There are many people in the world who suffer from poor health because they do not have access to effective health monitoring. However, this problem could be easily solved by means of small monitoring devices connected through the IoT. The main task of these small health devices will be to collect health data and physiological information of the patient, apply complex algorithms to analyze data and afterwards send them wirelessly to medical professionals who will make appropriate health recommendations. In addition, we can replace the process of checking the vital signs of patients at regular intervals by means of a health professional.
The main objective of IoT applications in the health field is to enhance life quality for people who need permanent support or monitoring, to decrease barriers for monitoring important health parameters, to avoid unnecessary healthcare costs and efforts, and to provide the right medical support at the right time and at a reasonable cost.
One of the main challenges to solve is that medical devices and equipment have not been designed for interoperation with other medical devices or devices connected to a network. Security is also an important and critical issue to solve as patients’ data and information must be transmitted through the network [13].
IoT applications have a great future market potential for electronic devices and services. Just to cite a small sample of this great potential is the success of smart bracelets and watches together the health applications for android that one can download and run in your smartphone.
Application |
Description |
Fall detection |
Assistance for elderly or disabled people living independent |
Monitoring of medical fridges |
Control of conditions inside freezers storing vaccines, medicines and organic elements. |
Sportsmen care |
Vital signs monitoring in high performance centers and fields |
Patients surveillance |
Monitoring of conditions of patients inside hospitals and in old people’s home. |
Ultraviolet radiation |
Measurement of UV sun rays to warm people not to be exposed in crtain hours |