Be healthy! With the Internet of Things ...
Modern medicine is difficult to imagine without the latest technologies that are becoming one of the main tools of today's health care system. The digital world brought innovations to physicians that can drastically change the system of medical care and disease prevention. This area was one of the first to start using the capabilities of the Internet of Things (Internet of Things, IoT), and all sorts of “smart” devices have already become an integral part of the functioning of many clinics and hospitals.
Today, medicine and everything related to human health are becoming promising areas of application of the latest technologies. With the advent of the Internet of Things, the medical field has gained tremendous opportunities to become more personalized and focused on the needs of a particular patient. Moreover, remote diagnostics, treatment, operations, drug logistics, personnel and patient monitoring, and more have become available. That is, part of the work of physicians can be performed by "smart" devices. But this does not mean that they will soon replace the doctors themselves. In most cases, the key role will remain with the person, but IoT will help doctors and medical staff to work many times more efficiently.
Despite the availability of truly breakthrough technologies in the field of health care, so far only the most developed countries can afford their mass use. Nevertheless, research shows that today more than half of various types of medical institutions in the world use the Internet of Things technology to some extent. At the same time, about 90% of those who have not previously used smart medical devices plan to do this in the next 1-2 years. As noted by the medical institutions that use IoT, this gave them the opportunity to have constant access to their patients' medical data, update them promptly and make diagnoses. In addition, the priority areas are monitoring of the maintenance and treatment of patients, as well as monitoring the operation of special medical equipment.
Interestingly, more than half of medical institutions that have been investigated see the Internet of things as the first step, allowing them to radically transform their business in the near future. However, in order to achieve these goals, more innovative technologies must be created and implemented than they are now, which will solve a number of problems that hinder the massive introduction of IoT. This concerns, first of all, the introduction of new wireless standards, the compatibility of various devices, ensuring the safety of their work and the generated data. Nevertheless, the prospects that open up for “smart” healthcare are impressive: some experts believe that until 2025 the cost of developing IoT solutions in the medical field can be about $ 1 trillion.
If we talk about specific areas in medicine, where IoT is actively working today, then today it is basically everything related to the diagnosis and treatment of various diseases, as well as a number of related niches. Recall the most famous and proven in practice examples of the use of "medical" IoT.
Thus, changes in the processes of diagnosing diseases affected such a widespread procedure as radiography.
The implemented solutions make it possible to abandon the use of films in favor of digital X-rays, which allows you to transfer the image via wireless communication channels to the computer of the radiologist, and the procedure itself has become much more informative and safer.
The next step will be the automatic diagnosis using the ML-technology. It is supposed to be used in ophthalmology to determine certain types of diseases based on images of the retina, human voice intonations, as well as the electrical properties of human skin, which vary with the degree of sweating.
By the way, the Chinese have already presented this summer a pilot system for making clinical diagnoses, based on AI-technology. It takes only about five seconds to analyze hundreds of patient records. In this case, the system determines the diagnoses, 98% coinciding with those that put "live" doctors.
Wearable devices and mobile applications are used as a means of remote monitoring of patients, and not only. So, there is a line of gadgets that monitor the daily physical activity of the patient in a continuous mode, and inform the attending physician about heart rate, blood pressure, distance traveled, etc.
Photo: Alivecor
This helps not only to monitor changes in the patient's state of health, but also to prevent critical conditions that require urgent medical intervention (stroke, heart attack, epilepsy, etc.). Using mobile applications, patient data is recorded in their electronic medical records in real time and transferred to the CRM system or database of the medical institution.
In addition, with the help of sensors and GPS tags, the necessary temperature is maintained in wards and workrooms, the state of various medical equipment and office equipment is monitored, and the movement of medical staff, patients, and equipment throughout the facility is monitored. Thus, thanks to the integration of various types of “smart” devices, physicians have a lot of additional, and most importantly, operational data about a particular patient. This makes it possible to recognize his illness in the early stages, and therefore, increase the chances of a full recovery.
The current level of interaction of devices in IoT-systems makes it possible to perform remote surgical operations using a special control panel (console). The robotic system through a 3D image allows with high accuracy to transfer to the manipulators all the movements of the surgeon in the surgical field. In this case, the surgeon can be anywhere in the world.
