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The IoT era has begun and technology-enabled care (TEC) is actively taking friction out of the medical care process. The unprecedented crisis owing to the COVID-19 has brought to the fore a sense of impending doom among masses. The virus has exposed the fragile foundations and vulnerabilities of our healthcare system wherein, the eventual collapse due to overwhelming demand is an ordeal hard to avoid.
The pandemic brought to the forefront not only our under-preparedness to mitigate catastrophic emergencies from an administrative point of view, but also the sorry state of our hospitals, the dismal ratio of healthcare professionals, our poor sanitation practices, etc. The pandemic is likely to become a source of catalyzing reform in the healthcare sector with greater budget allocation and policies that spur research, development, production of pharmaceuticals, medical equipment and healthcare devices in India.
Technology seems to be the only option available to navigate the tumultuous aftermath of the COVID-19 outbreak. AI and IoT promise a dominant discourse and contribution to the Industrial Revolution 4.0, with countries gearing up for the AI and IoT race to become the next generation technology superpower. Healthcare is a domain which has the most potential to benefit from these novel technologies and a data-driven framework. The Indian Government is also taking cognizance of the burgeoning new-age technologies and recent use cases to build a discourse for them in India. Recently, the Prime Minister launched the National Digital Health Mission. The project aims to establish a national digital health ecosystem which would digitize personal medical records, connect diagnostic centers, medical institutions and state medical councils.
Other countries are also proactively deploying innovations in the IoT domain to the healthcare sector. Jumping on the IoT bandwagon, South Africa-based Gauteng health services have developed an innovative Electronic bed management system (eBMS). Gauteng Hospital manages an average of 27.7 million patients annually. The Electronic Bed Management System has helped medical professionals to seamlessly identify the availability of beds across multiple sites, reducing wait time for a bed by approximately two hours. This provides patients in Emergency departments timely access to the care in the right setting.
The global Internet of Things (IoT) in the Healthcare market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 19.9% from 2019 to 2025 to reach USD 534.3 billion by 2025, according to a report by Grand View Research. In India, the IoT-enabled sensors market in India is anticipated to expand at a CAGR of ~62.96% to reach a value of INR 81.07 billion by 2024, from INR 4.83 billion in 2018 according to a report by Research and Markets.
(Credits: DZone)
COVID Response: Rise of Telemedicine
With rising coronavirus cases, a vast majority of the healthcare resources have been directed towards fighting covid, leaving the non-covid patients in the lurch. People are wary of going to the hospital for non-covid related ailments and finding alternatives to traditional medical consultations and OPD visits. This is where online health consultation or telemedicine comes in. According to Practo, the usage of its teleconsultation service has increased by 500% post-lockdown.
Similar trends have been seen around the world. Before the COVID-19 outbreak, telehealth in Europe was rarely used for remote patient care and the primary aim of the technology revolved around administrative meetings, training, and staff education. According to Bain & Company, in Asia, only 22% of consumers had used telemedicine services before COVID-19 outbreak. The average share of health care visits administered remotely before the pandemic was a meagre 16% globally, according to a survey from Sermo. The U.S. Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services declared that “telemedicine visits would be reimbursed at the same rate as in-person visits to all Medicare recipients for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic.” This was followed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a robust use of remote medical diagnostic devices to reduce the need for visiting offices or hospitals amid the pandemic. The aim of these announcements was to reduce the burden on the healthcare system, while also increasing patient convenience.
The widespread availability of monitoring devices like blood glucose monitors, ECGs, heart-rate monitors, pulse oximeter, blood pressure monitors, etc has brought telemedicine in India far from its humble beginnings as a Pilot Project in the year 2001 that aimed to link Chennai's Apollo Hospital with the Apollo Rural Hospital at Aragonda village in the Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh. Over the years, the penetration of telemedicine in the urban-rural landscape has increased as the digital divide is shrinking. Technocrats and local authorities in India have taken heed of the merits of burgeoning technologies brought forth and have integrated the same across different projects. COVID-19 has increased the active adoption of IoT in the field of telemedicine - it works on telecommunications and internet connections. Thus, it is important to have a secure connection, particularly for Patient Identity Information (PII) and Patient Health Information (PHI).
