How virtual MedTech is changing the face of traditional medicine
The future of healthcare delivery is moving towards digital devices. To stay on top of these trends, healthcare stakeholders must agree to adopt and invest in research and development to speed up the move towards virtual, innovative health management tools and techniques. By doing so, they will have the ability to support patients remotely.
“Virtual care is enabled by interoperability, artificial intelligence, and advanced analytics all coming together,” explains Sonya Denysenko, global digital health director at Frost & Sullivan.1 “It’s exciting to see the growth opportunities and various ecosystems and platforms that will be created between vendors and in partnerships to provide these services going forward.”
Home-use devices and testing tools are being seen as a critical component to the provision of care. As consumer confidence in the convenience of these products grows, there will be a greater emphasis on their development. To stay in tune and on top of future developments, here are some future trends to watch.2
Smarter pacemakers
The artificial pacemaker, which delivers electrical impulses to heart muscle chambers, can prevent or correct life-threatening heart arrhythmias. Remote monitoring of these devices is an essential part of their functionality. By enabling pacemakers with Bluetooth technology, they can be linked with smartphone-based mobile apps and functionality that patients can better understand and utilise.
Telehealth
Advances in video conferencing technology, combined with the expansion of mobile internet and the proliferation of wearable devices, makes telehealth one of the most important trends in medical technology. Utilising a mobile device and a two-way camera, care providers can have one-on-one encounters with patients remotely. Health monitors such as wearable devices can check and monitor heart rate, blood pressure, and blood oxygenation levels. Web-enabled and app-enabled supplements can filter patient requests accordingly and save both providers and patients time, while optimising and highlighting critical interventions, should it be needed. Even the most routine telehealth visit can save lives. The technology reduces barriers to care such as transportation, language, and geography. For older people living alone, regular check-ups can help avoid strokes, heart attacks, and other adverse events. Logistically, there is also less risk of contracting other diseases such as COVID-19 at a doctor’s surgery.
Biosensors & wearables
Biosensors have emerged as a key technology because of their use as potential analytical tools. The technology can be used for the detection of an analytic with the assistance of a physiochemical detector, both in wearables and POC diagnostics. According to a report by Market Research Engines, although traditional laboratory techniques yield correct measurements, they are time-consuming, complex, expensive and need pre-treatment of the biological sample. By contrast, biosensor-based devices give speedy, on-site and quick readings, with no sample preparation. In wearables, biosensors will see increased use in continuous health monitoring, with wireless sensors enclosed in bandages, patches or a body-worn form factor. Biosensors predict the possibility of a patient’s worsening clinical condition and monitors the impact of clinical interventions when needed. Sweat, blood, and other biological agents are all common analytes that are analysed.
Tricorders
As far back as the 1960s, tricorders were imagined to be palm-sized devices that could quickly and accurately monitor a wide array of vital signs, while also performing simple diagnostics. A medical tricorder is a handheld portable scanning device to be used by consumers to self-diagnose medical conditions within seconds and take basic vital measurements. It could diagnose a person’s state of health after analysing the data, either as a standalone device or when connected to medical databases via an Internet connection.
As we move towards the future, clearly defined, efficient processes coupled to the latest in medtech is the way forward. To understand how Clarity Medtech can support your business, please contact info@claritymedtech.com.