eHealth - ‘Humanization of Technology’

Since 2008 there are more objects connected to the Internet than people in the world and this figure will hit 50 billion by 2020. This phenomenon could not have been more aptly named - ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT), as it has made the virtual Internet we know more physical and tangible than ever. This is the ‘humanization of technology’. Finally, after years of people struggling to make use of unfamiliar technologies, technology in healthcare will become mobile, miniature and more effective.

In healthcare, the possibilities are so great, that we really need to imagine a few finite use cases to prioritize and illustrate likely, near-term scenarios. Today, more than one billion adults worldwide may be classified as obese, a condition in which their weight imperils their health. Imagine a wrist or armband that senses vital signs such as pulse, blood pressure, red blood cell counts, and glucose and cholesterol levels—can even monitor activity levels. If walking is a prescribed benefit, the user might be reminded to do so. If medications should be taken at intervals, the user might be alerted to optimal timing. Home, office or mobile devices like smartphones, tablets, laptops and computers might provide the robust connectivity needed for accessing a patient’s medical history, uploaded by a medical professional or fitness advisor, where the medical device could synthesize it into health advisories or alerts.

Probably the biggest, and most pragmatic, use is telemedicine, specifically for ‘wellness management,’ or actively monitoring patients 24/7. Top health conditions where telemedicine is already playing a role is active heart monitoring and blood pressure monitoring for at-risk patients, automated glucose monitoring for diabetes patients, prescription compliance applications to eliminate wasteful re-prescribing, and sleep apnea support for investigatory and direct courses of treatment. When you start thinking about connected medical devices, the world of “what’s possible” really does open up. In the case of prosthetic limbs, for example, embedded devices could deliver proactive maintenance alerts to patients and surgeons, as well as provide manufacturers with new information about how prosthetics “really” get used, what kind of wear and tear they experience and where the stress points are. The outcome here is to continuously improve how artificial limbs get made. There’s another curious opportunity for telemedicine in supporting the trend towards “Medical Tourism.” Many first-world patients are already going abroad for surgical procedures. While counterintuitive, certain pockets of the Third World offer extremely high-quality, low-cost surgical specialties. India is renowned for heart and lung procedures for example; Eastern Europe has a reputation for high-end orthopedics. Telemedicine can help make this process more of a managed experience for patients and provide greater psychological comfort by connecting them with their actual doctors both pre- and post-procedure. Eventually, telemedicine may allow for data integration directly to the patients’ primary care physicians. Better management of congestive heart failure alone could reduce hospitalization and treatment costs by a billion dollars annually in the United States.

The likely outcome of these advancements is greater access to better patient care, reduced costs and, ultimately, longer, healthier lives due to the disease prevention and management. As no one entity will have the expertise or capital to develop this emerging vision of the IoT and its application across so many vertical markets, an ecosystem of partners must evolve to bring products and services to market. But there’s little doubt that advancements now in the works will revolutionize medicine, as it has computing and communications. Finally, the “humanization of technology” will offer that longer, better life we’ve all dreamed of.