Wearables — the future of medical care

Smart watches and fitness bracelets are gaining in importance. In the next 5 years the popularity of wearables is forecasted to increase enormously, especially in the healthcare sector. By 2021 the global healthcare device shipment and revenue is expected to reach 98 million units. 

The smart health watchers

Until recently wearables have got more attention in the fitness area as well as a fashion accessory. But wearable devices can more. They monitor body and health activities like, for example, sleep cycle, glucose level, blood pressure and ECG.

In the coming future the smart devices will get even more innovation and become an essential part of our life.

Patients and health industry will benefit from this transformation. Pharmaceutical companies will be able to expand their clinical trials, which will be very profitable for the insurance sector.

Patients and doctors, on their part, will have a direct access to all the necessary health data. Smart data analysis will provide quick and accurate diagnostics as well as a treatment of chronicle diseases. It will literally enable to save our lives helping to detect the early stages of serious health risks.

Some insurance companies already offer discounts to the policy holders’ sharing the data about their health activities tracked by the smart wrist band.

Wearables for better work life balance

New wearable technologies are also predicted to become a standard at workplaces.

There is no doubt that every employer prefers to have relaxed and motivated rather than exhausted and permanent stressed workers.

Wearables offer companies a possibility to measure performance and productivity of the staff.

Furthermore, the devices can indicate well-being and happiness of the employees.

Tracking and analyzing the relevant health data of employees will help to optimize work conditions in order to minimize stress, improve job satisfaction and, as a result, maximize health.

Security as a challenge

Despite all benefits, the main concerns for the device users is the data security. Indeed, at the moment most healthcare facilities aren’t equipped to treat and protect the data.

New concepts for authentication and end-to-end encryption in heterogeneous IoT networks are highly required.

Research centers are currently working on the development of data security implementation in wearables and other IoT devices.

We are entering a new era. Wearables represent one of the most intelligent technologies. Ensuring secure data exchange will provide a smooth integration of the smart devices for more comfortable and safe life in the coming future.