Use Cases : A Global Perspective
According to a report by Research and Markets, The global Internet of Things (IoT) healthcare market is projected to grow nearly 39% from this year's $72.5 billion to a 2025 estimated projection of $188.2 billion, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) during the forecast period. In a broad sense, IoT has numerous applications in the healthcare sector be it VR operation theatre for training, robotic surgeries, pharmacy management et al.
For instance, while many of use smartwatches like Fitbit, Apple Watch to track our early morning runs or late-night gym sessions, what we do not realize is that these are essentially IoT devices that can be used to monitor our personal health. These collect numerous data points about the patient’s sleep patterns, activity, heart rate, temperature, and so on. In case of a health emergency, these wearable devices immediately transmit the signal to the nursing staff and allow them to provide immediate and timely assistance to the patient. This information when shared timely with a doctor can help to solve recurring issues. This helps to remotely monitor the health of elderly patients as well. When used in a constructive way, technology can facilitate tasks and eventually improve the QoL( Quality of Life).
LoRaWAN provides a low power wide-area network (LPWAN) to detect falls amongst the elderly. When connected to LoRa devices it can detect activity up to 30 kilometres away. The sensors built into the LoRa technology collect movement data which is later transmitted to the Cloud, where algorithms determine if the movement was a fall or not. Real-time alerts are sent to healthcare providers to reach patients quicker if they fall.
IoT devices help not only patients but also provide solutions to issues faced by doctors, hospitals and insurance companies. Remote monitoring equipment helps doctors track patients’ adherence to treatment plans and their response to medication. Hospitals can use IoT devices to track the location of medical equipment like stretchers, wheelchairs, defibrillators, nebulizers and medical staff available in different sections of the hospital. Wipro and Microsoft worked together to build a digital supply chain and anti-counterfeiting platform using IoT technology for the pharmaceutical industry that reduces tampering, prevents spoilage, and ensures efficacy of drugs.
Another popular use case can be Augmented reality-assisted surgery (ARAS) is a surgical tool utilizing technology that superimposes a computer-generated image on a surgeon's view of the operative field. This provides a composite view of the patient for the surgeon with a “computer-generated overlay enhancing the operative experience”. IoT sensors can be used to collect, transmit data, and analyse it. This helps record the tiniest details and thus helps in preventing surgical complications. Connected robotic devices powered by Artificial Intelligence helps achieve these tasks. IoT also helps in predictive maintenance across organizations, which provide safety against health hazards. e-Alert by Philips, is such an IoT based device which can virtually monitor critical medical hardware. In case of any anomaly in any equipment, the solution alerts the hospital staff. This allows for a greater window for response time and deploying preventive measures.
(Credits: Dogtown Media)
Smart hospitals and mHealth are some promising future prospects of IoT that will eventually become a common thing on a global scale. IoMT (Internet of Medical Things) would result in increased access to quality healthcare, reduced physical visits to hospitals and better care when you eventually have to visit one. IoMT is not a 'thing for the future'. Instead, it can address the immediate healthcare demands of COVID-19 crisis and help lower the risk of infection on a global level. While technology cannot solve all the problems of the healthcare sector and we would need continued investments in human resources and physical infrastructure will be needed, these connected IoT medical solutions can certainly help in delivering a higher quality of healthcare. These devices bridge the information gap thus allowing healthcare professionals to remotely monitor patients and respond to emergencies in a shorter time frame, potentially saving lives. The connected IoT devices also integrate patient information better for providers hence improving patient outcomes.
Falguni Chaudhary is a PR specialist and communications strategist. She has previously worked as a consultant for startups in the AI, sustainable fashion, ed-tech space and was previously a contributing editor at NewsD, Youth Incorporated Magazine and Feminism in India.