For example, Ingestion Event Markers (IEMs) are consumed with medication to gather and transmit information from within a patient’s body. This improves patient adherence to treatment by putting the data right at their fingertips. And Intel just announced its Edison release, a computer the size of an SD card. To demonstrate the power of the Edison, the company developed “Nursery 2.0,” where a baby wearing a sensor-enhanced onesie could be tracked on a parent’s coffee mug. This literal baby monitor has several potential uses for medicine beyond nurseries.
2. Help physicians and patients monitor and diagnose disease.
Some wearable technology sends data about organ function and disease markers right to physicians. This gives them access to in-depth information when monitoring a chronic disease or making a diagnosis. Diabetes patients benefit from a number of new technologies that monitor blood glucose levels, deliver insulin, track food intake and activity levels, and transmit data straight to their doctors.
The Freescale KL02 chip, for example, can be swallowed with medication or embedded directly in a diseased organ. The chip sends biometric readings back to the patient or healthcare professional via Wi-Fi, which allows them to monitor and diagnose diseases based on information gathered from inside a patient’s body.
3. Assist in medical procedures.
The possibilities for wearable medical technology seem infinite. Surgeons wearing Google Glass can give other physicians and medical students the perfect point of view during surgical and medical procedures, and Glass has already been implemented in training.
In fall 2013, a surgical team at the University of Alabama at Birmingham used VIPAAR (virtual interactive presence in augmented reality) technology in conjunction with Google Glass during surgery. By merging these technologies, surgeons could interact and see both sets of hands in the surgical field. This type of “telemedicine” enhances patient care by granting veteran surgeons opportunities to provide valuable expertise remotely to less-experienced surgeons.
4. Allow patients to control and manage their pain.
The technology industry is currently developing portable pain relief devices that eliminate the need for daily pain medication for the estimated 1.5 billion chronic pain sufferers around the world.
The Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) patch is being designed to deliver low-voltage electrical stimulation to alleviate pain in chronic sufferers. The patch includes Bluetooth connectivity that connects to a smartphone app so patients and physicians can track and manage the pain.
5. Make personal fitness more fun.
Currently, the most popular types of wearable technology are gadgets, such as the Misfit Shine and Jawbone’s UP fitness band. These devices help users track and monitor sleep patterns, fitness levels, calorie intake, and bodily functions and encourage users to take an active role in improving their overall health by providing goals, challenges, and social interactions to make the experience more fun.
How This Enhances Doctor-Patient Interactions
Wearable technology can revolutionize how doctors and patients share information, interact, and make decisions about patient healthcare. Patients can have greater access to data about their own bodies and be more involved in their overall health and wellness.
This shift in patient involvement could lead to fewer and shorter doctor visits, fewer unnecessary medical tests, and higher rates of treatment success. In addition, many of these new advancements will help doctors learn, consult, and teach more effectively. This can impact the advancement of skills for doctors in even the remotest of locations and give patients access to better healthcare without extensive travel.
These devices have the potential to bring some incredibly positive changes to the healthcare industry, and the best is yet to come.
Recruitment Expert
2wThis article by Robin Farmanfarmaian brilliantly highlights the transformative potential of wearable technology in healthcare. It's exciting to see how these innovations empower patients and enhance doctor-patient interactions. What are your thoughts on integrating these technologies into everyday healthcare practices? Let's discuss the possibilities and share insights!
Owner Kawanjelajahtour Spesialis Liburan Ke Gunung Bromo, Kawah Ijen dan Destinasi Jawa Timur Lainya!
6moThis is an incredibly insightful overview of the impact of wearable technology on healthcare. The potential benefits are truly remarkable. Empowering patients with real-time health data, aiding physicians in monitoring and diagnosing diseases, enhancing medical procedures, and even offering pain management solutions through wearable devices are all groundbreaking advancements. The notion of making personal fitness more engaging through devices like Misfit Shine and Jawbone's UP fitness band is a wonderful way to encourage people to take a proactive role in their well-being. Moreover, the transformation in doctor-patient interactions, driven by wearable technology, holds the promise of improving healthcare accessibility, reducing the need for extensive travel, and ultimately leading to more successful treatment outcomes. It's a testament to the positive changes technology can bring to the healthcare industry. Thank you for sharing this valuable insight! 👏💡🏥 Kawanjelajahtour Wisata Bromo Ijen Jawa Timur | https://kawanjelajahtour.com
Frequentou a instituição de ensino CA Engenharia Civil - UTFPRPB
6moHello
Biomedical Data Scientist at Oregon Health & Science University
7yOne issue with wearables is that most of what we know about the body comes from data taken in a controlled clinical setting by trained clinical practitioners. In many cases we have limited information about how the body performs throughout the day "in the wild". Doctors may have some issues translating what they know from clinical studies to observations taken throughout the day under a range of conditions. This is a version of the typical wearable problem: We don't have the data we need to be confident they are working right, but we need to get people wearing them to collect the data and to do that we need to tell them we are providing a benefit.