Connected health: what is the Internet of Medical Things or IoMT?

Connected health has revolutionized the way patients are treated, helping them live better and longer. Thanks to sensors and connected devices, medical professionals and patients alike are benefiting from increasingly innovative technologies. Innovation through digital transformation of the health sector is underway, conveying issues for the well-being of all.

Internet of Medical Things (IoMT): what are we talking about?

The Internet of Medical Things is part of the Internet of Things (IoT) technologies, which generally refers to the process of networking physical objects via software.

IoMT or healthcare IoMT is about interconnected devices and applications dedicated to the medical sectors, such as embedded sensors and other equipment. These software devices connect patients, physicians and the medical infrastructure by sending health information or a real-time activity report over a secure network.

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The fields of application of the IoMT

The evolution of IoMT technologies has changed the uses in the field of medical consultation. Teleconsultation – or remote consultation – often saves patients from having to visit their GP or the hospital emergency room (especially to renew treatments). The waiting time in medical facilities is considerably reduced.

The IoMT is also involved in monitoring patients in hospitals to maintain a maximum level of prevention. Infusion pumps or hospital beds can thus be equipped with sensors capable of measuring patients’ vital signs. In addition, connected tags placed on medical supplies and other equipment provide information on the quantities still in stock.

In terms of prevention, the IoMT alerts on possible equipment failures. Some electronic equipment is used to preserve people’s lives and cannot suffer the slightest system failure that could put the patient’s life at risk. Before the unit fails, an alert warns staff of a possible malfunction, ensuring a quick response.

What are the benefits of the Internet of Medical Things?

IoMT devices are constantly evolving and growing in number. They all aim to improve usage, patient care and costs by offering ever more innovative services. These innovation-oriented connected medical devices have several interests:

  • They optimize processes, developing new services and solutions such as teleconsultation or remote monitoring that increase efficiency while reducing operating costs. Caregivers spend less time monitoring a patient after a procedure and can focus on other medical activities.
  • They provide more accurate information about patient profiles, allowing healthcare facilities to tailor a more personalized care pathway, prescribe the right treatments and avoid medical errors.
  • They compensate for the shortcomings of hospital equipment and help make hospital networks more efficient.

The challenges of connected health aim to further optimize the management of data flows, a prerequisite for providing the medical network with the highest level of intelligence, automation, security and privacy. This feat should eventually improve the working conditions of the sector’s players and make home hospitalization more widespread, as far as possible.

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