Ever since the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, the dependence on digital health solutions has rapidly increased and it has become a core component for health care services.
Considering the widespread recognition of digital solutions, hospitals and healthcare sectors have now adopted innovative infrastructure and platforms to allow for more virtual interactions.
Due to these advancements, patients no longer have to wait for hours or book appointments as they can use smartphones and software solutions to transfer health-related data and communicate with healthcare professionals.
Not just hospitals, but health insurers and fitness sectors are also providing incentives for adopting wearables and other digital health tracking devices to better monitor everyday health statistics such as physical exercise, weight, and medications.
In the coming future, industry experts anticipate that the adoption of healthcare solutions and wearable technology will increase and also bring in more positive transformations.
It will not only change the healthcare sector but will enhance people’s lives with the implementation of predictive analysis and machine learning. Here’s how wearable devices promise a new era of smart healthcare.
Wearable Devices in Smart Healthcare
1. Wider Range of Devices
Even though wearable technology like Smartwatches and health monitors are being utilized by sectors all around the globe, researchers are still looking for innovative designs that can be worn differently.
These new advancements will track and monitor health regularly without the patients feeling its presence. Because in some cases sleeping with a smartwatch or taking a shower can be quite difficult or maybe people won’t feel comfortable wearing them 24/7.
Unlike these devices, the emerging smart implants will not be visible to the patient and can operate 24/7. Researchers are looking to develop devices for each body part so that accurate monitoring of internal organs can also be performed.
The usage of such implants will only progress in the upcoming years, especially since billionaire Elon Musk has unveiled his idea of implanting brain chips to monitor brain activity.
2. Smart Devices are Getting Smaller
Wearable devices such as Google glasses were not well received among the general public. People tend to avoid big wearable devices that are clunky and easily noticeable. Which causes several people from using it.
This is especially true in the healthcare sector as patients will not feel wearing devices on their bodies in front of other people. Some patients do not even want others to know about the illness they are suffering from, therefore such big devices will not be practical for them.
Therefore, nowadays, device manufacturers focus on making these smart wearable as unnoticeable as possible. This is done by reducing the size of the device or making it look more fashionable and trendy.
Several smart wearable devices are nowadays being created in a more compact and lightweight design, hence helping more people to choose these devices.
3. Wearables integrated with Virtual Reality
The advancements in technology have given rise to AI services, Machine Learning, etc. These technologies are now being used to simulate real-world operation theatres for healthcare professionals to learn, practice, or even help experienced surgeons to brush up their skills.
Wearable devices such as VR lenses or AR-based applications are mostly used in these concepts and over the years they have tremendously helped doctors save lives.
With these solutions, surgeons can even perform remote operations on patients without even being present at the physical location.
4. More Personalization
In cases of emergency, it could be difficult to manually check a patient’s documents or files in order to understand previous illnesses, medicine allergies, etc.
It can be extremely time-consuming for healthcare workers and delay the need for quick responses.
Wearable and modern implants can help solve these challenges as they are capable of accessing unlimited cloud storage and can store huge data.
These data can be quickly accessed by the healthcare professionals through applications or software solutions, hence appropriate treatment based on previous health diagnoses.
The wearable devices monitor and accumulate data which helps in creating better personalization for patients and one of the best features is that it can be accessed by any hospital all around the globe, therefore providing better treatment wherever the patient is.
Conclusion
The demand for smart wearables and remote monitoring solutions will only increase in the coming years.
It will be a ubiquitous part of everyday life for not just people suffering from health problems but will also change clinical research, health, and fitness as well as medicine development.
Therefore, it is imperative that device manufacturers and product engineering service providers meet the challenge posed by the influx of wearable devices and provide better solutions.
Smart healthcare is increasing at a rapid pace and wearable devices are at the forefront of these developments.
