Last semester in my BISCI class we learned about how smartwatches will be the future of technology for doctors. We briefly discussed how the new technology coming out in smartwatches will be able to help doctors learn more about the human body, and also help them gather personal data on us.
After reading this article I was able to learn a lot more. The future of smartwatches is really bright. Right now they are a great tool for encouraging and tracking fitness and healthy lifestyles, but soon they will be able to help us in and outside of hospitals. Developers are working on having smartwatches be able to track your vitals consistently instead of when you just go to the hospital.
This would also be a great way to have access to electronic health records 24-7. Being able to track blood pressure, vitals, and more 24-7 will allow doctors to determine what causes underlying diseases and infections that as of now, we cannot determine what their causes are.
I think the idea of having smartwatches that have such limitless technology that can help improve so much is really promising, and I hope that this technology comes out soon. I think this will help doctors be able to diagnose their patients more, and have to see patients in person less.
https://www.zdnet.com/article/could-your-apple-watch-replace-your-nurse-what-wearables-can-and-cant-do-for-your-health/
As you mentioned, smart watches are creating a major impact on the healthcare industry. I agree with you that they are of great help outside of a doctor’s office and the hospital. There are many helpful features to a smart watch when it comes to health, especially because they promote physical activity in many ways. First, smart watches allow you to track your activity and movement throughout the day by logging how many steps you take or calories you have burned, and it can report your heart rate. These watches are great tools to set fitness and activity goals for yourself every day, and they motivate you to move around. Personally, I have a set amount of steps that I would like to take every day, and I have found that my Apple watch provides me with reminders to complete this goal. The watch has not only helped me, but many of its users around the world.
Additionally, I think you bring up a very good point on how smart watches can provide continuous access to electronic health records. While many people are still unaware of these features, watches can monitor your health information, including things like your diet and sleep schedule, and they can also log information on your heart activity. Having this summary of your health information is an extremely useful tool, as you can provide it to your doctor to analyze your overall well-being. This is very important because it has recently saved lives and yielded early detection of diseases or other sicknesses in patients. This further helps in reducing medical costs when it comes to patient care. Overall, the use of smart watches in the healthcare industry is growing, and while it still may need some improvement, they are starting to become live saving tools inside and outside outside of medical settings.
Source:
https://www.nwpc.com/how-smartwatches-could-improve-your-health/
Smartwatches will be used beyond your standard doctor checkup. Their involvement extends into the healthcare industry. This technology will be extremely helpful for people who may not be able to take care of themselves, diabetics, or those connected to an IV. For example, the smartwatch can monitor a wearer’s glucose levels to ensure that they are safe and do not need to inject more insulin into their system. Nurses in a nursing home can pull up the data from a patient’s watch rather than go to them to check in on them. If there is a sign that something is wrong, the watch can alert staff that the patient needs attention.
An example of these smartwatches in the healthcare industry comes from a survey conducted by Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society and AT&T where they found 47% of hospitals provide wearables to patients with chronic diseases. About a third of these hospitals issue the wearables to enhance post-operation and preventative care. An example of preventative care from the Apple Watch is its ability to detect atrial fibrillation which is a leading stroke risk with 84% accuracy.
https://healthtechmagazine.net/article/2019/10/smartwatches-healthcare-drive-insights-and-action
I think using smart watches as a way to monitor a person’s health is a very good idea. If the watch can record data long term, then the doctors can have a bigger picture of any health problems. This can help doctors correctly and quickly diagnose people. Some of the watches are able to call for help if a person falls without getting up. This can be used when adventuring outside or for the elderly who do not have 24/7 care.
However there are security concerns about the data the smart watch would need to collect. Smart watches track GPS location and daily movement. If an attacker can gain access to that data they can predict where the user will be at a certain time. They also may be able gain access to encrypted data coming from other devices based off of weak Bluetooth connections.
