Wearables are transforming health monitoring by providing all the in-depth information about sleep, activity, heart rate, etc. And hence wearables are becoming more and more a part of daily life. Examples are smartwatches, virtual reality glasses, skin patches, and smart clothes.
Since they were born, wearables have gone way beyond just tracking steps; today they are part of health. Wearables today track signs of life like heartbeat and blood pressure and flag potential health conditions before they turn into serious situations. And wearable devices play a major role in managing chronic diseases and early healthcare.
Today patients are more involved in their medical journey because of these technologies. Smartwatches can send health information to doctors instantly, and doctors can adjust treatment plans without visits. So the future of medicine is more dependent on smart wearable technology.
Wearables in Healthcare and Their Benefits
Health and wellness wearables offer a lot of benefits, including tracking towards goals. Companion apps provide support and context so patients can better understand their health conditions. Providers get a holistic view of patient health beyond what’s reported at visits. Open APIs allow things like the Apple Watch and apps like Apple Health to share and display info seamlessly. Visualization helps patients know when to do activities and for clinical decision making for electronic health records. Wearables have been successful in two areas at MultiCare: care management as part of risk-based contracting and remote patient monitoring. The business model supports device purchases and hiring for care managers, which leads to better patient outcomes. Wrap around care management encourages patients to adopt healthy habits through wearables. Remote monitoring has increased patient engagement in self-management and reduced readmissions for chronic illnesses.
The Most Recent Wearable Technology in Healthcare
- Apple Watch Series 10: ECG, blood oxygen sensor, fall detection to monitor heart health and wellness.
- Fitbit Sense 2: Heart rate, skin temperature, electrodermal activity to deal with stress, sleep, cardiovascular health.
- Oura Ring: Heart rate, body temperature, sleep patterns, and feedback on sleep quality, recovery, health trends.
- Continuous Glucose Monitors (CGMs): Dexcom G6, Freestyle Libre to measure blood glucose levels in real-time for diabetes management.
- Withings ScanWatch: ECG and blood oxygenation to measure heart rhythms and detect sleep apnea.
- BioBeat: Patch that monitors signs of life: heart rate, blood pressure for remote control of chronic diseases.
- KardiaMobile: Handheld ECG monitor to detect atrial fibrillation and other cardiac conditions for quick check-ups.
- Empatica Embrace2: Wearable for epilepsy patients to monitor seizures and alert caregivers in emergency.
Challenges
The rising adoption of wearables presents issues in data handling and utilization.
Healthcare systems struggle to cope with the massive amounts of data generated by wearables. Theoretically beneficial real-time monitoring of post-discharge patients, like those with congestive heart failure, proves difficult in practice. However, primary care physicians often encounter high volumes of patients, making it difficult for them to review continuous streams of data.
Meanwhile, automation is required to discover trends in patient data rather than just presenting raw data, and large computing power is required by organizations to process data effectively and utilize AI, which is hard with on-premises systems.
Migration to cloud-based electronic health records may be necessary for better data management, and the consumer-grade wearable market makes integration with clinical systems hard due to the many devices and APIs involved, along with the fact that security protocols should also evolve, prioritizing device identity management and verification at the point of care.
Enhancing the Remote Patient Care
Wearable devices are transforming remote patient monitoring (RPM) by delivering real-time health metrics. Key metrics such as heart rate, blood pressure, and oxygen levels enable proactive healthcare. Products like Apple Watch and Fitbit are being transformed from wearable fitness trackers into critical healthcare gadgets with more functionality. Features which include ECG monitoring, blood oxygen sensors, and irregular heart rhythm alerts.
Moreover, it has been estimated that nearly one third of Americans utilize wearables to track their health, and over 80% are willing to share their data with physicians, and this trend is minimizing hospital readmissions and enabling early interventions in chronic diseases. Continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) help diabetes patients track blood sugar levels, improving decision-making and treatment adjustments.
Accuracy of Wearable Technology on Healthcare
In today’s time, wearable technology is changing medicine beyond the mere tracking of steps and calories. These gadgets gather information that aids in developing individualized treatment programs for patients.
Moreover, wearable AI algorithms are able to examine vital signs in order to forecast health hazards and give warning, and those with chronic conditions are helped by ongoing monitoring of their health rather than waiting for regular check-ups.
Subsequently, wearable devices such as blood pressure monitors and heart rate sensors provide real-time patient health insights. This personalization empowers patients to manage their health actively while aiding providers in delivering focused care.
Educating Patients With The Knowledge of Wearable Technologies
Wearable technology is changing medicine beyond the mere tracking of steps and calories. These gadgets gather information that aids in developing individualized treatment programs for patients.
Patients have realized that wearable AI algorithms are able to examine vital signs in order to forecast health hazards and give advance warning. And those with chronic conditions are helped by ongoing monitoring of their health rather than waiting for regular check-ups. Wearable devices such as blood pressure monitors and heart rate sensors provide real-time patient health insights. This personalization empowers patients to manage their health actively while aiding providers in delivering focused care.
The Future of Wearable Technologies in Healthcare
Regarding false positives, they are acceptable in fitness monitoring, and it was seen that they must be minimized in remote diagnostics and monitoring. Interoperable data enhances data storage and ingestion and makes it easy to compare devices across different manufacturers.
Along with that, increased data access and data analytics tools make adoption of wearables for the long term more likely. The industry should focus on marketing wellness wearables to bring more users onboard as wearables have the potential to close gaps in maternity care and increase participation in clinical trials.
Successful wearable initiatives need to include AI to enhance data use and enhance clinician understanding, and with that, the wearable healthcare market globally was worth $42.6 billion in 2023 and is expected to grow to $169 billion by 2029.
Epidermal devices are an exciting development, allowing continuous health monitoring using ultra-thin, flexible sensors. AI enhances the effectiveness of epidermal technology by enabling real-time monitoring of health and personalized care.
Moreover, technologies like microneedle arrays are advancing drug management and distant patient care. The future of healthcare is shifting towards proactive, personalized, and data-driven measures, fuelled by AI and sophisticated sensor technologies.
Conclusion
Wearable technology is transforming healthcare by delivering comprehensive health information through wearables such as smartwatches, virtual reality glasses, skin patches, and smart clothing. The wearables are more than mere activity trackers since they track vital signs and indicate possible health conditions, serving to control chronic diseases and promote preventive healthcare. Through active participation by patients in their healthcare, wearables allow for real-time monitoring of health and remote changes to treatment protocols.
The advantages of wearables in medicine are ongoing monitoring for goal achievement, better patient comprehension, and better clinical decision-making. Even with difficulties in managing data and integration, the use of wearables is expanding due to developments in AI and sensor technology. The future of medicine is bright with wearable technology, making it a more proactive, individualized, and data-driven practice.
