Healthcare on the Move: The Evolution and Future of Wearable Health Tech
摘要
The paradigm shift of wearable technology in healthcare delivery is replacing the traditional wristband wearables with a timely, latest range of multi-functional, hand-free devices that are directly built into our bodies. This chapter describes the emerging landscape of whole-body wearable health tech. It discusses various innovations, from intelligent clothing to skin patches with embedded biosensors (and even implantable devices), all of which can be used for real-time monitoring, early diagnosis, and personalized intervention. In addition to the challenges of data privacy, integration with existing healthcare infrastructure, and ensuring equitable access, further chapter sections analyze the potential for wearables in chronic disease management (CDM), preventive care, and telemedicine. These developments can lower costs, improve outcomes, and change how healthcare practitioners practice medicine in a consumer-payer ecosystem that values remote care delivery with patient-centricity; we see implications for these trends across multiple healthcare areas. It is great to see a role for these in the future and where innovation will go. However, most of these devices were not FDA (or EU) approved and calibrated, indicating a volatile clinical outcome on a subject. The transition of wearable devices from their humble beginnings as simple fitness and activity trackers to sophisticated diagnostic and therapeutic medical devices marks a new age in which technology is not an adjunct but instead one of the main pillars of patient care. Wearables are where the future lies, and they have the potential to revolutionize healthcare as we could not even imagine before.