Table of contents:
The Importance of IoT Solutions in Healthcare
Types of IoT-Enabled Devices Used in Healthcare
Internet of Things Technologies in Healthcare
The world of healthcare is undergoing a true transformation, driven by a powerful force called the Internet of Things (IoT). This technology spans a wide range of tools, from simple fitness trackers to sophisticated network-connected medical gadgets. IoT-based applications are making medicine more accessible than ever, opening up new opportunities for health monitoring, early diagnosis and personalized treatment.
It’s no surprise that many companies are harnessing the power of IoT devices in healthcare to offer doctors and patients more optimized solutions. The scope of IoT adoption in healthcare is impressive. Experts expect that the size of the global market for IoT in healthcare will reach USD 176.82 billion by 2026.
With a wealth of experience in IoT development, HQSoftware is contributing to this transformation by delivering innovative healthcare applications that improve outcomes and streamline care. In this article, we’ll explore various types of IoT-enabled healthcare devices and their impact on keeping people healthy and saving lives.
The Importance of IoT Solutions in Healthcare
Although global healthcare is constantly evolving, it faces major challenges with serious consequences. There’s the challenge of not only finding cures for new and long-standing diseases, but also the need to address misinformation, avoid human error in identifying and monitoring symptoms, find ways to help patients adhere to healthcare routines, and explore new avenues of research.
IoT in healthcare helps solve some of these problems and brings benefits of its own.
- Remote healthcare. One of the most obvious benefits of using the IoT in healthcare is the ability of doctors to remotely monitor the health of their patients, making it possible for people to seek help anytime and from anywhere. This makes emergency care easier to obtain and medical care generally more accessible.
- Disease prevention. Prevention is often the best remedy. IoT solutions offer tracking and monitoring tools that enable patients to manage their health, change their habits, improve their lifestyle and detect potential health problems earlier.
- Reduced costs and more efficient appointments. Healthcare IoT devices and sensors allow patients to self-monitor their health, reducing the need for frequent consultations. At the same time, the extensive data IoT healthcare applications can collect makes doctor visits more effective, thanks to the comprehensive information doctors now have at their fingertips.
- Accessible health data. Previously, patients had to visit a lab, consult a doctor or use multiple devices to measure indicators such as blood pressure, heart rate, blood glucose or oxygen levels. Now, compact IoT devices provide routine tracking and personalized statistics in health apps.
- Facilitating research. IoT devices serve as a valuable tool for research by collecting vast amounts of accurate medical data. This allows scientists to focus on complex tasks rather than manually collecting, compiling and analyzing data.
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Types of IoT-Enabled Devices Used in Healthcare
IoT for patients
IoT devices for patients are designed to monitor health, detect diseases early, and help patients maintain an active lifestyle. They give patients and doctors access to real-time, up-to-date data, improving treatment and prevention.
Such devices have changed many people’s lives for the better, especially elderly patients, by allowing them to constantly monitor their health. Also, these devices have become indispensable helpers for single people and their families. If there are any irregularities or changes in a person’s daily activities, an alert mechanism can send a notification to family members and relevant medical professionals.
Device examples:
- Wearable fitness trackers and smart watches to monitor physical activity, heart rate and blood oxygen levels
- Glucometers and tonometers that connect to mobile apps, to track health indicators on a regular basis
- Smart inhalers and treatment devices that track the use and effectiveness of therapies.
IoT for physicians
IoT solutions for physicians are technologies that enable more accurate and timely diagnosis of diseases, monitor patient conditions and improve the efficiency of medical care. These devices reduce the influence of human factors and automate data collection and processing.
When patients use IoT-enabled wearables or home monitoring devices, doctors can monitor their health more efficiently and make more informed decisions. Doctors can track patients’ adherence to treatment plans or note the need for immediate medical attention. The Internet of Things allows healthcare professionals to be more attentive and proactive in communicating with patients.
Device examples:
- IoT-connected blood pressure monitors
- Smart glucometers for remote glucose level tracking
- Remote patient monitoring (RPM) systems
- IoT-enabled pulse oximeters
- Smart thermometers with real-time data sharing
IoT for hospitals
Apart from monitoring the health of patients, IoT devices in hospitals serve other purposes as well. Sensors embedded in these devices help track the real-time location of critical medical equipment, such as wheelchairs, defibrillators, nebulizers, and other tools.This enables staff to quickly locate and deploy the equipment as needed.
Moreover, IoT plays a key role in asset management within hospitals. It helps with pharmacy inventory control, ensuring that medications and supplies are properly tracked and restocked. Additionally, IoT devices support environmental monitoring, such as maintaining the correct temperatures in refrigerators for medicines and vaccines, and regulating humidity and temperature levels in various hospital areas.
IoT for health insurance companies
There are many opportunities for health insurance companies to utilize IoT-connected smart devices.
- Underwriting and risk assessment. Data collected from health monitoring devices allows insurers to better assess a customer’s health status and predict risks. This makes the underwriting process (insurance risk assessment) more accurate and transparent.
