IoT in healthcare has evolved tremendously over the last two decades, from on-the-go wearable devices like fitness watches to at-home gadgets that enable clinicians to monitor their patients remotely. This post will look at how IoT applications can generate new healthcare solutions in real-time, resulting in higher-quality care for patients.

Despite the global epidemic, healthcare app development innovation has accelerated, with no end in sight. Patients, physicians, and hospitals all profit from this expansion. Patients may better control their health with the help of IoT, while doctors and hospitals are better positioned to give resources and care.

According to a study published by Healthcare IT News, 63 percent of participants stated that AI and machine learning (AI/ML) are already offering high value in specialist care areas such as radiology, generic pharmacy, and pathology.

According to 44 percent of researchers, AI/ML is currently quite effective in patient care. These figures are expected to rise in the coming years as more innovative healthcare solutions are introduced.

 

Keeping well

One of AI's most significant potential benefits is that it can help people stay healthy, so they don't need to see a doctor as often, if at all. People are already benefiting from AI and the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) in consumer health applications.

Individuals are encouraged to adopt healthier habits by using technology tools and apps, which aid in the proactive maintenance of a healthy lifestyle. In addition, it gives customers control over their health and well-being.

Furthermore, AI improves healthcare personnel's ability to better understand the patterns and requirements of the people they care for daily, allowing them to provide greater feedback, guidance, and support for keeping healthy.

 

Perfect treatment with complete efficiency

AI can help clinicians take a more comprehensive approach to disease management, better coordinate care plans, and help patients better manage and comply with their long-term treatment programs, in addition to scanning health records to help providers identify chronically ill individuals who may be at risk of an adverse episode.

• From 663.8 million in 2014 to 6,662 million in 2021, the AI industry for healthcare applications is expected to increase dramatically
• By 2021, public and private sector investments in healthcare AI applications will total $6.6 billion
• Revenues from IoT in healthcare are expected to rise from $24 billion in 2016 to $135 billion by 2025.
• There are currently 26 billion active IoT devices in the healthcare business around the world, with that figure expected to rise to 75 billion by 2025.

For more than 30 years, robots have been employed in medicine. They range in complexity from small laboratory robots to very complicated surgical robots that may assist a human surgeon or do surgeries independently. In addition, they're utilized in hospitals and labs for repetitive work, rehabilitation, physical therapy, and support for those with long-term conditions, in addition to surgery.

 

A great option for research

The journey from the research lab to the patient is long and expensive. According to the California Biomedical Research Association, a medicine takes an average of 12 years to get from the research lab to the patient. Only five out of every 5,000 medications that start in preclinical testing make it to human testing, and only one of those five gets authorized for human use. Furthermore, it costs an average of $359 million for a corporation to create a new drug from the research lab to the patient.

 

Why is it a good idea to combine IoT with AI?

Because the Internet of Things is a relatively new technology that connects billions of smart gadgets, it is not without flaws. Such criteria as accuracy and speed of IoT data transfer, for example, have still to be addressed. Furthermore, an artificial intelligence system imitates the way humans complete things and learns from the patterns it creates. AI relies heavily on this self-improvement mechanism. In general, Artificial Intelligence has a lot to offer the Internet of Things. It is used in the narrow sense as AI software integrated into IoT devices that augment fog or edge computing solutions to provide intelligence to IoT.

 

AI and IoT in healthcare

When it comes to merging AI and IoT in healthcare software development company, there's a good probability that they'll boost operational efficiency. The important phases for the smart and efficient deployment of AI algorithms in IoT devices are tracking (gathering), monitoring (analyzing), control, optimization (training), and automation (modeling, predicting).

When they work together, they can alleviate the administrative burden on clinical staff. In addition, with enhanced clinical workflows, medical officers will be able to spend more time with patients, resulting in a more patient-centric approach to healthcare service delivery.

 

Cybersecurity challenges with IoT

Despite all of the obvious advantages that IoT provides, the technology also poses a threat to data security, a critical component of the healthcare infrastructure. The idea is that unstructured data outside of organized databases (i.e., electronic records and reports) is the most difficult to manage and preserve using traditional algorithms. The powerful learning algorithms are more than likely to play a significant role in resolving the data analysis challenge. However, just because data is organized does not guarantee it is safe from cyber dangers.

