What is the Internet of Medical Things and what benefits does it have?
Most of you will already know what IoT is and how the analytics of the data that is extracted helps us make our day easier. This message is something that has already permeated most health centers that are already applying, to a greater or lesser extent, the benefits of connected devices to lead the health system towards a digital transformation. From this change, a new term has emerged: IoMT (Internet of Medical Things or Internet of Medical Things).
We live in an era where our time is precious. We run from one place to another: to drop off the children at school, to go to work, to go to the gym, to go shopping at the supermarket… For this reason, when we put our time in the hands of other people, we expect efficiency and attention that is often difficult to receive. When we go to a doctor’s office and have to wait, we get nervous because we are used to getting things instantly.
But… What if I told you that technologies like IoT and Big Data have also reached the world of medicine? What if investing in these kinds of technologies could help make healthcare more efficient, fast, and targeted? Today, more than ever, we need to go a step further in the health sector to be able to give the best response to any situation and even save lives.
What is IoMT and what benefits does it have?
IoMT or Internet of Medical Things is called the sensitization of medical devices to be able to collect the data extracted from said devices and analyze them in order to offer a better service to patients and health professionals.
What does this translate to? Well, in great advantages for both workers and patients, for example:
- • Saving economic resources by digitizing medical check-ups through gadgets in order to reduce the cost of hospital bills
- • Improving the quality of life of patients by managing and collecting data in order to detect and prevent diseases in a more personalized way
- • Automation of processes to be able to optimize resources and health personnel in the best possible way
- • Improvement of the user experience in the health center by optimizing space through people counting to reduce waiting times
In addition, IoMT is complemented by other technologies such as Big Data for the analysis of all the data collected by the sensitized devices and the knowledge shared in the cloud. This means that there is a reduction in diagnostic errors and, once again, we can save lives.
What are the real applications and uses of IoMT?
- Cancer treatment: through a selfie that you upload to a mobile App, it is possible to read the bilirubin levels in the whites of the eyes to assess the presence or absence of jaundice (characteristic of this type of cancer).
- Remote operations: thanks to robotic arms and new connectivity such as 5G, operations hundreds of kilometers away are now possible
- Intelligent and continuous glucose monitoring: through IoT devices, diabetes patients can know their blood glucose levels several times a day and be able to control their sugar drops.
- Smart pills or ingestible sensors: when someone swallows the sensorized pill, it sends a signal from the stomach to a phone app that records what time the pill was taken and can be tracked.
- Digital audiometers: with a sensitized audiometer, self-calibration and obtaining data is much more constant, precise and easier to obtain
- Smart respirators: they are programmed to analyze and improve respiratory therapies to offer personalized medical care and prescription
- Creation of patterns and anticipation of diseases thanks to the combination with other technologies such as Big Data and Artificial Intelligence
In short, we have been hearing for a long time how new technologies can help us in our daily lives, but the truth is that these applications are already real and are already being applied in many sectors, including healthcare. We will see how, little by little, our relationship with doctors improves and the quality of disease prevention and cure improves.
