We begin with perhaps the most ubiquitous of medical robots, and the standard for Robot Assisted Surgery.

This is a machine that blurs the line between “robot” and “medical tool” since the device is always under the full control of the surgeon, but the advancements it has fostered are astounding.

Using the daVinci system, operations can be done with just a few tiny incisions and with the utmost precision, which means less bleeding, faster healing, and a reduced risk of infection.

And while daVinci has been around for almost eighteen years now, it has continued to get more and more advanced, but with big tech companies quick on daVinci’s heels to develop similar systems with more autonomous features and a wider range of abilities, who knows what’s next in this field.

We all want to be Iron Man at least a little bit, but robotic exoskeletons have more medical applications than superhero ones.

For starters, they are being used to help paralyzed people walk again, which is nothing short of a miracle.

They can also be useful for correcting malformations or for rehabilitation after a brain or spinal cord injury by providing weak muscles with the extra help they need to perform movements and begin healing the damage.

In the past decade, internet-connected devices have been introduced to patients in various forms. Whether data comes from fetal monitors, electrocardiograms, temperature monitors or blood glucose levels, tracking health information is vital for some patients, though many of these measures required follow-up interaction with a healthcare professional. Yet, the use of IoT devices has been instrumental in delivering more valuable, real-time data to doctors and lessening the need for direct patient-physician interaction.

Early applications of IoT in healthcare also included smart beds that detect when they are occupied and when a patient is attempting to get up. A smart bed can also adjust itself to ensure appropriate pressure and support are applied to the patient without the manual interaction of nurses.

Another area where smart technology quickly became an asset in healthcare is when coupled with home medication dispensers. These dispensers automatically upload data to the cloud when medication isn't taken, or any other indicators for which the care team should be alerted.

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https://www.google.com/amp/s/internetofthingsagenda.techtarget.com/feature/Can-we-expect-the-Internet-of-Things-in-healthcare%3famp=1

Internet-of-things technology implementations have raised numerous concerns around personal data privacy and security. While many of today's devices use secure methods to communicate information to the cloud, they could still be vulnerable to hackers.

Beyond personal data being stolen and misused, IoT devices can be used for harm. Simply put, IoT in healthcare can be life-threatening if not properly secured. While a fictional example, a 2012 episode of Homeland demonstrated a hacked pacemaker inducing a heart attack. Former Vice President Dick Cheney subsequently asked the wireless capabilities of his pacemaker be disabled. In 2016, Johnson & Johnson warned one of its connected insulin pumps was susceptible to attack, potentially allowing patients to deliver unauthorized insulin injections. Then, in 2017, St. Jude released patches for its vulnerable remote monitoring system of implantable pacemakers and defibrillator devices. These are just a few of the medical IoT attacks that have made headlines.

To counter these risks, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has published numerous guidelines for establishing end-to-end security for connected medical devices, and regulators will likely continue to regulate connected devices used by patients. In late 2018, the FDA signed a memorandum of agreement with the Department of Homeland Security to implement a new medical device cybersecurity framework to be established by both agencies. It also issued a draft update to its premarket guidance for connected healthcare device manufacturers in 2018 to ensure end-to-end security is built in during device design and development stages.

Read more: https://www.google.com/amp/s/internetofthingsagenda.techtarget.com/feature/Can-we-expect-the-Internet-of-Things-in-healthcare%3famp=1

Why? Patients of all types depend on their medical professionals to provide the best care possible, and having well maintained, properly functioning medical equipment is the only way to do so. The last thing a medical professional wants is for an important piece of equipment to malfunction or fail when it is needed for a patient. 

Here is the link for more information : https://www.livemint.com/Science/O8FeBWuLKvgEKrLvvUzxKL/Lack-of-adequate-systems-infrastructure-leading-to-hospital.html

Here are what the authorities can do. : https://www.managedhealthcareexecutive.com/health-management/five-ways-hospitals-can-cut-equipment-maintenance-costs

Medical smart contact lenses are an ambitious application of the Internet of Things in a healthcare context. While the concept has a great deal of potential, so far, the science hasn’t always managed to live up to expectations.

In 2014, Google Life Sciences (now known as Verily, a subsidiary of Google’s parent company Alphabet) announced it would be developing a smart contact lens that could measure tear glucose and provide an early warning system for diabetics to alert them when their blood glucose levels had dropped or risen beyond a certain threshold. It partnered with Alcon, the eyecare division of pharmaceutical company Novartis, for the project.

However, the project attracted a great deal of scepticism from researchers who believed that the idea of measuring blood glucose levels via tears wasn’t scientifically sound – and ultimately, they were proven correct. After a lengthy period with no real news about project developments, in November 2018 Verily confirmed that the project was being shelved.

But other medical applications for smart contact lenses might prove more successful. Verily is still working on two smart lens programs with Alcon, which aim to treat presbyopia (long-sightedness caused by a loss of elasticity in the lens of an eye) and cataract surgery recovery.

Swiss company Sensimed has also developed a noninvasive smart contact lens called Triggerfish, which automatically records changes in eye dimensions that can lead to glaucoma. First developed in 2010, Triggerfish is now CE-marked and FDA-approved, meaning it is approved for marketing and sale in Europe and the U.S., and was approved for sale in Japan in September 2018.

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https://econsultancy.com/internet-of-things-healthcare/