Home Health Care IoT takes hearing aids to the next level

IoT takes hearing aids to the next level

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The Internet of Things is not only improving contemporary life – but the quality of life itself. From ingestible sensors to smart cancer treatment, the treatment of medical patients is the perfect example of this in action. 

Medical tech is coupling medicine with the modern age. Cheaper, faster, smaller and better tech devices are more frequently being embedded into medicine. Let’s explore how partnerships between medical and tech firms create for medical devices that are wirelessly connected and updatable over the internet, meaning that patients can have any problems with their devices fixed from the comfort of their own homes.

How did we get here?
Medicine is always moving with technology so it should be no surprise that translates into experimentation with the ever-growing network of the Internet of Things. Medical organizations have opted for a slightly varied name with IoMT – Internet of Medical Things – and the technology has seen major growth in recent years. According to MarketsandMarkets report, the market is expected to swell up to $158.07 billion by the end of 2022.

There are a few ways by which these devices aim to combat illness. First, there are devices to tackle chronic disease. According to a survey, it has been predicted that almost three-quarters of all global deaths will be the result of chronic disease by 2020. Devices in this space help patients with round-the-clock requirements for permanent health monitoring.

Second, healthcare analytics. The collection and collation of health data have emerged as a powerful way to recognize health trends and other useful information about patients. This empowers care providers to examine patient reactions to different medications and make informed, data-driven decisions. 

Third, real-time data systems. It was not too long ago that tests and data simply took time to put together – time that could prove vital to the patient. Connected medical devices unlock data for use in health decisions at the moment.

Better devices for healthier patients
The one-two punch of medicine and tech combine for the betterment of patient care – but what does this look like in practice? A good example is offered by the modern redesign to the hearing aid. Device connecitivity is now being added to hearing aids to assist new users.

The first six months is always the hardest for them. This initial period requires consistent adjustments and fittings to avoid misconfigurations like echoes and screeching. Therefore, this responsibility falls to a specialized audiologist during regular client appointments. While these calibrations may only take a matter of minutes, it means patient travel for something that could be done over the internet.

That has not been possible — until now. The latest hearing aids allow audiologists to send data from their computer to the app on the client’s smartphone. The data is then relayed from the app to the hearing aid via Bluetooth – allowing the audiologist direct access to the medical device from anywhere in the world. 

This is a solution that saves time and energy for both parties. It is a solution that might not save lives but saves unnecessary travel and appointments for people new to hearing aids. Better yet – low latency technology means there is little delay between the action of the audiologist and the effect of their calibration as if they were in the room with their patient.

A healthier horizon
Solutions like this are only the start. Specialist devices continue to garner investment and development in the medical field – and one can imagine this to only increase as such data delivers life-changing insights. 

As with anything regarding the Internet of Things, it is certainly worth considering the security threshold of any given device. Many devices are infamous for preset security settings which are easy for hackers to infiltrate and abuse. Take this example from March where implantable cardioverter defibrillators made by Medtronic were found to be insecure. If hacked, possible outcomes included the death of the patient.

Security considerations only become that much more important when the devices concerned are embedded into an individual to record sensitive health information. Therefore, it is incumbent on both the user and health authority to ensure their devices cannot be turned against them. One way is to double-check the device connection type and make sure the information is being rerouted through private servers instead of cloud providers. 

Overall, the benefits do outweigh the risks of medical connected devices. Data empowers insight and decisionmaking, so introducing devices that constantly monitor at-risk patients is a definite way to deliver the best possible health outcomes of any situation. 

The global population is only getting older and older. More medtech is needed, and fortunately, tech is growing up with the generations.

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