Internet of Things: A Survey for the Individuals' E-Health Applications

Abstract

In today's world, the Internet of Things (IoT), which is a fairly new technology, has become a popular topic for discussion. Meanwhile, the increasing demand for personalized healthcare with the assistance of new technologies has created new applications called e-health IoT applications; however, researchers are still attempting to find its applications, therefore they have not been able to focus on comparing these applications. We have aimed at understanding the benefits of e-health IoT applications in comparison to one another. Therefore, this study is an attempt to provide a list of e-health IoT applications for individuals and to prioritize them. The Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process (FAHP) method has been used, which is a method for Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) and a useful tool for prioritizing multiple alternatives based on criteria. Eight important criteria, based on a comprehensive literature review and experts’ opinions, were determined. Then, by using the FAHP method, the weight of each criterion was calculated. As a result, seven applications identified for individuals were prioritized based on the weight of each criterion and the score of each application in each criterion. Health Effectiveness, Empowerment, Safety, Privacy, and Peace of Mind are the most important criteria in e-health IoT applications for individuals; Cost Saving, round-the-clock Access, and Time-Saving are in the next levels of importance. The results also show that Chronic disease management, Medication reminders, Health monitoring, Air quality, Fall detection, Sleep control and Fitness were respectively ranked as first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh among the IoT applications.