 

Helps in real-time action

One of the most significant benefits of AI and IoT interoperability is the ability to keep track of what is going on and react to it at the moment. It entails a change toward active patient involvement, tailored treatment regimens that can be adjusted in real-time, and a more sophisticated data management strategy. Only a constant stream of data allows for real-time analysis. A system performing complex processing, on the other hand, is unlikely to be able to cope with the practically continuous data stream from several sensors. It's a real-time AI system that can help you handle your data more intelligently by reducing the quantity of data you have.

 

Proper input and output devices

The physical IO devices must meet certain look and size standards. Furthermore, the criteria should be tailored to the context in which the device is used. In contrast to human interfaces, which require large input/output devices, IoT device physical interfaces accept input via sensors (which are small due to the usage of micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) technology) and communicate data back to mobile/cloud computers via wired or wireless interfaces. As a result, there is a need for and a realistic prospect of reducing the size of sensors and IO devices.

 

The best uses of IoT in the healthcare industry

Healthcare facilities, smart hospitals, and remote monitoring are just a few ways connected gadgets streamline patient care or enable healthcare providers to monitor patients. The following are examples of IoT healthcare applications.

 

Wearables

Wearable gadgets can monitor a patient's heart rate, blood oxygen level, sleeping habits, breathing patterns, and other vital health information. Millions of people use health monitors such as the Fitbit and Apple Watch, and healthcare IoT developers continue exploring new applications for wearable technology. One example is fall detection. FallCall Solutions has created an Apple Watch fall detection software.

 

Blood pressure

Patients and doctors can communicate with one another through connected blood pressure monitors, which can assist in constructing a picture of a patient's overall health. BioTelemetry's connected blood pressure monitor, for example, automatically sends readings to a secure internet platform. As a result, patients can test at home on a regular basis and readily share their results with their doctors.

 

Glucose

Glucose monitors, like linked blood pressure monitors, can assist patients in managing their care at home while also collecting useful data over time. Traditional glucose monitors can be connected to a smartphone for data collection and newer continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) systems.

 

Heart rate

Runners and cardiac patients equally benefit from keeping track of their heart rates, which can indicate general health. Heart rate monitors are frequently included in connected wristbands. However, the most accurate heart monitors are worn around the chest. The Polar H9, for example, can connect to a wide range of secondary devices using Bluetooth and ANT+. The device connects to apps to help plan workouts and analyze data, and its battery lasts up to 400 hours.

 

Cost Savings

You won't have to rush to the hospital to show doctors your medical report. Isn't it all about saving money? Personal assistants using artificial intelligence can make medical recommendations to patients. They can also connect patients with doctors directly for guidance, lowering the cost of going to a clinic or hospital.

One of the main reasons for the rise in the number of IoT companies is a 37 percent reduction in the price of IoT sensors in the United States this year.

AI and machine learning, according to Accenture, can assist meet 20% of all clinical requests, reducing the number of unnecessary clinic visits.

In the healthcare industry, AI is currently used in 46 percent of service operations, 28 percent of product and service development, 19 percent of risk management, 21% of supply chain management, and 17% of marketing and sales.

 

It aids in disease prevention.

In addition to automating diagnosis, AI in healthcare can assist in disease prevention by anticipating disease transmission at a macro level and assessing the likelihood that an individual would transmit a condition. This can help clinicians with activities like planning and promote favorable health outcomes.

 

Robot process automation

Administrative chores account for 30% of healthcare costs, according to Business Insider Intelligence. RPA can help with a wide range of tasks in healthcare, including managing patient appointment requests, patient registration, reviewing claims and payment integrity complaints, denials and appeals, data entry, care coordination, provider data management, and credentialing as finance and accounting and billing.

 

Wrap up

Hundreds of billions of linked devices are producing massive amounts of sensor data relevant to health. Eventually, data organizing techniques will need to be improved. In addition, the application of powerful prediction algorithms and various forms of artificial intelligence will undoubtedly result in smarter environments where human-machine interaction will become more efficient and safe. The integration of IoT into the day-to-day operations of healthcare organizations is now a reality. The goal of healthcare software development is to achieve personalized client-oriented service delivery using the Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence, edge, and fog computing technologies throughout time.

 

Author Bio

Saurabh Sharma is a Digital Marketing Executive at Arka Softwares, a leading web & mobile app development company. He has 2 years of experience in the Information Technology industry. He spends his time reading about new trends in Digital Marketing and the latest app development technologies.