Remote monitoring, contact tracing, and telemedicine are experiencing a surge in demand as the Covid-19 pandemic response shows the potential of connectivity in providing healthcare solutions.
How can technologies such as the IoT, artificial intelligence, and big data slow down the proliferation of pandemics and avoid a future global health crisis? This is a critical question the stakeholders in the technology and healthcare sectors are asking each other at the onset of the crisis.
A recent report from Juniper Research has found that, despite Covid-19, IoT platform revenue will reach $66 billion in 2020, rising from $55 billion in 2019.
The research predicts that telemedicine services will experience a resurgence in interest owing to the pandemic.
During the last few years, many connected devices have appeared in the market to monitor and analyze health-related data. From medical-grade sensors and monitoring equipment to consumer fitness trackers, smartwatches, and health-related apps, the adoption of non-professional health tech has been exponential.
Except for approved connected medical devices, however, data from other sources has not been used by healthcare professionals except for the sign of health conditions. We have confined telemedicine to the limits of specialized and expensive systems monitored by healthcare providers and managed by nurses and physicians.
Now, the billions of wearables and connected devices in people’s homes, offices, cars, and factories can provide additional data to healthcare authorities to measure and manage the spread of the virus.
Due to the current increased workload of most healthcare systems all over the world, healthcare providers are looking to telemedicine as a way of providing care to more outpatients during the crisis.
Juniper Research’s Sam Barker, one author of the report, says, “Telemedicine has consistently failed to meet market expectations. However, when it is used in tandem with connected healthcare devices, it has the potential to transform a significant proportion of physical healthcare interactions into remote interactions, relieving pressure on badly stretched healthcare systems.”
That is why government agencies are reaching out to big tech companies. They are looking for solutions to leverage the use of billions of sensors, smartphones, and wearable devices as contact tracking and health monitoring of their citizens.
The recent announcement that Apple and Google are collaborating to create a system on their respective mobile operating systems, which will enable contact tracking via Bluetooth, shows the willingness of the industry in helping control the spread of the pandemic.
This month, both companies will release APIs that enable interoperability between Android and iOS devices using apps from public health authorities. These official apps will be available for users to download via their respective app stores.
We need reliable connectivity for telemedicine to be effective
Most consumer fitness trackers use a combination of Bluetooth Low-Energy (BLE) and mobile apps to send collected data to the cloud.
Most professional telemedicine systems are still connected using standard landlines and wired internet.
A recent wave of connected, decentralized healthcare devices is now reaching the market, taking advantage of the latest LTE and 5G technologies to ensure reliable, low-latency connections. Cellular IoT services such as LTE Cat-M, and Narrow-Band IoT (NB-IoT), together with embedded SIMs, can provide the full connectivity required for such devices.
“Monitoring is vital in the detection chain, and reaction time is critical for prevention. Enterprises, airports, and cities would surely benefit from monitoring devices for citizens, and healthcare facilities would benefit from the ability to monitor remote patients. Timely discovery of outbreaks could prevent many new dangerous viruses in the future.” says Igor Tovberg, Director of Product Marketing at Altair Semiconductor, a Sony Group Company.
“Connected devices such as thermometers, blood pressure meters, inhalers, glucose meters, or other personal health monitoring devices will play a significant role in protecting people’s lives.” Tovberg argues, “Cellular connectivity through the CAT-M or NB-IoT network can ensure a secure and reliable countrywide link for the delivery of patients’ stats to their health care provider from any location, regardless of WiFi/BLE coverage.”