Every new technology has its benefits and its weaknesses. In this case, I think the potential benefits of smart watches to track vitals 24/7 outweigh the risks. Security features can always be improved, but if an attacker is truly determined to break into a device they will find a way. So the security risks should not be a deterrent for the use of the new smart watch technology.
https://usa.kaspersky.com/resource-center/threats/smartwatch-security-risks
I am now on my second Apple watch, and I will never be using a different brand or watch again. My watch has greatly made a difference in my exercise and daily routine in my opinion. Personally, I think that it’s a great tool whenever I am working out, I like being able to see my calories being burned and I find it very helpful to be able to see my heart rate. Regarding how you were saying that smartwatches are going to be a doctor’s best friend, I have already seen this happen in my friend’s life. My friend who is a collegiate softball player got COVID in the summer of 2020 and ended up dealing with heart rate issues because of COVID. Her heart rate was non-rhythmic, and the doctors required her to record every move she made and her heart rate when she would move, for example, every time she would get in and out of a car, she had to record her heart rate, but her Apple watch made this easy to do since it easily tracks your heart rate.
Source: https://www.nwpc.com/how-smartwatches-could-improve-your-health/
While there is now a new accessible way to easily track our vitals in a daily setting, there is still a lot that needs fixing. The technology is great as we have never been able to collect this type of data on ourselves like this before. Prior to this someone would either not be able to collect this data or have to wear cumbersome equipment to get it. Today it is easier than ever, but it isn’t always right.
Some of the things the watch looks at is data about our heart including bpm, blood oxygen levels, and more. This info is important because it can be used to make a direct correlation to your health in an instant. This is good because the watch has a feature that can call for help from the authorities if the watch thinks your life is in danger. The problem is, when these systems fail it will call the police unnecessarily and waste their time. All it takes is one bad reading in your biometrics and it will signal to call for help, and this has been a problem a lot of people have faced with their new watches.
This feature and technology is great as it can save lives, which apple has loved mentioning in their advertising lately, but it also is far from perfect. This will definitely be the largest obstacle for them to hurdle in the near future.
Source: https://www.theverge.com/2018/3/18/17129440/emergency-sos-iphone-apple-watch-accident
As an Apple Watch user, I love the convenience of being able to see how effective a workout is in terms of heart rate, oxygen levels, and more. Being able to gain such information has really been helpful to know what works for me and what doesn’t.
You mentioned being able to access vitals 24/7, and I think this is one of the main perks that would come out of increased features in smart watches. Those with autoimmune disorders like Type 1 diabetes would benefit most from such features, since they could help to prevent setbacks or major health events. Moreover, people with high blood pressure would be able to collect more data regarding their condition, which could help their doctors to make a clearer diagnosis or consistently monitor their condition. The article I read in relation to the future of smartwatches in healthcare states, “Wearable technology is expected to reach more people and has more disease prevention, detection, remote patient monitoring, and treatment applications.” Overall, the growth of smartwatches could become a game changer in the healthcare industry, possibly being able to one day track patterns in biometrics and find more treatments for various conditions.
Source: https://digitalhealthcentral.com/2021/04/05/what-is-the-future-of-wearable-technology-in-healthcare/
I have a feeling you will really be interested, and sadly very disappointed, in this article, “Google halts glucose-sensing contact lens project” by the BBC (1). Wearable tech has ambitions beyond just watches. When Google created its parent holding company Alphabet, the idea was that Alphabet would own a different company for every letter of the alphabet, with V being Verily Life Sciences. Verily aimed to create contact lenses that could measure glucose levels by analyzing glucose found in tears.
Sadly these glucose levels were too low to be of use, and the project had to be cancelled. However there are more non-watch wearables in the works as well. Smart rings such as Ouraring, or Movano ring both meant for health tracking in a smaller form factor. And the McLear ring is a smart ring meant solely for handling cardless payments. (2)
Apple’s imorovements with EKG capability in the apple watch, or fall detection with automatic 911 calling if you don’t get up, have gotten better and better at getting you to the hospital if an emergency happens, but equally important is how an apple watch can be of use in the hospital or at your primary care physician or doctor. Involving wearables for in electronic health records seems to be the next step after some legal, ethical, and practical questions are answered.
(1) https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-46262520#:~:text=A%20firm%20from%20Google%27s%20parent,develop%20the%20lens%20in%202014.
(2) https://www.wareable.com/fashion/best-smart-rings-1340