Wearable devices in healthcare refers to the devices that a person can attach to their body to collect their personal health and fitness data. These devices can track the information on real-time basis. The data from these devices are used in various sectors like healthcare, insurance, navigation, sports, education, travel and many others.
Most of the wearable devices are handsfree embedded with build in sensors and uses internet to send and receive data. The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in wearable technology provides real- time insights of a person’s health which in turn helps to improve the quality of life. The increase in the demand of wearable devices and the rapid development of AI expects a huge rise in the wearable technology sector in future worldwide market.
Uses of Wearable Technology
The use of wearable technology varies in a wide range of sectors which includes health, navigation, sports, fitness, gaming and education.
Wearable devices are used in health sector for different purposes. These devices can monitor many vital data including the blood pressure, heart rate, blood sugar, oxygen level, body temperature and quality of sleep. The wearables are used to track and receive these real – time data of a person’s health for the analysis and further improvement of health and to prevent possible health issues.
Wearable devices are popular in the area of sports and fitness as they can monitor heart rate, the burned calories and many such data of the person’s body. Using this data, they can control the training and refine their performance.
Wearable Technology is used in navigation to facilitate a safe and accurate guiding along the route. The GPS powered wearable devices are gaining popularity due to its multiple functionalities, the ease of availability and its help in the safety of child or a person. Wearables are helpful for visually impaired people for navigation as they can provide a virtual map of the environment.
The entertainment and gaming sector uses wearable technologies to enhance the user experience. The use of wearable technology in education is rapidly increasing in the past years. They can contribute effectively in both teaching and learning purposes.
Top Health Wearables
Wearables are incorporated in health sector to continuously monitor the vital signals from the body like blood pressure, blood oxygen level, hear rate, sugar, body temperature and other biochemical parameters. The data from wearable technology are used widely in many areas of healthcare including the improvement of health of a patient, rehabilitation of patients, early diagnosis of diseases, remote patient monitoring and to enhance healthcare facilities.
There is a rise of wearable devices during COVID 19 pandemic as it helped in the remote healthcare system and contactless health monitoring. The wearables devices can provide early warnings on the likelihood of COVID 19 infection. There are devices that can provide contact tracking information of a person and has applications for the prevention of diseases. They are able to measure the COVID symptoms like body temperature, respiratory rate and oxygen saturation.
Many health wearables are now easily available in the market. Some of the commonly used top wearables include
1. Smart Watches
Smart watches can monitor heart rate, oxygen level, blood pressure, body temperature, sleep pattern and even stress levels.
2. Smart Glasses
Smart glasses can provide various vital health information of a patient. They are used in the retrieval of electronic health record and input data. They can help persons with vision impairment as they can give voice commands that helps them for an easy flow of activities and work.
3. Smart ring
Smart ring is a wearable device that looks like an ordinary ring that has the features of a mobile device like gesture control and activity tracking. They have the ability to make payments, unlock an electronic lock, control home appliances, receive notifications from your smartphone, store passwords, unlock your smartphone and make phone calls. Some smart rings can track your movements like walking, running or sleeping, monitor hear beats, blood oxygen level or body temperature. The health information from the smart rings is used to improve your health.
4. Fitness trackers
Fitness trackers are commonly used wearables that can collect your fitness and health related data that are used for better training or to make healthier decisions. These wrist-worn device can detect your daily movements like the number of steps walked, running distance, the sleep pattern etc. It can monitor and record the hear rate, body temperature, muscle movement and calories burnt.
5. GPS tracking
The Global Positioning System, GPS, is incorporated in healthcare sector in different ways. GPS tracking system in the healthcare vehicle helps in offering timely services. It is used for a proper transportation in case of emergency by choosing a shortest distance to reach the patient. GPS helps the disabled persons to navigate easier. These devices can effectively communicate with visually impaired patients and helps them to ease their life.
6. ECG monitors
A wearable ECG monitor is attached with a sensor and accelerometer to detect and record physiological data of a person which are used to improve patient care. Since these devices can monitor and record the heartrate, they help in the early detection and analysis of cardiovascular complications such as stroke.
7. Pregnancy and new born monitors
Wearable technology is used for monitoring the health of mother and fetus during pregnancy. The pregnant woman can use this device to perform self-examinations at any time and place. The device can sense the state of the baby, like the heart rate or can find the early symptoms of placenta abruption.
Future of wearable devices
Wearable technology has become an important factor in health sector. The wearables not only improve the patient care but also the quality of life. The remote health care using this technology has become an integral part during the pandemic. A huge rise in wearable technology is expected in the future. Efficient, accurate and cost-effective wearables incorporated with new technologies will increase the comfort of life and enhance the efficiency of healthcare in future.