- Claims operation and anti-fraud. IoT devices deliver accurate, objective insights into the health of insured individuals. This helps verify insurance claims, confirm or deny their validity and reduce fraud.
- Data-driven decisions. Collecting and analyzing data from IoT devices enables insurers to make decisions based on real information, which improves forecasting and risk management and reduces costs.
Internet of Things Technologies in Healthcare
| Technology Category | Description |
| Sensors | These devices measure factors such as heart rate, blood pressure, glucose levels, and temperature, providing real-time insights into a patient’s condition. This data helps in early detection of health issues and allows for continuous monitoring without the need for frequent doctor visits. |
| Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, NFC and other communications | These technologies help to transfer data between IoT devices and healthcare systems. Bluetooth and NFC are often used for short-range connections, such as wearables syncing with smartphones. Wi-Fi supports larger data transfers over long ranges, ensuring that patient data is quickly shared with doctors and cloud platforms for analysis. |
| Cloud platforms | Cloud platforms store, process, and manage vast amounts of data collected by IoT devices. They allow healthcare professionals to access patient records anytime from anywhere. Cloud solutions also enable advanced data analytics, providing valuable insights into patient health trends. |
| Artificial Intelligence (AI) | AI enhances IoT in healthcare by analyzing large datasets and identifying patterns that may not be immediately visible to humans. It supports predictive diagnostics and improves patient care by offering personalized treatment recommendations based on collected IoT data. |
| Edge computing | Edge computing processes data closer to where it is generated, such as on IoT devices or nearby servers. This reduces latency and allows for faster decision-making, which is critical in emergencies. Edge computing also enhances efficiency and alleviates the burden on cloud systems by processing data locally. |
| Blockchain | Blockchain provides security and data transparency in IoT healthcare systems. It allows patient records to be securely stored and transmitted, protecting sensitive information from leaks. Blockchain technology can also verify and protect data from unauthorized access, increasing trust between patients, doctors and healthcare providers. |
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Top 10 IoT Applications in Healthcare
The convergence of healthcare and innovation is driving a new era of IoT applications, transforming the industry in groundbreaking ways. Let’s explore some uses of IoT in healthcare that have the greatest impact.
1. Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM)
IoT capabilities in medical monitoring have been a breakthrough in the field of healthcare. They help save medical resources and the time of qualified professionals by providing timely and accurate monitoring of patient conditions. Remote Patient Monitoring deploys a range of medical smart devices, in particular:
- Blood pressure monitors
- ECG monitors
- Smart glucometers
- Pulse oximeters
- Thermometers
The Internet of Things has demonstrated particularly effective use cases in caring for patients with chronic conditions such as hypertension, congenital heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease and other pathological conditions that cannot be treated quickly.
In working with these patients, remote monitoring of blood pressure and ECG allows for early detection and intervention. Online monitoring of blood glucose levels plays a similar role for people with diabetes.
Apps such as Abbott’s Dexcom G6 and FreeStyle Libre work with IoT-enabled continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) to track blood sugar levels in real time. These apps alert users to dangerously high or low glucose levels and allow them to share data with healthcare providers and family members.
2. Smart wearables
Smart wearables, such as smartwatches and IoT-based wristbands, are widely used in both consumer and medical contexts. These devices can monitor a variety of health metrics such as heart rate, steps taken, and sleep patterns. They can also serve other functions, such as providing notifications, weather updates, and timekeeping. Major technology companies like Apple, Samsung, and Huawei have developed IoT-enabled devices for health monitoring, making the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) a growing segment in the healthcare market.
3. Real-time asset tracking
Internet of Things asset tags are widely used in healthcare to track and manage medical equipment. Critical or high-value items, such as wheelchairs, infusion stations, and defibrillators, can be fitted with Bluetooth tags to ensure efficient tracking. Such asset tags will prevent misplacement and save time on unnecessary searches. They can also help in identifying under-utilized equipment so that resources can be reassigned and reallocated to other areas.
For a large medical institution, HQSoftware developed and implemented an advanced asset tracking system. This IoT solution enables real-time monitoring of medical equipment, safeguarding against loss or theft while providing actionable analytics to enhance logistics. By employing specialized sensors and seamless user interface integration, the system allows staff to locate equipment efficiently and respond swiftly to unexpected situations.
4. Smart hospital beds
A hospital bed doesn’t conjure up the best associations, does it? However, thanks to modern technology and the growing innovation of IoT devices, the hospital bed has been given a new incarnation. Just imagine: the new smart beds can track up to 35 data points! This includes patient weight, body temperature and heartbeat. These beds are equipped with blood oxygen and blood pressure sensors. They can electronically update the patient’s medical record with all the relevant data, including how many times the patient has left their bed and how often they have been turned in bed. Some smart beds even provide for verbal alerts such as “Please do not get up.”
