Digital technology has arguably touched every aspect of our lives, including healthcare services. It has the ability to improve the reach of medical services to disadvantaged sections of people in remote locations at a reduced cost. The only technology that can make it all happen is the Internet of Things (IoT), in which data is shared between devices with embedded sensors.
IoT has made its presence felt in areas such as self-driving cars, smart homes, and wearable devices, among others. In fact, it has the potential to revolutionize the health sector through its variant: the Internet of Medical Things or IoMT. IoMT-connected medical devices can help with diagnosis, reporting, inventory management, communication, and better patient monitoring, among others, as long as the devices or the software system they contain are subject to testing. rigorous medical device standards.
What is IoMT and how can it help?
Known as the Internet of Medical Things, IoMT is a connected ecosystem that is made up of sensor-based tools, software applications, medical devices, IT systems, and services. The ecosystem’s connected medical devices can generate, collect, analyze, and transmit health-related data or images to healthcare provider networks. The IoMT helps streamline workflow in any medical facility, leading to better patient care, both remotely and in-house. Additionally, you can transform the entire healthcare sector by monitoring, reporting, and notifying caregivers and healthcare providers with data to diagnose health issues. The growing number of connected medical devices to the tune of 3.7 million is a testament to their growing use. According to Allied Market Research, the IoMT market is expected to reach $136.8 billion worldwide by 2021.
Since medical devices have a direct impact on the patient’s health, they must function optimally and according to the desired objectives. In addition, they must be protected from the increasing incidences of cyber threats and malfunction issues. It is no surprise that the global healthcare cybersecurity market is to exceed $27 billion by 2025. The COVID-19 pandemic has seen increased use of IoMT devices for remote patient diagnosis. However, since they are connected to the cellular or WiFi networks in patients’ homes, inherent vulnerabilities in the software systems within them make them prone to hacking. This makes the critical role of medical device testing evident.
Why is software testing so important to healthcare?
The growing use of IoMT gives clinicians the means to diagnose and treat patients remotely. Furthermore, over time, healthcare facilities such as hospitals will rely heavily on these devices for patient monitoring and care management, inventory management, and decision-making. With so much at stake, the role of medical device testing specialists cannot be ignored. By performing a series of trial exercises, you can reap the benefits mentioned below:
Proactive medical care: By 2025, the global elderly population is expected to reach 1.2 billion thanks to increased life expectancy. And since the elderly population is more vulnerable to health problems, the associated costs will also increase. This is where IoMT can reach older people and address their health issues by tracking vital parameters like blood pressure, heart rate, glucose level, sleep levels, and more. In addition, the elderly often forget to take prescribed medications on time, a serious problem that can be remedied through the use of IoMT devices. These devices can remind such patients and document the time to take medication. In addition, wearable diagnostic devices with embedded sensors can ensure blood and urine tests for the elderly, followed by analysis (and reporting) of test results. Therefore, IoMT devices can collect vital data from patients and transmit it to doctors for quick diagnosis and better practical treatment. Ultimately, the success of such proactive health care rests on the performance of health care testing services.
Telemedicine: With better connectivity, IoMT devices can be seamlessly combined with telemedicine to offer better diagnosis and treatment to patients living in remote areas. Devices connected to patients can transmit vital data to doctors operating on a telemedicine platform and allow them to prescribe treatment. However, it is only through functional testing of medical devices that telemedicine as a delivery platform can function optimally.
conclusion
IoMT devices can collect, analyze and report vital patient data in real time and enable stakeholders such as doctors, paramedics and lab assistants to gain insights based on healthcare analytics data. Ultimately, this can speed decision-making and help patients access quality care, regardless of where they stay. And to ensure that every element of this IoMT ecosystem performs as intended, performance testing on medical devices should become the norm.