How Are Wearable Medical Devices Changing the Game in Health

Trends toward wearable medical devices are growing, both in the consumer sector and in healthcare. “There are many trends, both in the hospital segments and consumer segments, and they go based on specific needs or wants—what the consumer wants or the hospital wants,” said Girish Sripathi, wireless embedded engineer—medical devices, at Philips Healthcare, in an interview. For his upcoming presentation at BIOMEDevice San Jose, he said he would talk very generally about wearable medical devices. Examples he cited are fitness wearables like watches and chest straps, which could increase in the future depending on how people would like to look at the data from these devices. Regarding the trends, it is highly likely that there could be more research and more avenues for analyzing the patient’s historical data and updating them on alarming signals.
 
Sripathi said that consumers who use wearables can be better informed about their health because they can see things like their blood pressure, heart rate, even their glucose levels on an app right on their phone. “But if they need more detailed information, they will have to visit their clinician at the hospital,” he explained. “These [devices] are more aimed at giving them an idea of what happening with their health, that’s all.”
 
Some things that medical device manufacturers have to consider when developing wearable devices are the regulatory issues, whether they are to be connected, and if so, what technologies they would employ. In particular, the presentation will touch on how 5G will likely impact wearables and how miniaturization of electronics is enabling the design of more reliable and adaptable wearables.
 
When asked why attendees should go to his session, Sripathi said, “I don't think it's anything mystical because they already know a lot, but for people who find it fascinating, they might find it interesting to know what's in their new domain, and what the underlying concepts are in this domain.”Sripathi’s will present, “How Wearable Devices Are Changing the Game in Healthcare,” on Wednesday, December 4, from 11:30 a.m. to 12 p.m., at Center Stage in Booth 641.