20 Examples and Applications of IoT in Healthcare

Research is going on in every sector of science. Researchers are implementing those applications in different fields to understand the depth of each innovative idea. Technology is becoming more advanced with time. IoT is an upcoming technology with various applications in different fields. Few applications of IoT in the healthcare system may give you a pre-notion over the forthcoming revolution.

Applications of IoT in Healthcare

Lots of existing problems can be solved with the collaboration of IoT. Different IoT solutions can improve the efficiency level of treatment and monitoring of patients. Below we are representing a few ideas for IoT applications in the Healthcare sector.

1. Remote Patient Monitoring

30 percent of medical patients are re-admit into the hospital after surgery. The question is, why? The straight answer is the lack of monitoring patients. Tackling an emergency is still a challenge. Remote patient monitoring can be possible with the collaboration of IoT. Wearable devices with embedded sensors can monitor patient conditions the whole day long and can notify the doctor.

Insights of this application

• Helps underprivileged rural people with the extended reach of the doctor so that proper guidance can reduce the death rate in rural areas.
• Reduce travel and hospitalization costs overall.
• Timely access to data by medical personnel increases the potential of this application.
• Increasing demand for this type of IoT application in healthcare at any time, anywhere access is possible.
• Sends a notification to doctors if the patient does not take medicine regularly.

2. Hospital Operations Management

Many people work around the hospital, and it is a crowded, busy place. Stealing medical equipment is a crime that can cost a life. Sometimes doctors are so busy that they don’t have the opportunity to observe multiple patients simultaneously. The Internet of Things in healthcare applications accumulates all the problems and brings the solution.

Insights of this application

• It can reduce the regular cost of medical equipment by monitoring the current condition of each one.
• Hospital authorities will know when they have to replace out-of-date equipment and when IoT sensors will send notifications.
• Monitoring of how much quick response hospital staff can give to the patient.
• Doctors will be able to know the current location of the required equipment, which can be time effective.
• IoT applications can now also detect the cleanliness of hospital staff. This IoT in healthcare applications will help to maintain a healthy hospital environment.

3. IoT in Healthcare: Glucose Monitoring

Diabetes is a chronic disease. It occurs for abnormal functionality of the pancreas gland. The main task of the pancreas gland is to produce insulin hormone. Insulin controls the glucose level in our blood. When the pancreas produces less or no insulin, blood sugar can be up and down.

This can lead to vital internal organ damage. So IoT applications with wearable or embedded body sensors that continuously monitor and send data on sugar levels in the blood can minimize the risk of death by diabetes.

Insights of this application

• Transmitters or sensors send data to the computer or smartphone screen, which can be analyzed by a physician.
• As it is possible to detect sugar levels, early patients would be able to take the necessary steps early.
• HbA1c is a protein related to diabetes. If it increases, the risk of the complexity of diabetes can rise. Monitoring the whole day and night by sensor helps to improve the HbA1c level.
• One of the disadvantages of this type of application is it may not give you 100% accurate results.
• The treatment of diabetes is still old-fashioned. If IoT in healthcare applications is implemented, it will be a lot easier to save more lives.

4. Connected Inhaler

Asthma is a disease that is not curable, but it is controllable by using an inhaler. Symptoms of an asthma attack can be realized by a patient half an hour to eight hours before. The Internet of Things in healthcare applications can provide smart solutions here. A sensor-connected inhaler can alert the patient to a triggering factor (air pollen, temperature) to prevent an asthma attack.

Insights of this application

• The use of a mobile app by this application will make it possible to fight respiratory illness for a long time.
• Accurate monitoring of the current status can prevent future attacks.
• Doctors will be able to track the status of the illness and notify the patient if the use of an inhaler is necessary.
• Calculates data found from the sensor and suggests patients take necessary steps.
• Prevent extra hospital charges by early detection.

