The following is a guest blog post by Kelly Everson.
Wearable tech and its purpose
Wearable tech is no more a thing of future times; it’s here, and it can help many people regarding health issues. Go to any store or just go online, and you will realize that fitness bands and smartwatches are all around you. But you are no expert; how will you decide what to buy? How will you know the choice you made will help you with the issue you are confronted?
Well, that all depends on what you need and at what price. Not every single device is the same, even though they look very similar. Wearable technology can be fun in some cases and useful in others. The wearable category is still being developed and each day we can witness a new band or something of the sort.
Up till now, smartwatches have had quite a good impact on personal safety and in the wellness area. The impact related to health has not been very big, but a lot is happening and will continue to happen.
Various giant companies such as Google, Apple, Baidu, and Samsung are working on health platforms. They can aggregate info from different sources and wearables, and promise to gather highly valuable insights based on sets of data.
How to choose a smart band or a smartwatch?
Think about the design, and does it appeal to you. You will also have to find out does the device support a Bluetooth, and what operating system it supports. If you plan to swim while wearing it, it should be waterproof, or at least swim-friendly. It is also very important that the device has a solid battery life and. Search and discover what apps does it run, and are those apps the ones you need. Some devices have screens that are always on, while other don’t. That feature consumes a lot of power and drains the battery, so keep that in mind. You should check if the device supports heart rate monitor and at what level.
Smartwatches and patients with heart problems
Smartwatches are supposed to play a very important role in medicine, especially for patients with heart problems, here is why:
- Continuous monitoring of heart rate and other bodily functions
That will help patients in many ways. Monitoring of heart rate and movement has become state of the art in some of the latest releases of smartwatches, but some other parameters have improved as well. Now people can monitor their blood sugar, blood pressure, nutrition, temperature and more. In the upcoming releases of smartwatches, some other parameters will be introduced. Patients with heart problems will benefit the most, as they are the most endangered group.
- Therapy
Heart patients as said before are the most endangered group and need the most care. Based on diagnostics and monitoring we can conclude that certain wearables will be used solely for therapy. Some smartwatches will have a function of delivering drugs at the right context and time. There are many such programs under way and have received a few million dollars of funding to make it a reality.
- Specific group of patients and corresponding tools
Just think about a specific smartwatch apps for patients with heart problems, or those who suffer from diabetes, blindness, deafness, epilepsy, lung issues and so on and so on. Hundreds of applications are in development as we speak around the world, and have a great potential for the mentioned group of patients.
- Patient records in an electronic form
Smartwatches seem to be a fantastic key for electronic patient records. They are great for recording health data and are on you all the time, even in a case of an emergency. Users will have total control over who gets access to what information and in which particular situation.
What’s next?
Even though the benefits are obvious and splendid, years will pass until smartwatches can reveal their full potential within the medical area. A lot of scientific data will be needed to conquer regulatory hurdles and to get compensated by the systems of health care. Also, people will have to be confident that their details are secure.
Even though, it will take time, by 2020 smartwatches are going to be indispensable and extremely valuable tool throughout a vast number of health care settings.
About Kelly Everson
Kelly Everson is MA in English Literature and an American Author. Her work comprises of articles appearing or forthcoming in over a dozen health care websites and global internet magazine covering technology, future gadgets, beauty skin care and overall men’s & women’s health. When she’s not educating strangers with her writing, she’s most likely researching about new discoveries in technology, health, fitness and beauty industry. Connect with her on Facebook and Twitter.