A close-up shoot of the UW's Raven II game of the Ender's Game ". University of Washington
With the help of special UAVs with GPS and a powerful battery, urgent delivery of medicines or donated blood is carried out. This is especially true for hard-to-reach or remote places, as well as in areas where military operations are conducted.
However, this is not a complete list of already implemented solutions using the Internet of things in medicine. Experts predict that with the elimination of problems related to the compatibility of the protocols of IoT devices, increasing their security and introducing the 5G standard communication, the number of IoT systems used in healthcare will increase several times.
It should be noted that medicine, as well as the healthcare sector as a whole, has become one of the main drivers of the concept of the Internet of Things. And the main reason for this is the possibility of mass and direct interaction of the patient with the "smart" device. And the demand for IoT technologies will only increase, since they directly affect the quality and availability of medical care.
In addition to the need to solve the above problems that impede the massive use of IoT in medicine, one more bottleneck should be noted.
The healthcare industry is one of the largest producers and consumers of various data that needs to be processed and stored. And this task medical facilities also have to solve. For example, the already existing medical equipment makes it possible to scan a human organ in a second, and the whole body in about a minute. As a result of this operation, approximately 10 GB of data fall into the database of the medical institution. According to some data, electronic medical cards can grow to 1-2 TB in patients who are particularly concerned with their health. Now this information is usually stored on paper and can be placed in different places.
In order to analyze this amount of data, medical institutions will need to have special analytical tools that allow them to process arrays of information coming from various sources, separate the medical “husk” and present it in a compact form: tables, charts, graphs, etc. A digital “medical record” obtained in this way, in which everything can be found - from vaccinations to treatment prescriptions - will allow remote consultations and consultations, which will significantly reduce the risks of making incorrect diagnoses, and in general, improve the quality of medical services. Of course, for the realization of these opportunities, the medical institution will need the most modern equipment and devices.
Thus, combining the capabilities of IoT devices with medical equipment and the formation of digital repositories of patient information will raise the quality and efficiency of medical care, including preventive, to a new level. The potential that the Internet of Things is capable of giving medicine is only beginning to unfold. You can truly appreciate its results in the next 3-5 years. But already today it is clear that this concept is becoming a key element of innovative healthcare solutions.
Smart Doctor Assistants
Today, medicine and everything related to human health are becoming promising areas of application of the latest technologies. With the advent of the Internet of Things, the medical field has gained tremendous opportunities to become more personalized and focused on the needs of a particular patient. Moreover, remote diagnostics, treatment, operations, drug logistics, personnel and patient monitoring, and more have become available. That is, part of the work of physicians can be performed by "smart" devices. But this does not mean that they will soon replace the doctors themselves. In most cases, the key role will remain with the person, but IoT will help doctors and medical staff to work many times more efficiently.
Despite the availability of truly breakthrough technologies in the field of health care, so far only the most developed countries can afford their mass use. Nevertheless, research shows that today more than half of various types of medical institutions in the world use the Internet of Things technology to some extent. At the same time, about 90% of those who have not previously used smart medical devices plan to do this in the next 1-2 years. As noted by the medical institutions that use IoT, this gave them the opportunity to have constant access to their patients' medical data, update them promptly and make diagnoses. In addition, the priority areas are monitoring of the maintenance and treatment of patients, as well as monitoring the operation of special medical equipment.
Interestingly, more than half of medical institutions that have been investigated see the Internet of things as the first step, allowing them to radically transform their business in the near future. However, in order to achieve these goals, more innovative technologies must be created and implemented than they are now, which will solve a number of problems that hinder the massive introduction of IoT. This concerns, first of all, the introduction of new wireless standards, the compatibility of various devices, ensuring the safety of their work and the generated data. Nevertheless, the prospects that open up for “smart” healthcare are impressive: some experts believe that until 2025 the cost of developing IoT solutions in the medical field can be about $ 1 trillion.
"MedicalIoT" in work
If we talk about specific areas in medicine, where IoT is actively working today, then today it is basically everything related to the diagnosis and treatment of various diseases, as well as a number of related niches. Recall the most famous and proven in practice examples of the use of "medical" IoT.
