Similar applications can work with blood, endocrine and other systems in the body. This is likely to be the first step in having the IoT inside our bodies, like a co-processor network. It won’t even need to be surgically implanted, it can be swallowed orally, because these devices won’t need batteries; instead they will work from heat-exchange or movement and still be wirelessly connectable. Remote monitoring is another interesting aspect. Take heart attacks, which are the number one killer in the western world. There is now a lot of work going on around how to detect a heart attack from simple sensors, attached to wearable devices. That is a giant leap from pacemaker technology. Inside hospitals and not bodies, it will also have a huge beneficial effect. The IoT means patients will be monitored with greater accuracy and reliability. Sensors can transmit data about their blood, heart and temperature, and correlate it to prevent problems. Healthcare benefits enormously from technological development Location tracking will also optimise health resources by ensuring the best use of expertise. Deployed inside buildings, it will be used widely in hospitals for real-time triage, mapping the nearest, most relevant doctor to the emergency. This is about making sure highest priority cases get seen by the right person. Described in a recent Forrester Research report as a ‘Leader in the Wide, Deep and Internet-of-Things Integration Category’, enterprise company Software AG is planning for futures such as these and and the IoT revolution in healthcare. Dr John Bates is CMO and the Head of Industry Solutions at the company and foresees manifold ways the IoT will improve health. “Sensors will help prevent the spread of diseases. For example, a nurse moving from an area with communicable disease patients, will be monitored when he or she enters another room. If within ten seconds either the rubber glove dispenser or hand-sanitiser dispenser is unused, an alarm will sound. “I can also foresee the IoT coming into play in war and crisis zones, where lightweight surgical robots are flown in by drones and operate on victims after linking up with satellite technology. The surgery would be rudimentary, perhaps, but it would help to save lives,” he said. As is ever the case with new and ‘life-changing’ technologies, it is not the glitzy and so-called sexy products such as Google Glass and the Apple Watch that change the world. Instead it will be underrated (and definitely unsexy) technology such as sensors inside hospitals and inside our bodies that will be the technology that will come to define the IoT, and ultimately will also define us… much more so than an fridge connected to the internet.
It may have yet to conquer the tech world yet , with consumers ambivalent about wearables and smart homes . But it does have a bright future in healthcare , according to this Telegraph piece , which argues that it may not be as glamorous as an Apple Watch , but the future is where IoT can truly change the world . Using examples such as an artificial pancreas to monitor blood sugar and administer insulin where necessary , the author argues that technologies such as digital implants and remote monitoring will soon become a commonplace medical intervention .