Picture this: You are down with a viral infection at home, and a doctor continually monitors your health and prescribes drugs from his clinic. This is IoT magic. Thanks to significant advances in IoT in healthcare, real-time monitoring, diagnosis, and treatment of patients without stepping into the clinics have become the new normal.

In short, IoT in healthcare is normalizing personalized, remote care globally. Fitness trackers, wearable devices, and more are IoT tools that help doctors offer remote care. These devices collect real-time data and send alerts to patients and healthcare professionals, ensuring proactive, real-time care.

Unsurprisingly, the global IoT healthcare market is expected to surpass USD 1 trillion by 2035, driven by the growing use of connected medical devices and remote patient monitoring systems.

Benefits of Using IoT in Personal Healthcare

Various IoT devices offer several benefits for healthcare professionals and patients. Let’s look at five ways how IoT in healthcare devices can help personal healthcare:

#1. IoT-based Remote Patient Monitoring via Wearable Sensors

Remote Patient Monitoring is one of the huge advantages of IoT. Whether the patient resides in the remotest corners of Alaska or Serbia, it doesn’t matter if they use an IoT device like a wearable. Devices such as wearable sensors, smart gadgets, or any other connected medical equipment can automatically collect health metrics such as blood pressure, heart rate, temperature, and more and send this data to healthcare providers without the patient’s physical presence at the healthcare facility.

The data collected by an IoT device is further processed through a software application that healthcare professionals and patients can see. The algorithm analyzes the data and recommends remedies or generates alerts. For example, if an IoT sensor detects a patient’s blood pressure is too high, it may trigger an alert for healthcare professionals to intervene promptly.

RPM also benefits patients with chronic conditions as they don’t have to visit the clinic often. Instead, a healthcare professional can analyze the data generated by IoT devices and intervene in case of emergencies, not to mention curate personalized care plans.

Challenge: Maintaining the privacy and security of personal data collected through IoT-based remote patient monitoring devices is challenging. However, data privacy issues can be mitigated using strong encryption protocols such as AES-256, which ensures unauthorized authorities cannot crack the data even when intercepted.
Beyond remote patient monitoring, IoT is helping deal with chronic diseases like diabetes with non-invasive solutions.

#2. IoT-based Non-Invasive Glucose Level Monitoring System

537 million adults around the world are living with diabetes. This number is expected to reach 643 million by 2030 and 783 million by 2045. The disease is categorized among high-risk diseases causing death and disability in the world. Traditional methods to monitor glucose levels are invasive and painful and can cause infection.

Enter IOT-based glucose monitoring. These devices use noninvasive sensors and devices to track blood sugar levels in real-time. The device removes the need to keep manual records and alert patients when glucose levels are high.

Challenge: Miniature glucose monitoring systems that use minimum energy are the need of the hour. Plus, their accuracy is not as good as traditional devices. However, the accuracy part can be taken care of by leveraging machine learning algorithms that train IoT devices to improve the accuracy levels of glucose monitoring systems.

In addition to a noninvasive glucose level monitoring system, IoT offers other noninvasive solutions, such as ingestible sensors and eye-health monitoring.

#3. IoT-based Non-invasive Ingestible Sensors

Invasive medical procedures, like inserting instruments into the digestive tract to diagnose, monitor, and treat gastrointestinal diseases and disorders, are the norm. However, the availability of IoT-based, noninvasive ingestible sensors that resemble pills that dissolve or pass through the patient’s digestive system, helping measure the stomach’s acidity, internal bleeding, and other bodily functions, is soon catching up.

Moreover, these ingestible sensors are made of biocompatible, digestible metals such as copper and magnesium, which allow humans to safely swallow or pass through the digestive system to collect data on different bodily functions.
The sensors comprise electrodes, a communication system, sensing materials, and a power source that enables wireless data transmission.

Challenge: Accurate and consistent data transmission is difficult as the sensor passes through the digestive system. IoT developers can address this issue by using signal amplifiers that boost transmission strength as the sensor moves through different parts of the digestive system.

#4. IoT-based Non-Invasive Eye-health Monitoring

Like conventional contact lenses, smart contact lenses (SCLs) are worn on the eye’s cornea and offer more than simple vision correction. They help monitor glucose levels in tears, eyeball movement, intraocular pressure (IOP), and specific biomarkers for particular diseases.

Source: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10605521/

SCLs are made from biocompatible materials, making them safe for prolonged use.

Challenge: Reduced accuracy in varied environmental conditions. Changes in temperature, tear composition, and other factors may affect the readings of smart contact lens sensors. This issue can be addressed by developing compensation algorithms that adjust sensor readings based on external environments.

Besides non-invasive solutions, IoT enables continual heart rate monitoring on the fly.

#5. IoT-based Heart Rate Monitoring

Monitoring heart rates is not easy. Periodic heart rate monitoring is of no help as it doesn’t consider rapid fluctuations in heart rates. Sure, conventional devices used in cardiac monitoring at hospitals are okayish; however, patients must constantly be tied to wired machines.

Presently, miniature IoT devices help monitor heart rate. Since these devices are attached to the patients, they can freely move around while their heart rates are continuously monitored.

Challenge: These devices don’t offer exact results; however, their accuracy rates are about 90 percent.

Conclusion:

IoT is improving healthcare by making it more accessible and personalized for people living in the remote corners of the earth or those who can’t visit hospitals. By prioritizing remote monitoring, noninvasive diagnostics, and real-time data collection, IoT is helping patients manage health issues promptly and efficiently. With continual advancements, IoT’s role in healthcare will only grow, making healthcare proactive and personalized. As diabetes cases are expected to touch 783 million by 2045, IoT-driven solutions are key to managing health efficiently and effectively.