Wearables will be the Mainstream: Taking care to a whole new level
Medical patient monitoring devices are all set to disrupt the healthcare industry. According to Markets and Markets, the market for medical wearable devices worldwide is projected to reach 12.1 Bn dollars by 2021, with US representing the largest market globally. This is owing to the fact that wearables provide real-time access to health records and provide quicker diagnosis and treatment of conditions giving caregivers the ability to improve the healthcare system through the accessible data of patients.
These wearables are user-friendly, inconspicuous, and constantly connected with features such as wireless data transmission, alerting mechanisms and real-time feedback. The advantages of utilizing wearable technology extend far beyond the healthcare system, as patients are empowered to take the monitor and control their health.
Wearables for Doctors:
Doctors, particularly surgeons, have been quick to adopt wearables such as Google Glass. In an instance, a renowned surgeon when performed his first surgery approved with Google Glass was able to see a whole new report including access to preloaded CT and X-ray images. For the doctors, the ability to see patients records including X-rays directly in the operating room outwardly having to go from the operating room or to log on to another system elsewhere, or to turn themselves away from the patient in order to divert their attention, has assisted the doctors immensely. These wearables are extremely helpful in terms of maintaining their focus where it should be, which means on the patient 100 percent of the time. The country is expected to start to see a good mixture of wearables and healthcare robotics in hospitals across the country.
Wearables for Patients:
According to reports and experts wearables are also becoming very useful on the patient side while also saving hospitals money. For example: The Zephyr Anywhere’s BioPatch is an FDA-approved, small device that is attached to a patient’s chest observing their vitals minute-by-minute and collecting medical-grade data for doctors’ use. Typically, patients are checked on every 4-8 hours, which is not always ideal for the amount of attention each patient needs. The BioPatch alerts nurses via smartphones, giving them the capability to be more competent in prioritizing patients.
Recently, at a world renowned meeting in Davos, Switzerland, experts in healthcare technology spoke about technological progressions, such as wearable devices, which will have a role in patient-centered precautionary care as they are frequently used to clinically monitor heart rate, blood pressure, and other vitals.
Gen-next Devices:
It has also been reported that the next generation of Apple Watches will be featuring glucose monitoring for people with diabetes for enhanced care. MC10 has created wearable patches for ECG recording and cardiac monitoring. The company has collaborated with L’Oreal to design the first-ever skin sensor that detects UVA and UVB exposure. Hence one can say that the wearables industry is constantly changing and continuously evolving giving the future of wearables a different face.
One can say that wearable technology is also offering an alluring field to study. Monitoring or healthcare has never been so small that it could be worn comfortably on the body and around the clock, providing opportunities for medical breakthroughs. The amount of data these wearable devices can pick up and transmit to providers could help alter healthcare from delivering reactionary care to preventive care. In the healthcare field, wearable technology is being used to manufacture activity tracking devices, pacemakers, and hearing aids. Also, tools which ensure effective investigation of important facts such as heart rate, calories burned, sugar content and blood pressure are being developed by wearable app makers. In the near future, the human race will be able to see advancements which completely eradicate the need for bulky files for each patient as the information will be made available on the wearable application platform with ease.