5. IoT in Healthcare: Interoperability

Different healthcare organizations started collecting massive amounts of data from IoT devices. Collecting those data, IBM Watson and Teva began a new IoT project that will be responsible for creating new methods of treatment and prediction of chronic disease.

Healthcare organizations use artificial intelligence and natural language processing to organize this data. It’s a perfect example of data science or big data in the healthcare system.

Insights of this application

• Well, organized data will start a new era of forward-thinking technology.
• Historical data will help doctors determine the patient’s exact needs.
• An IoT device sends and receives data via cloud storage. As a result, the same data can be reachable by multiple devices, which is actually impossible with the current system.
• Data management by IoT technology leads to better patient care.
• Each hospital management system could be a research sector for data science.

6. Connected Contact Lense

The eye is an extraordinary human organ. Tears put a thin layer over the eye to keep it working. But tears can do more rather than keep it working with the help of IoT-based contact lenses. With the combination of sensors and contact lenses, it is possible to detect symptoms of various diseases, which can be an extraordinary advancement of IoT in healthcare.

Insights of this application

• Detection of tear glucose levels and early detection of diabetes could be possible by IoT-based contact lenses.
• Researchers are working to provide a solution to presbyopia (the disease caused by the loss of elasticity of the eye lens) via sensor-based contact lenses.
• Triggerfish, a smart contact lens, can detect the eyeball’s size change, a glaucoma symptom.
• Near future, it will be possible to dispense medication to the eye, which is better than using an eyedrop.
• Like other application-consistent, monitoring the eyeball will draw a new dimension.

7. IoT in Healthcare: Hearing Aid 

IoT in healthcare is playing a smart role, and IoT-based hearing aid application is already familiar. Almost 466 million people have progressive hearing loss problems. Connecting all internet enable devices serves the great purpose of making our life easy. Below are some of the characteristics of IoT-based hearing aid applications we are representing.

Insights of this application

• Advantages of listening doorbell ring anywhere in the world by hearing aid if both devices are connected via the internet.
• Possible to turn the light on or off from remote places on voice command.
• Very helpful to listen to sound in a noisy environment, which is a blessing of IoT in the healthcare sector.
• With the use of the smoke sensor, it is possible to use it as a smoke detector.
• Users can listen to several conversations at the same time.

8. Blood Coagulation Testing

Blood clot level plays an essential role in the human body. For the treatment of various diseases like diabetes, stroke, etc., it is necessary to know the blood clot level. IoT in healthcare devices can monitor the blood coagulation system from time to time, which helps to keep the patient’s activity under the therapeutic range to lower the risk factor.

Insights of this application

• This Bluetooth-enabled technology helps the patient to monitor how quickly their blood clots.
• Lower the risk of brain stroke and bleeding problems in diabetes patients.
• Reduces hospital costs of blood clot testing as doctors can monitor the patient from distant places.
• IoT applications in healthcare, like blood clot testing, can make life easy for anticoagulated patients.
• This application can remind patients to test their clot level, which reduces risk factors for patients.

9. Smart Watches for Depression

Recently tech-giant Apple started working on its smartwatch to detect depression levels. Every year lots of people take treatment for depression. This device can track and suggest what to do in case of depression.

This is an innovative example of artificial intelligence or machine learning in healthcare, which helps to give the prediction of the depression level of the users. We hope this “on-test” Internet of Things in healthcare will help to cure the mental health of working-class people very effectively.

Insights of this application

• One of the smartest examples of IoT healthcare solutions.
• This application asses and monitors patients’ depression levels and stores data in the cloud.
• It enables the psychologist to understand the insight of the patient’s problems by monitoring from distant places.
• The test result of this application shows that it is reliable to depend on it, which could be an authentic example of IoT in healthcare.
• Researchers are developing more apps to connect with the sleep cycle and fitness activity to cure depression.

10. Cancer Detection by IoT Devices

IoT has great potential for various industries. But IoT in healthcare can give us more. Breast cancer is the second most dangerous phenomenon for women after lung cancer. The idea behind detecting breast cancer is the use of “ITbra,” which is more effective than regular cancer detection procedures. This cloth can detect temperature changes with seven embedded sensors on breast tissue.