In a similar IoT-driven healthcare solution, HQSoftware developed a prototype to enable remote control of a dental chair for a major medical equipment manufacturer. The project involved integrating smart technology to allow healthcare professionals to remotely control the chair’s headboard, dental drill, light settings, and more via a smartphone, tablet, or laptop. The system enables real-time diagnostics and seamless interaction, much like smart beds that monitor and respond to patient data.
5. Smart inhalers
With millions of people worldwide affected by asthma, the potential value of smart inhalers cannot be overstated. Connected to personal devices, these inhalers can significantly improve the diagnosis, management, and treatment of asthma.
Smart inhalers already exist on the market, such as the Hailie® sensor from Adherium. The system includes a sensor that attaches to the inhaler and a mobile app that connects to it. The app tracks the use of the inhaler and sends reminders when it’s time to take the medication, including alerts when the user has forgotten to take the last dose. All data is stored in the app and can be shared with a doctor or family member for review. Medical professionals can also access the Adherium portal, which can be used to view data from many patients at the same time.
6. Smart medication dispensers
According to NCBI, more than half of patients do not adhere to their prescribed medication regimens, and this non-compliance leads to more than 10% of all hospitalizations. In this context, IoT-enabled medication dispensers are becoming increasingly common. Smart dispensers feature connected sensors that track and monitor medication usage in real time, effectively reducing missed doses.
The MedMinder smart pill dispenser is a notable example of IoT technology in medication management. It reminds patients to take their medication with visual and auditory alerts and locks the compartments to ensure that the correct dose is taken at the right time. The device can also notify caregivers via email or text message if a dose is missed, providing an extra layer of support for patients, especially those with chronic conditions or elderly patients who need assistance. This system has been shown to improve medication adherence significantly and reduce the likelihood of hospitalizations due to missed doses.
7. Smart pills
Smart pills are ingestible IoT devices designed to monitor bodily functions and identify abnormalities.Traditionally, doctors performing endoscopy use a small, flexible scope with a camera and light to view the patient’s oesophagus, stomach and small intestine. Capsule endoscopy involves the patient swallowing a smart pill equipped with a small camera. Doctors then use this camera to capture thousands of images from inside the digestive tract as the pill passes through the various stages of the system.
In addition to imaging, smart pills transmit data about the body’s condition to an external receiver. This technology serves multiple purposes, such as monitoring gastrointestinal bleeding and identifying early indicators of cancer.
8. Telemedicine and virtual health
Telemedicine with IoT technologies is transforming healthcare into an intelligent ecosystem of continuous instant health monitoring. The Internet of Things connects patients, doctors and medical equipment into a single information network.
Smart IoT devices collect real-time data on the state of the body. Doctors can instantly get a complete picture of a patient’s condition without requiring the patient’s personal presence. For example, insulin IoT pumps for diabetics automatically transmit blood sugar data to cloud-based medical systems. The doctor can remotely adjust treatment by analyzing graphs and trends of the indicators.
Telemedicine can significantly reduce the time patients spend on medical care. Statistical studies show impressive results.
9. IoT-enabled imaging devices
Modern IoT devices are qualitatively changing approaches to medical diagnostics. Doctors can now obtain accurate medical images and analyze them in seconds across geographical distances.
Key benefits of IoT-enabled imaging devices:
- Instant transmission of medical images between specialists
- Remote diagnostics from anywhere in the world
- Automatic download and secure storage of test results
- Reduced risk of medical error through intelligent data analysis
10. Health data analytics
The Internet of Things is bringing significant change and improvement to healthcare through advanced health data analytics. IoT devices continuously generate vast amounts of data from various sources, such as wearable devices, medical equipment, and patient monitoring systems. This data is aggregated, processed, and analyzed using powerful analytics tools, unlocking valuable information for healthcare providers.
IoT-enabled health data analytics supports:
- Predictive analytics: Helps identify potential health risks and predict disease outbreaks by analyzing trends in patient data.
- Personalized medicine: Facilitates tailored treatment plans based on an individual’s unique health patterns.
- Operational efficiency: Enhances hospital workflows by analyzing resource utilization, reducing patient wait times, and optimizing staff allocation.
For example, IoT systems can analyze real-time data from intensive care unit monitors to detect signs of patient deterioration earlier than traditional methods. This allows doctors to adjust treatment in a timely manner, preventing complications and saving lives.
Conclusion
The applications of IoT in healthcare highlighted above offer just a glimpse into the immense potential of the Internet of Medical Things. This rapidly growing field holds unlimited opportunities for innovation, empowering businesses and developers to create effective solutions that improve one of the most essential aspects of human life: health and well-being.
If you’re considering developing your own IoT device, HQSoftware is here to help. With extensive experience in crafting advanced healthcare solutions, our team is ready to bring your vision to life. All you need to do is to contact us and share your ideas and thoughts. Together we’ll deliver a solution that meets your needs, on time and within budget.
Head of Production
To ensure the outstanding quality of HQSoftware’s solutions and services, I took the position of Head of Production and manager of the Quality Assurance department. Turn to me with any questions regarding our tech expertise.
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