Medical, Health and Fitness focused Solutions

The term “Medical Electronics” can conjure up the image of large complex hospital based equipment, such as MRI or CT scanners. Such instruments are undoubtedly extremely useful for advanced clinical diagnosis. However the emphasis for modern healthcare, particularly in ageing Western societies where costs risk spiraling out of control, has to be on early diagnosis of health issues, and ideally, prevention of disease before it happens.

We therefore see IOT Health related applications as broad spectrum, covering the range from devices to encourage fitness and make training more enjoyable, wearable devices to aid managing specific conditions, and hospital based solutions enabling telemedicine and use of IOT to improve efficiency and aid management of these complex institutions.

Fitness based applications

The ubiquitous “Fitbit” and its imitators was one of the first IOT applications, offering a simple monitoring of step count and some basic health indicators such as heart rate. Since then, a wide range of fitness devices have had IOT based capabilities added, with differing objectives such as making training more fun (allowing you to virtually race a competitor over the internet), provide data on training performance for those with goals in mind, and even help prevent injury by monitoring runner’s foot pressure points.

Health related applications

Wearable and portable IOT based devices offer solutions where a user can take more control of their own health and manage it day to day, allowing early detection of problems whilst avoiding engaging medical professionals unnecessarily. Examples are continuous glucose monitoring, which allows diabetics to manage their blood sugar levels more precisely, air quality monitoring, which can help users avoid exposure to unnecessary levels of pollution, and sleep monitoring, which can provide information and guidance to aid better sleep at a fraction of the cost of a full blown sleep laboratory. Such solutions can lead to better health without the need for costly hospital based intervention.

Applications within Healthcare institutions.

Of course, even with the best efforts to stay healthy, it is necessary for people to be treated in a hospital setting. Here, IOT technology can help with efficiency in healthcare environments, as well as provide new diagnostic options. Projects where Insight SIP technology has been used include using wireless technology for a Nurse call function (replacing expensive wired infrastructure), enabling telemedicine, allowing distant experts to analyse scan data, and asset tracking, allowing vital portable equipment to be quickly located.