Insights of this application

• Analyzing abnormal patterns, it uses a machine-learning algorithm to predict early-stage cancer.
• Women must wear these clothes for 2 to 12 hours a month.
• No radiation or side effects of this wearable technology.
• Reduces the cost of normal cancer detection. It may help women from developing countries at risk of breast cancer.
• Notify the doctor and patient by smartphone if symptoms are found.

11. Parkinson’s Patient Monitoring

Parkinson’s patients need to be observed at every moment. IoT applications in healthcare provide a solution. Research results like “Movement disorder API” can detect abnormal footsteps and instability of stride length in patients to draw a graph pattern. The doctor analyzes and checks data from the cloud and suggests to relatives of those patients what to do.

Insights of this application

• Analyzes every pattern of the patient and notifies physicians who are impossible in real life.
• The procedure is continuous and automatic, which reduces pressure.
• Early detection is possible by analyzing symptoms.
• FOG(freezing of gait) is a condition of Parkinson’s patients when then they experience a sudden lack of movement. Researchers are working to detect the FOG stage in the more accurate way possible.
• One of the promising examples of IoT healthcare solutions is the Parkinson monitoring application. It can bring a revolution.

12. Ingestible Sensors

Let’s say your smartphone got a message that your family member did not take medication at the proper time, which is frustrating. IoT in healthcare suggests a solution here. According to a study by WHO, 50% of people don’t take medication, as indicated by the doctor.

This practice leads to severe conditions for the patient. Ingestible magnesium and copper coating sensors can trigger a signal if medication is not taken at the exact time.

Insights of this application

• Monitors if patients are taking the medication at the wrong time, which can cause side effects.
• Research is going on if it is possible to track chronic disease.
• In the area of mental health, this application can play a vital role in curing, as you know, psychiatric patients hardly take medications.
• This application is very cost-effective as it ensures the consumption of medication.
• IoT healthcare solutions like this example can reduce the daily life pressure of the caring patient.

13. IoT in Healthcare: Robotic Surgery

The healthcare sector is becoming more complex day by day, and with time, researchers are connecting devices via the internet. More precisely, doctors use IoT-enabled robotic devices to perform surgical operations. The little robotic device can perform operations inside the body of the patient.

Insights of this application

• It enables doctors to perform the operation with more control and precision.
• It makes it possible to perform the operation from a distant place, which can save many lives both in the hospital and in a war zone.
• They are already performing surgery like cardiac valve repair, gynecologic surgical procedures,  and more.
• Performing surgery for a long time can be a problem sometimes. The use of a robotic device can solve this problem.
• Security risks can be high as devices are connected to the internet.

14. Hand Hygiene Monitoring

Hand hygiene is an essential normal practice. But it is more important for the staff of the medical sector. A study says poor hand hygiene practices can spread various diseases in a health institution. The Internet of Things in healthcare applications provides a solution. The idea is to use hand-sanitizer dispensers with sensors to monitor the exact time when that was used.

Insights of this application

• The regular workflow of the clinic increases.
• It sets a degree of cleanliness among all the staff.
• Real-time communication of hand hygiene monitoring systems.
• It makes a beep sound if medical staff comes close to patients without handwashing.
• Increases the practice of hand wash among medical staff.
• This application uses foot traffic sensors and hand sanitizer dispensers to collect data and sends it to Microsoft Azure, a cloud-based computing service.

15. Efficient Drug Management

IoT in healthcare indicates a new revolution in the medical sector. Drug management effectively is a challenge. Starting from production to usage by patient supply chain management can be misused. IoT applications in healthcare bring a solution. The usage of smart tags in drug distribution and monitoring properly by smart devices is a reasonable solution.