Thus, changes in the processes of diagnosing diseases affected such a widespread procedure as radiography.
The implemented solutions make it possible to abandon the use of films in favor of digital X-rays, which allows you to transfer the image via wireless communication channels to the computer of the radiologist, and the procedure itself has become much more informative and safer.
The next step will be the automatic diagnosis using the ML-technology. It is supposed to be used in ophthalmology to determine certain types of diseases based on images of the retina, human voice intonations, as well as the electrical properties of human skin, which vary with the degree of sweating.
By the way, the Chinese have already presented this summer a pilot system for making clinical diagnoses, based on AI-technology. It takes only about five seconds to analyze hundreds of patient records. In this case, the system determines the diagnoses, 98% coinciding with those that put "live" doctors.
Wearable devices and mobile applications are used as a means of remote monitoring of patients, and not only. So, there is a line of gadgets that monitor the daily physical activity of the patient in a continuous mode, and inform the attending physician about heart rate, blood pressure, distance traveled, etc.
Photo: Alivecor
This helps not only to monitor changes in the patient's state of health, but also to prevent critical conditions that require urgent medical intervention (stroke, heart attack, epilepsy, etc.). Using mobile applications, patient data is recorded in their electronic medical records in real time and transferred to the CRM system or database of the medical institution.
In addition, with the help of sensors and GPS tags, the necessary temperature is maintained in wards and workrooms, the state of various medical equipment and office equipment is monitored, and the movement of medical staff, patients, and equipment throughout the facility is monitored. Thus, thanks to the integration of various types of “smart” devices, physicians have a lot of additional, and most importantly, operational data about a particular patient. This makes it possible to recognize his illness in the early stages, and therefore, increase the chances of a full recovery.
The current level of interaction of devices in IoT-systems makes it possible to perform remote surgical operations using a special control panel (console). The robotic system through a 3D image allows with high accuracy to transfer to the manipulators all the movements of the surgeon in the surgical field. In this case, the surgeon can be anywhere in the world.
A close-up shoot of the UW's Raven II game of the Ender's Game ". University of Washington
With the help of special UAVs with GPS and a powerful battery, urgent delivery of medicines or donated blood is carried out. This is especially true for hard-to-reach or remote places, as well as in areas where military operations are conducted.
However, this is not a complete list of already implemented solutions using the Internet of things in medicine. Experts predict that with the elimination of problems related to the compatibility of the protocols of IoT devices, increasing their security and introducing the 5G standard communication, the number of IoT systems used in healthcare will increase several times.
Digital "case history"
It should be noted that medicine, as well as the healthcare sector as a whole, has become one of the main drivers of the concept of the Internet of Things. And the main reason for this is the possibility of mass and direct interaction of the patient with the "smart" device. And the demand for IoT technologies will only increase, since they directly affect the quality and availability of medical care.
In addition to the need to solve the above problems that impede the massive use of IoT in medicine, one more bottleneck should be noted.
The healthcare industry is one of the largest producers and consumers of various data that needs to be processed and stored. And this task medical facilities also have to solve. For example, the already existing medical equipment makes it possible to scan a human organ in a second, and the whole body in about a minute. As a result of this operation, approximately 10 GB of data fall into the database of the medical institution. According to some data, electronic medical cards can grow to 1-2 TB in patients who are particularly concerned with their health. Now this information is usually stored on paper and can be placed in different places.
In order to analyze this amount of data, medical institutions will need to have special analytical tools that allow them to process arrays of information coming from various sources, separate the medical “husk” and present it in a compact form: tables, charts, graphs, etc. A digital “medical record” obtained in this way, in which everything can be found - from vaccinations to treatment prescriptions - will allow remote consultations and consultations, which will significantly reduce the risks of making incorrect diagnoses, and in general, improve the quality of medical services. Of course, for the realization of these opportunities, the medical institution will need the most modern equipment and devices.
Thus, combining the capabilities of IoT devices with medical equipment and the formation of digital repositories of patient information will raise the quality and efficiency of medical care, including preventive, to a new level. The potential that the Internet of Things is capable of giving medicine is only beginning to unfold. You can truly appreciate its results in the next 3-5 years. But already today it is clear that this concept is becoming a key element of innovative healthcare solutions.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/410217/