https://www.iotworldtoday.com/wp-content/themes/ioti_child/assets/images/logo/IoTWorldToday-mobile-logo.png
  • Home
  • News
    • Back
    • Roundups
  • Strategy
  • Special Reports
  • Business Resources
    • Back
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Industry Perspectives
    • Featured Vendors
  • Other Content
    • Back
    • Q&As
    • Case Studies
    • Features
    • How-to
    • Opinion
    • Podcasts
    • Strategic Partners
    • Latest videos
  • More
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact
    • Advertise
    • Editorial Submissions
  • Events
Iot World Today
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • News
    • Back
    • Roundups
  • Strategy
  • Special Reports
  • Business Resources
    • Back
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Industry Perspectives
    • Featured Vendors
  • Other Content
    • Back
    • Q&As
    • Case Studies
    • Features
    • How-to
    • Opinion
    • Podcasts
    • Strategic Partners
    • Latest videos
  • More
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact
    • Advertise
    • Editorial Submissions
  • Events
  • newsletter
  • IIoT
  • Cities
  • Energy
  • Homes/Buildings
  • Transportation/Logistics
  • Connected Health Care
  • Retail
  • AI
  • Metaverse
  • Development
  • Security
ioti.com

Connected Health Care


Getty Images

Noncontact sensor technology

Noncontact Sensor Technology Is Gaining Traction

Advances in noncontact sensor technology could drive digital health progress, but obstacles persist. 
  • Written by Brian Buntz
  • 4th June 2020

Key takeaways from this article:

  • Wearable technology has loomed large in the digital health landscape, but in the future, noncontact sensor technology could play a growing role. 
  • Growing interest in population health could also drive digital health technology adoption, such as contactless fever monitoring in public spaces.
  • Traditional workflows based on in-patient acute care. 

Telehealth adoption has exploded, helping fuel a transition to virtual care for many common ailments that health care observers have long promised.

But advances in noncontact sensor technologies could fuel more progress, according to Frost & Sullivan, which anticipates the overall remote patient monitoring segment to grow at a compound annual growth rate of nearly 20% from 2019 to 2023. 

[IoT World, North America’s largest IoT event, is going virtual August 11-13 with a three-day virtual experience putting IoT, AI, 5G and edge into action across industry verticals. Register today]

In the initial wave of digital health, many traditional medical devices gained the ability to communicate patient data wirelessly. Meanwhile, the rise of wearable devices has commoditized pulse monitoring and other metrics. While wearable devices such as smartwatches have become popular, they aren’t mainstream. Only one in five Americans uses such devices, according to Pew Research. Wearables can be uncomfortable and relatively expensive — especially those that go beyond mere step- and pulse-counting. 

Advantages of Noncontact Technology

Noncontact technology offers advantages compared with wearables, according to Frost & Sullivan. First, by not requiring patients or clinicians to physically interact with such systems, noncontact sensors simplify health condition monitoring and spot health problems unobtrusively. Think of sensor technology mounted beneath a mattress that can detect vital signs in a hospital or epileptic seizures in a patient’s home. Video-based technologies armed with machine learning can monitor patients after surgeries or track their medication adherence. One startup has developed a vital sign monitor that works by analyzing blood flow in the cheeks via a smartphone camera.

As medical professionals seek new ways to curb infectious diseases, noncontact technologies present a bright future, predicted Ashish Kaul, a senior research analyst at Frost & Sullivan. Already, non-contact patient monitoring techniques have shown promise in tracking patients with COVID-19 infections, Kaul said. 

Many noncontact sensors for patient monitoring also can be readily integrated with smartphones with apps for either patients or health care workers. With more than 80% of Americans owning a smartphone according to Pew Research Center and disease awareness improving, a mature phase of remote patient monitoring technology could begin in the next two to four years, according to Kaul.

Other factors that could drive adoption of noncontact patient monitoring technology are advances in Doppler radar, infrared and sound analysis, and machine learning. Surging interest in noncontact monitoring technology to detect fevers and coughing episodes as well as  enforcing social distancing measures in public could also drive awareness in noncontact technology. “After this pandemic, we will keep on using such technologies,” said Alicia Asín, CEO of Libelium. “Traditionally, many people got the flu in the workplace. You could reduce the number of people who get ill at a company each year if you could tell people with a fever to work from home.”

Breaking Old Habits 

While also optimistic about advances in noncontact sensors and growing interest in telehealth, the scope of health care transformation hinges on changes in incentives and behavior, said Bill Betten, president of the consultancy Betten Systems Solutions. Much of the health care ecosystem in the U.S. prioritizes in-patient care. “The health care system is largely reaction-based,” Betten said. A large part of the promise of remote patient monitoring is to prevent negative outcomes. But the reality is clinicians generally have the incentive to prioritize quantity of care over quality. “Think of hospitals like factories,” Betten said. “They want their machines running all of the time, and patients running through with money.” 

While the Affordable Care Act beefed up support for preventive health services and instituted penalties for hospital readmissions, health care in the U.S. continues to prioritize treatment of those who are ill. Only 3% of U.S. health care expenditures focus on prevention. Other digital technologies like electronic health records also “often emphasize financial matters over caring for patients,” Betten said.

Expanding access of preventive care and remote patient monitoring will depend on broad shifts throughout the health care ecosystem.

Ultimately, Kaul sees noncontact remote technologies as an efficiency boon for medical professionals. “There will be some initial hiccups like increased false alarms, but improving device accuracy using advanced sensors and communication technology will [help] alleviate such problems in the future,” he said.

