3 Real-Life IoT in Healthcare Examples

The worldwide IoT market size is expected to go from $714 billion in 2024 to $4,062 billion by 2032, marking an unprecedented growth rate, according to Fortune Business Insights. 

The demand for accessibility and patient care personalization keeps persisting, which explains the whopping statistics. Early disease prevention and automation of healthcare operations inside and outside healthcare organizations are the key directions of the further development of IoT solutions for healthcare. 

Still hesitating whether IoT is the next big thing in healthcare? Keep reading the article to get more insights on the topic. Below, you’ll find out what IoMT is and discover IoT in healthcare examples that are already changing how the healthcare industry operates. 

What is IoMT?  

IoMT stands for the Internet of Medical Things, a network of connected hardware infrastructure and software that establishes innovative healthcare technology solutions. IoMT enables the centralized management of several medical devices, simplifying and optimizing operations in healthcare facilities. 

IoMT covers a broad spectrum of solutions; however, its core benefit is the ability to exchange and store real-time patient data securely. IoMT systems get data from integrated sensors, GPS, and other sources to enable continuous device operation. 

Three Real-Life Examples of IoT in Healthcare

The IoMT technologies pave the way for a new generation of healthcare solutions — medical facilities can now relieve the strain on medical staff by distributing their load based on the needs of patients, 3D-printed tissues are laying the ground for a more accessible transplant medicine, and hand hygiene control has already become automated. 

Keep reading to learn about real-life examples of IoT devices in healthcare transforming the medical care industry.

Remote Patient Monitoring

The TCC intensive care unit is one of the IoT examples in healthcare that enables remote patient monitoring. This device addresses the shortage of intensive care staff, which affects patient care quality. With a lack of medical employees, one doctor can be assigned to several patients; however, without a proper care distribution, physicians miss out on the patients requiring the most urgent help. 

The TCC electronic nurse device continuously measures patient vitals, including temperature, blood pressure, heart rate, oxygen level, and respiratory rate. This data is sent to physicians, enabling remote control of the patient's state. Besides, the main tablet screen layout displays the results of vitals measurements, showing a custom-generated therapy and meal plan. 

Integrating such IoMT devices into hospital systems reduces the need for excessive in-person check-ups. Enhanced remote patient monitoring also regulates hospital occupancy — stabilized patients can be discharged for home treatment with remote health monitoring, while patients with critical conditions can be hospitalized. 

3D Bioprinters

Did you know that only 10% of global transplant demand is being met? These alarming statistics have motivated technology enthusiasts to develop innovative solutions that will potentially address the transplantation shortage. The Swedish bioconvergent startup CELLINK manufactures 3D bioprinters that produce organ and tissue substitutes for one of the examples of IoT in healthcare. 

To this point, artificial organs produced with bioprinters haven’t been used for transplantation. However, researchers have already printed skin and cartilage tissues, which were experimentally implanted. 

Apart from organ transplantation, 3D-printed tissues have another crucial application — enhancing drug trials. Scientists can now use artificial tissues and organs for safer drug testing and research, eliminating the need for pharmaceutical testing on humans and animals.

Though 3D bioprinting technology still requires more research, it has revolutionized the direction of transplantology development and keeps making drug development safer and more ethical.

Hand Hygiene Control

Hand hygiene is a critical safety measure, especially for facilities with a high level of sanitary requirements. Thus, a computer vision-based device that controls the appropriate use of UV-reactive sanitizer by employees is an optimal solution to streamline hygiene monitoring. 

The device, engineered for an agricultural corporation, consists of a box for scanning hands with a built-in computer vision algorithm analyzing the input data. After assessing the data, the system visualizes the sanitizer coverage, indicating areas that need more attention.

The core value of this IoT technology is the possibility of detecting the quality of disinfection at a level that is unavailable to the human eye. Besides, it sets a higher hygiene bar, reducing the chances of infection spread.

The Role of AI and Big Data in IoT Healthcare Solutions

AI algorithms can power IoT healthcare devices with real-time data collection and analysis, data-driven predictions, and smarter medical decisions. For example, AI-driven predictive analytics can warn physicians about early signs of patient conditions or complications, enabling timely interventions. AI is turning data into a valuable business asset, making healthcare more proactive and precise. 

Big Data technologies hold numerous opportunities for IoMT solutions as well. At its core, Big Data allows healthcare providers to collect and analyze large medical datasets to discover current and potential healthcare tendencies, optimize treatment standards and protocols, and go as far as forecasting disease outbreaks. Big Data also proves efficient in more localized settings, like improving hospital operations, lowering patient readmission rates, and improving overall patient experience. 

Introducing AI and Big Data into your healthcare IoT device will boost treatment and diagnostics opportunities and uncover many opportunities to enhance business operations.

Security and Privacy Risks in IoMT – How to Protect Patient Data?

With the development of the IoMT, the potential cyber threats also keep expanding. Healthcare IoT devices collect sensitive patient data 24/7, which is a prime target for hackers. Without strong security protocols, medical devices can be highly vulnerable to unauthorized data access. That’s why you should always take a secure-by-design approach while developing any medical device. Remember that investing more in the security of your product in the beginning will eventually pay off.

At the basics, ensuring data security in IoT devices for medical purposes requires proper data encryption. Your data should be encrypted at all times, including at rest and in transit, to ensure your information remains unreadable. The next level is a strong authentication mechanism, like two-factor authentication, making sure unauthorized users can’t get access to your data.  

Besides the above practices, network segmentation, vulnerability testing, and real-time threat monitoring will reduce the cybersecurity risks of your devices even further.

Future of IoT in Healthcare – What to Expect in the Next Five Years

IoMT devices keep transforming the healthcare industry, optimizing patient care and treatment methods. 

Remote patient monitoring, hand hygiene control, and 3D bioprinters are just a few examples of devices that are already improving healthcare operations. And though it’s impossible to guess all potential healthcare IoT devices that will be invented in the coming years, one thing that we know for sure is that healthcare will continue to become more accessible and safe.  

In the next five years, IoT in healthcare is also expected to deliver patients more personalized and preventive care. AI and Big Data advancements will keep driving this process even further, making IoMT devices more secure and user-friendly.