Abstract
The Internet of things (IoT) is revolutionizing several industries with unprecedented possibilities and opportunities. One of the industries that has a critical direct impact on humans, is the healthcare industry. While IoT technologies can be seen in medical supply chains within the healthcare sector, however, IoT technologies are still not widely adopted in other areas and services within the healthcare sector. The number of patients living with diabetes has increased drastically over the past four decades and is expected to increase even more over the next ones. The disease currently has no cure, and if the patients are not monitored and get the right treatment at the right time, it might end a patient’s life. The IoT is said to be a game-changer for the healthcare industry and the aim of this paper is to review and investigate how IoT technologies and solutions can improve the quality of life and aid the people living with the chronic disease. Our findings suggest that IoT can aid in patient monitoring, including the continuous glucose monitoring, and also can assist in providing a healthier lifestyle for patients through activity and diet tracking. In addition, we have identified key challenges for IoT adoptions and implementations in healthcare within the scope of this research.
Highlights
It has been projected that within the 10 years, the deaths related to chronic diseases will increase by 17%, which compromises approximately sixty-four million people [1]
The Internet of things has been defined as “the integration of all devices that connect to the network, which can be managed from the web and in turn, provide information in real-time to allow interaction with that use it” [1]
The idea behind the concept is the variety of things or objects around us, such as radio-frequency identification tags (RFID), mobile phones, sensors etc., that are able to interact and collaborate with each other and their neighbours through unique addressing systems [11]
Summary
It has been projected that within the 10 years, the deaths related to chronic diseases will increase by 17%, which compromises approximately sixty-four million people [1]. If the patients are not monitored and get the right treatment at the right time, it might end the patient’s life abruptly. Among the common chronic diseases that can be managed with strict monitoring is diabetes [1]. The number of patients with diabetes has increased from 108 million in the 1980s to 422 million in 2014 [1]. There is no cure for diabetes per today, but the disease can be treated with a strict diet, constantly measuring of blood glucose levels, physical activity, medication and regular screening and treatment [2]
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