“The health care industry has slowly started understanding the significance of digital technology such as telemedicine and remote patient monitoring in the current pandemic situation,” Kaul said. Digital technologies are becoming embedded in more clinicians’ workflows, which “could well be the tipping point for the shift in preference amongst physicians from traditional to digital health technologies,” Kaul added.

 

Tags: Connected Health Care Vertical Industries

Related Content


  • AI Summit 2022: Health Care AI Group Wins Into the Den Competition
    Panakeia wins the dragon-den style pitching competition from 30 of the best and brightest AI startups
  • University of Tokyo robotic skin
    Researchers Develop Living Skin for Robots 
    Made from real human skin cells, the material has self-healing capabilities and is a major step forward for humanoid robotics
  • Vayyar Hardware Teardown
    Imaging Sensor Startup Secures $108M for 4D Imaging Pipeline
    The group had its beginnings in health care, but has expanded to retail, automotive and more
  • Crab micro-robot
    Robotic Crab is Smallest Walking Bot Ever
    The miniature bot uses shape memory alloys and has potentially groundbreaking applications in the health and manufacturing sectors

Leave a comment Cancel reply

-or-

Log in with your IoT World Today account

Alternatively, post a comment by completing the form below:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Latest News

  • FDA Clears Robotic Exoskeleton for Multiple Sclerosis Patients
  • Researchers Create 3D Printing Process for Robotic Materials
  • What AI, the NBA and Cancer Therapies Have in Common
  • VR Platform Trains Health Care Workers Caring for Dementia Patients.

Roundups

View all

IoT Product Roundup: Canonical, InfluxData, Wiliot and More

23rd June 2022

IoT Product Roundup: Cisco, Telit, Draganfly and More

9th June 2022

IoT Deals, Partnerships Roundup: Google, Arm, Senet and More

26th May 2022

White Papers

View all

The Role of Manufacturing Technology in Continuous Improvement Ebook

6th April 2022

IIoT Platform Trends for Manufacturing in 2022

6th April 2022

Latest Videos

View all
Image shows Unilever's Alberto Prado at AI Summit 2022 in London

AI Summit 2022: Unilever’s Alberto Prado

Prado talks about how Unilever is using AI to accelerate the speed of new discoveries and gives them access to more breakthrough innovation

Image Shows John Lewis' Barry Panai at AI Summit London 2022

AI Summit 2022: John Lewis’ Barry Panayi on AI in Retail

Panayi talks about data and AI in retail and how individuals and the technology can work together

E-books

View all

How Remote Access Helps Enterprises Improve IT Service and Employee Satisfaction

12th January 2022

An Integrated Approach to IoT Security

6th November 2020

Webinars

View all

Rethinking the Database in the IoT Era

18th May 2022

Jumpstarting Industrial IoT solutions with an edge data management platform

12th May 2022

AI led Digital Transformation of Manufacturing: Time is NOW

9th December 2021

Special Reports

View all

Omdia’s Smart Home Market Dynamics Report

7th January 2022

Cybersecurity Protection Increasingly Depends on Machine Learning

28th October 2020

IoT Security Best Practices for Industry and Enterprise

20th October 2020

Twitter

IoTWorldToday, IoTWorldSeries

IoT Product Roundup: Nokia, Energous, Dashbot and more dlvr.it/STRKDh https://t.co/YgTAI5SXSB

6th July 2022
IoTWorldToday, IoTWorldSeries

A new #IoT bug monitoring system from @CENSIS121 is helping the UK’s #forestry industry fight pests, and save money… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

6th July 2022
IoTWorldToday, IoTWorldSeries

NHTSA Boss Hints at Federally Regulating Autonomous Vehicles dlvr.it/STQrrw https://t.co/Yjp1UKuaE5

6th July 2022
IoTWorldToday, IoTWorldSeries

Nvidia Powered Driverless Three-Wheelers Set to Debut dlvr.it/STQq0H https://t.co/RrYyVPgFzB

6th July 2022
IoTWorldToday, IoTWorldSeries

New Drone System Aims for Full Autonomy dlvr.it/STQnvV https://t.co/S4O8hb6gQh

6th July 2022
IoTWorldToday, IoTWorldSeries

Bosch, VW Approved to Develop Automated Driving dlvr.it/STQllD https://t.co/neI30dVmC6

6th July 2022
IoTWorldToday, IoTWorldSeries

🤔 Looking for 3 Strategies to Avoid IoT Key Theft? We’ve got you covered! As tech companies continue to develop an… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

5th July 2022
IoTWorldToday, IoTWorldSeries

AI Summit 2022: Unilever’s Alberto Prado dlvr.it/STMpRN https://t.co/1dyLREr8N6

5th July 2022

Newsletter

Sign up for IoT World Today newsletters: vertical industry coverage on Tuesdays and horizontal tech coverage on Thursdays.

Special Reports

Our Special Reports take an in-depth look at key topics within the IoT space. Download our latest reports.

Business Resources

Find the latest white papers and other resources from selected vendors.

Media Kit and Advertising

Want to reach our audience? Access our media kit.

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • IoT World Series
  • Channel Futures
  • RISC-V
  • Dark Reading
  • ITPro Today
  • Web Hosting Talk

WORKING WITH US

  • Contact
  • About Us
  • Advertise
  • Login/Register

FOLLOW IoT World Today ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookies Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2022 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.
This website uses cookies, including third party ones, to allow for analysis of how people use our website in order to improve your experience and our services. By continuing to use our website, you agree to the use of such cookies. Click here for more information on our Cookie Policy and Privacy Policy.
X