Insights of this application

• Authorities are using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) for careful distribution.
• Ensures reporting of the appropriate parameter (For example Temperature) during the production of drugs.
• Reports to the regulatory body via cloud if there is wrong distribution.
• Improved supply chain management can reduce overall production costs.
• End result of this application is to provide quality drugs to patients.

16. Gps Smart Sole

Handling an Alzheimer’s patient is not an easy task. They forget many daily necessary tasks and stuff and are often lost. A smart insole embedded with GPS could be a solution to monitor its location. It can fit easily into any adult’s shoes, bringing more comfort to the patient’s loved ones.

Insights of this application

• It uses both satellite and cellular technology for GPS tracking.
• The advantage of wireless charging is that it will give more comfort to use it.
• This is an entirely waterproof application. If the patient somehow falls into the lake or river, GPS will still be ongoing.
• As we know, even patients with advanced memory disorder do not forget to wear shoes. So this application could be useful.
• Built-in a way that if a patient is wandering, it will send the notification.

17. IoT in Healthcare: Body Scanning

Everybody wants a fit body. But regular fitness checkup is sometimes turned to be costly. The smart body scanner is an example of IoT in healthcare, which tracks your body change, including other parameters, and shows a comparison between previous results. We are talking about an output combination of a full-length mirror with 3D cameras, a weight scale, and a mobile application.

Insights of this application

• 3D cameras will capture 360-degree images of you, create a 3D model of your body, and then send data to a smart app that uses a proprietary algorithm to generate an output.
• The weight scale, which is called a turntable, will spin your body for at least 15 seconds.
• You will get your output of body fat, circumference, and comparison with earlier scans in your mobile apps.
• Analyzes result and provides a graph chart that will clear your concept of the current status of your body.
• Regular use of this device will help maintain the fitness of your body.

18. Medical Waste Management

Medical waste can bring mass infection. This problem needs to be solved very smartly and carefully. Automated medical waste management can suggest a solution. Sensors embedded in each dustbin, which is located in the different corners of the hospital, will notify the current amount of trash.

If the amount of waste exceeds the threshold, an automated robot will collect the garbage from the trash bin and dump it outside the hospital.

Insights of this application

• Reduces a hospital’s risk factors, bringing a more quality environment to the hospital.
• Extra work pressure in the hospital decreases, which enhances other advantages of the hospital.
• This application is one of the cost-effective examples of IoT in healthcare for any hospital.
• So many hospitals are using this application, and research is going on to bring more advanced output.

19. Heart Rate Monitoring

The number of heart patients is increasing day by day in the whole world. IoT applications can detect heartbeat and pulse, which can reduce the risk factor. A sensor-connected device sends real-time pulse rates to the cloud, and doctors can check that data anywhere in the world. This application carries real healthcare value.

Insights of this application

• Analyzes heart rate and sends data to the internet, which is visible from mobile or desktop apps.
• Very helpful for emergencies.
• This application provides data security, which helps to prevent IoT security threats.
• Records incidents after each heartbeat.
• Most effective and demandable application of IoT in healthcare.

20. Nurse Assistant Robot

The combination of the internet and robot is giving new solutions to a different industries. We are talking about robots that can assist the nurse in the hospital, which is an extraordinary advancement in IoT and the healthcare sector.

Robots in each patient’s room can make the treatment more effective. At the same time, it helps nurses in different ways, like providing medicine and equipment or giving an alert for the fixed task, and so more.

Insights of this application

• This solution not only just helps nurses but also can communicate with the patient, which gives them more comfort.
• Nurses can set up their own commands according to their own schedules.
• Can clean the room for new patients if any patient is discharged.
• Reduces the cognitive load of nurses, which brings more potential.
• This application is designed in a manner that should be non-threatening and controllable by web and mobile apps.

Final Thoughts

As the whole world is under great depression for proper medical care, IoT in healthcare gives much comfort. The population is increasing with time, and it will be so much tough shortly to provide appropriate treatment. The use of IoT healthcare solutions reduces costs and drives the treatment to be home-centric.

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