Internet of Medical Things: A New Era of Healthcare
Healthcare | Feb, 2022
According to a
report published by Deloitte, the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) is
anticipated to reach USD158.1
billion in 2022. The internet of medical things is a
connected infrastructure of inter-networked medical devices and healthcare
information technology applications, which allows the collection, analysis, and
transmission of data. IoMT and its relationship with MedTech enable healthcare
organizations to enhance efficiency in operations, improve patient outcomes,
and create new ways to engage and empower patients.
Remote patient
monitoring of people with chronic illnesses, tracking of patient medication
orders, wearable mHealth devices, infusion pumps connected to analytics
dashboards, and hospital beds rigged with sensors to measure patients’ vital
signs are all examples of IoMT technology. A growing number of applications,
medical equipment, and supplies are inbuilt with near field communication (NFC)
radio frequency identification (RFID) tags to transfer medical data over a
secured network to either a cloud repository or internal servers.
How is IoMT Changing Healthcare?
Just like the Internet of Things, IoMT leverages machine-based
intelligence and automation to reduce reliance on human intervention, be it for
routine monitoring operations or healthcare products. Providing flexibility to
patients and providers, healthcare IoT drastically reduces the need to visit
medical facilities, thus reducing medical costs.
The COVID-19 pandemic
significantly prompted the adoption of IoMT, with an increased number of
patients seeking treatment from home due to quarantine and stay-at-home orders.
As the IoMT market matures, telehealth and telemedicine will evolve
significantly, allowing more accurate diagnoses and timely care.