Benefits of IoT in Healthcare Industry

Benefits of IoT in Healthcare Industry – One of the fastest-growing sectors of the IoT market is healthcare devices. The full application of this technology in the healthcare sector would allow patients to receive better treatment and allow medical service providers to function more efficiently. IoT is already changing many industries completely, at the height of its competency, this technology would bring unparalleled benefits to the healthcare industry, including more efficient ways of treating and monitoring patients.

List of Benefits of IoT in Healthcare Industry

Some of the benefits that IoT could bring to the medical/healthcare industry are as follows:

Remote Monitoring: IoT devices with sensors allow doctors to monitor their patients without the need to be present near them. The doctor would receive the data and quickly find a treatment for the patient’s ailment.
Smart Beds: Smart beds present in hospitals would have the ability to sense the patient and adjust themselves according to the patient’s needs.
Heartrate Monitoring: Some devices present in the market already possess the ability to keep track of a person’s heart rate/blood pressure (such as the Apple Watch). Devices such as these are set to immediately notify nearby healthcare providers if the wearer’s heart rate drops or experiences frequent irregularity. This provides great benefits to healthcare service providers so they can respond to emergencies in time.
Robotic Surgery: One of the greatest benefits of introducing IoT to the healthcare industry is the usage of robotic arms/devices to perform surgery. This would allow doctors to perform surgery without needing to be present as well as perform efficient and precise surgery with almost no room for error. Sensors keep track of the patient’s vitals as the doctor operates on them and any problem is immediately identified and swiftly dealt with.

Problems of IoT in Healthcare Industry

For most of these things to be possible, we require extremely small sensors which can be implanted into bodies and can monitor data efficiently. As of now, these types of sensors are not easily available.
Communication/standard protocols have not been reached by these device manufacturers. Non-uniformity of connected devices causes processes to be slow and unreliable.
Data overloading is also a major problem for IoT devices. As they are collecting a massive amount of data, it becomes harder for healthcare professionals to make decisions. This affects the quality of care being provided to the patient.

Information Courtesy.

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