Wearable Technology in Healthcare: Revolutionizing Patient Care & Business Success

Providing patients the best care possible is one of the most important objectives in the healthcare industry. We're all on a never-ending journey to improve healthcare, whether you're a doctor, nurse, medical researcher, or just someone who enjoys learning about new technology. And what's this? Wearable technology is a contemporary innovation that is assisting us in doing just that.

Consider wearables as extremely intelligent gadgets you can wear, similar to a smartwatch or a fitness tracker. But they're changing the healthcare landscape, not simply for the sake of looking good.

Stay with us, and we'll show you how these devices are addressing some of the most difficult healthcare issues we're facing today and fostering a healthy future.

Let's start with the fundamentals.

What is Wearable Technology in Healthcare?

Wearable technology in healthcare refers to the use of wearable devices and software applications for medical and healthcare purposes. This includes wearable medical devices like smartwatches, fitness trackers, smart health watches, wearable ECG monitors, wearable BP trackers, biosensors, etc.

Current Market State of Wearable Technology in the Healthcare Industry

• The global wearable medical device market size is poised to reach $30.1 B by 2026 at a CAGR of 13.2% which was valued at $16.2 B in 2021.
• 63% of people in the US are wearable device owners who use fitness trackers and smartwatches.

Benefits of Wearable Technology in Healthcare

Incorporating wearable technology appears as a possible solution to the healthcare sector's current boom, workforce shortage, and ongoing need for high-quality patient care.

Wearable healthcare technology is not just an option; it's a necessity. Here's why you need it right now:

1. Workforce Shortages

The lack of healthcare professionals has become a serious problem. We can use wearable technologies to address this. It streamlines processes, reduces paperwork, and enables remote monitoring. This improves the effectiveness and efficiency of your current staff.

2. Enhanced Patient Care

Today's patients have higher expectations of their healthcare providers. They desire individualized care, ongoing observation, and proactive participation in their health care. Wearable medical technology enables you to provide just that. It makes it possible to monitor patients in real-time and make data-driven decisions, all while raising patient happiness.

3. Telemedicine Growth

Telemedicine is becoming a requirement rather than a luxury. Wearable technology in healthcare ensures that your virtual sessions are just as productive as in-person ones as remote consultations become more common. Even when the patient and practitioner are thousands of miles apart, access to wearable-generated health data during telehealth encounters enables for informed decisions.

4. Chronic Disease Management

As chronic diseases become more prevalent, it is important to appropriately manage them. Patients may track their health more easily using wearable medical equipment, and healthcare professionals can set up alerts to know if something is wrong.

5. Research and Innovation

The data we gather now holds the solutions to healthcare's problems of the future.

Wearables offer useful health information for medical innovation and research. As a result, patients receive better care, and cutting-edge medical solutions are created.

6. Data-Driven Decision-Making

The ability of wearable technology to enable data-driven decision-making in the healthcare industry is another important advantage. These gadgets collect data on patients' health and activities, giving medical professionals the knowledge they need to decide on patient care and treatment strategies.

10 Examples of Wearable Devices in Healthcare

Certainly, here are examples of wearable healthcare technology and how they can benefit your healthcare business.

1. Fitness Trackers

Good old fitness trackers. Consider them health companions. They monitor your heart and pulse.

But they do more! They also track your daily steps. To assess your rest, they look inside your bed at night. They even count calories burned.

These sensors-equipped devices are best friends with your smartphone. Smart healthcare software developers let you check all this health info on your phone. You probably use such apps daily.

Examples: Fitbit, My Fitness Pal

2. Smartwatches

Devices like smartwatches have been around for a while. However, they only lately began providing healthcare value. These devices are useful for calls, messaging, and voice commands, but they may also track your physical activity, stress, and heart rate for abnormalities.

This is achievable thanks to AI, semiconductors, optical sensors, and data science developments. They all set the groundwork for photoplethysmography (PPG), which measures blood circulation.

Remote patient monitoring for heart disease is one example.

Examples: Garmin, WearHealth

3. Continuous Glucose Monitors (CGMs)

CGMs are helpful for diabetics. These tiny, painless sensors measure blood sugar. No more painful finger pricks—CGMs do it.

Examples: Nutrisense, Dexcom G6

4. Wearable ECG Monitors

Nearly 30% of Americans monitor their heart health with a wearable device. The future of ECG monitors looks bright. This wearable gadget diagnoses atrial fibrillation and aids cardiovascular patient care.

The latest ECG monitors can detect irregularities and measure electrocardiograms thanks to machine learning. A doctor can analyze the data to diagnose asymptomatic or symptomatic AF.

Examples: SonoHealth, Kardia

5. Wearable Blood Pressure Monitors

Wearable blood pressure monitors can improve hypertension management. These devices can track patients' blood pressure over time, allowing medication adjustments and preventing serious problems.

Examples: SmartBP, Instant Heart Rate

6. Wearable Sleep Monitors

Wearable sleep monitors are widely utilized to track and study sleep. Being conscious of the importance of sleep for health and well-being is driving their appeal. People are using these devices to study and enhance their sleep habits.

Examples: BetterSleep, Sleep Cycle

7. Smart Clothing

When we think about wearables, we usually think of smartwatches, fitness trackers, and wrist heart rate monitors. The realm of wearables is significantly larger. It covers developing markets in numerous industries.

Healthcare smart clothing is a developing market. Imagine electronics in your shirt, blanket, bandage, cap, or pants to improve patient care.

Examples: Nadi X yoga pants, Trucker Jacket

8. Pain Management Devices

Wearable pain treatment gadgets are getting more popular. Small healthcare wearables can deliver modest electrical pulses or heat therapy to the hurting area. People use them because they relieve pain without surgery without drugs. Therefore, more people are employing these gadgets to relieve pain.

Examples: ReLeaf, Curable

9. Posture-Correcting Wearables

Posture-correcting wearables are pleasant reminders to stand or sit correctly. Small devices you can wear like a shirt clip or back band. These devices are becoming increasingly popular since people spend a lot of time slumped over screens, which can create terrible posture.

These wearables vibrate or warn you when you slouch to improve your posture. In a world when we're connected to screens, they're useful tools for maintaining a healthy and comfortable posture.

Examples: Upright GO 2, Gaiam Restore

10. Smart Glasses for Healthcare Professionals

Wearable smart glasses are futuristic super spectacles! They're not simply cool—they display digital information. They let visually challenged people read and get directions without using their hands.

Examples: Rokid Max, Magic Leap One

Is Your Healthcare Business Ready to Leverage Wearable Tech Yet?

Globally, more than 325 million people have medical devices, and more than 2.5 billion have smartphones. While wearable health devices offer immense benefits, there are also challenges you need to take into consideration.

If you want to keep up with the market demand and leverage the benefits of wearables in healthcare, don’t postpone initiating your project.

Narola Infotech has more than 17 years of experience in healthcare software development. Contact us and let us build a perfect solution together!

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