February 21st saw PETRAS’ first event of the year kick off to a packed show, with attendees being informed on the possibilities and pitfalls of the growing implementation of tech in various sectors – like wearables in healthcare.
PETRAS, a consortium of 24 research institutions and the world’s largest socio-technical research centre focused on the future implementation of the IoT, summit ‘We Are Connected – Are We Protected?’ featured a day of talks that focused on prioritising the human experience, privacy and security in a digitally connected world.
MP Dame Caroline Dineage, Chair of the Culture, Media & Sport Committee and who has been instrumental in pushing the Online Safety Bill, fittingly kicked off one of the main sessions of the day: the rights and implications of wearables in fields like healthcare by introducing Professor Simon K C Toh.
“I believe wearables are the future of healthcare,” Toh told the seminar hall.
Toh, a consultant surgeon at NHS Trusts, is involved in a number of companies aiming to digitise the arena of healthcare, so although not an engineer, is well equipped to see the synergy of the two.
Wearable technology has become an increasingly indispensable tool in the healthcare sector. Offering innovative solutions for patient monitoring and disease management, these devices, ranging from smartwatches to fitness bands, are equipped with sensors that can track a wide array of health metrics such as heart rate, blood pressure, and oxygen levels. This constant monitoring allows for real-time health assessments, enabling early detection of potential health issues.
Yet, with healthcare, a prime concern is confidentiality. Thus, security, already a concern for wearables outside the healthcare setting, remains a hurdle to wider implementation. Previously, the NHS had a separate department called NHS Digital, which provided IT and security support for the organisation before being incorporated into NHS England. The service now manages 44 million logins of users and has 1.6 million devices enrolled.
“Yet, all this medtech is useless if patients don’t trust it,” explains Toh. Legislation like the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill, currently being poured over in the Houses of Parliament, could, however, go a long way to bring this confidence to the public.
“Healthcare is about patient outcomes,” Toh asserted, as he goes on to give an example of how digitalising the process can achieve a better level of care for the same public. In an offline process, this would involve a patient calling a GP, waiting to be seen; being seen, given treatment or ask patient to monitor condition and then return for further examination. With a digital process, not only could an app be used to book, but wearables could be worn by the patient, which feeds the data to the physician, and then either expedites the follow up or gives data to suggest no further action is needed.
“Providing we are vigilant, the benefits of wearables outweigh the risks,” concluded Toh.
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