IoT-enabled devices like wearable fitness trackers, smartwatches, and biosensors revolutionize how individuals manage their fitness routines. These are not high tech gadgets, but a precursor to a change in the way health can be managed.
One of the key things here to frame is not a medical interventionist perspective, but to develop an understanding of how communication technology reads your own body in relation to its environment. Many sensors are already embedded in your mobile phone. These sensors are often not up to the level of dedicated medical devices, but you can see the trending pattern below…
Uses for Health IoT
- General health monitoring: Someone with hypertension can use a connected blood pressure cuff to track readings over time, automatically logged into an app for trend analysis and sharing with their medical team.
- Remote management of chronic conditions: Smart glucose meters and inhalers collect data that can be reviewed at home or sent directly to a healthcare provider. This minimizes clinic visits.
- Alerts and emergency responses: IoT devices equipped with fall detection or irregular heartbeat alerts, such as certain models of smartwatches, can notify emergency services or family members immediately. These features are valuable for elderly individuals or known medical conditions, like epilepsy.
- Stress management: IoT tools and apps provide you with options to track mood, adjust sleep patterns, and address stress levels.
- Connected rehabilitation devices: After surgeries or injuries, IoT-enabled physical therapy tools guide users through exercises while tracking their progress.
Conclusion
The practice of using sensor data to collect data is as old as the stethoscope (1816). Connected tools provide more effective data transfer methods to monitor and adjust because they deliver more consistent data streams. This aids record keeping, monitoring and prediction. The ability to take decisions based on verifiable real-time data has significant utility for personal health care.
