Precision medicine and technology together have the potential to completely transform healthcare. Using precision medicine techniques, patterns are found in patients with uncommon treatment responses or distinct medical needs. Artificial intelligence and other cutting-edge technologies allow the system to think and learn, develop insights through complex computing and inference, and enhance clinician decision-making.
When combined with smart gadgets like Internet of Things (IoT) medical technology, this enables medical practitioners to individually customize a patient’s course of care. According to recent research, translating this technology integration into ongoing research will help tackle precision medicine’s most challenging problems, particularly those where unique medical issues, when paired with patient symptoms, clinical history, and lifestyle data, will enable personalized diagnosis and prognostication.
Internet of Things – artistic impression. Image credit: geralt via Pixabay, free license
IoT in Personalized Care
Advancements in medical technology have led to astounding developments in patient care. As little as two decades ago, patient treatment involved the sick person traveling to a physician’s office, undergoing rounds of tests and treatment at those locations, staying overnight in clinics to conduct rounds of lengthy testing, and a variety of other activities that were time-consuming and difficult for both the patient and the doctor. Now, thanks to IoT technology in healthcare, patients can undergo some testing, such as heart monitoring and sleep monitoring, at home with devices that connect to the Internet and send data in real-time to their physicians. Some ways in which the Internet of Things helps to personalize healthcare include:
- Reducing waiting time by using telehealth and remote services connecting doctors and patients at their locations rather than require time to travel and wait in a doctor’s office.
- At-home monitoring devices are now used for diagnosing disorders such as sleep apnea.
- Using technology such as Near Field Communication (NFC) and Radio Frequency
- Identification (RFID) technology to allow medical monitoring devices to interact with smartphones and mobile devices, sending alerts to the patient, such as a low blood sugar alert.
- Cloud computing allows for apps such as MyChart, which allow patients to communicate via message with their doctors, view and share test results and medication lists with various providers.
- Making use of IoT in healthcare through smart devices such as the Apple Watch for fall detection, medical alert monitoring, medication reminders, summoning emergency services, and heart rhythm monitoring.
IoT in Precision Medicine
Precision medicine, as defined by the Precision Medicine Initiative, is “an emerging approach for disease treatment and prevention that takes into account individual variability in genes, environment, and lifestyle for each person.” With this method, medical professionals and researchers will be able to more precisely forecast which preventative and treatment plans will be most effective for a certain disease in which populations in contrast to a one-size-fits-all approach ignores individual differences. Although it is a new term, it is not a new concept. For example, considering one of several personalized medicine examples, once medical providers realized that humans had several different blood types, treatment for blood transfusions was catered to the type of care a person with a particular blood type needed. Consider the following precision medicine examples:
- Integrating artificial intelligence (A.I.) with machine learning models to aid in patient diagnosis, utilizing data from medical smart devices as it is collected.
- Expand telemedicine, which enables patients to access timely healthcare remotely.
- Wearable technology, such as smart watches with integrated health monitoring features that monitor chronic conditions and scan for any developing conditions, allows for early detection.
- Improved patient care in medical facilities through IoT devices in hospitals and clinics that allow for easier and faster check-in, and assist in ongoing care.
Genetic Testing, Treatment and IoT
Genetic treatment, or cell-based therapy, has a wide variety of applications when paired with IoT-enabled hardware. With data collected from connected technological devices, physicians can monitor certain types of cancer developments, implement treatment through personalized application devices such as pumps or implants, or even enhance or suppress various bodily functions.
Genetic testing now allows medical providers to get a better idea of who might be most likely to develop certain chronic conditions, such as diabetes and high blood pressure, which then allows for precise and targeted monitoring of the individual through smart medical devices.
Remote Patient Monitoring
Medical monitoring is perhaps one of the most useful and powerful applications of IoT solutions for healthcare. As medical devices become smaller and more easily wearable, individuals can then make use of devices such as smartwatches to monitor their ongoing health and make note of any changes, many of which are often subtle and unnoticed in daily life, to determine worrisome patterns over time. Apps such as Apple’s Health app show trends over time collected by devices such as the Apple Watch, which continuously monitors heart rate, breathing, time spent sleeping, and a whole host of other useful features.
These insights give doctors much-needed information to tailor their treatment to the patient’s individual condition. In some cases, devices like the Apple Watch can take a single lead EKG reading to check for atrial fibrillation, which can be exported to a PDF and uploaded via MyChart to a cardiologist, who can then decide if a patient needs further testing and monitoring from dedicated medical devices.
To Recap
As we can see, the IoT has great potential in precision healthcare, as the data collected from these devices allows physicians to offer personalized healthcare solutions and greater flexibility for personalization in healthcare. As technology becomes more powerful, perhaps even utilizing A.I. in diagnostics, we can easily see a future in which, like in the television series Star Trek: Voyager, an A.I. holographic doctor who diagnoses and treats conditions (under the direction of a human doctor) gives patients the opportunity for more frequent and personalized medical care at a moment’s notice.