Wearable Technology - Revolutionising the healthcare industry

---

As the medical industry transitions into the digital world, advances in healthcare innovation are being readily adopted by health professionals and patients who are seeking new technologies which deliver meaningful benefits.

---

Wearable technology is at the forefront of this shift, as new developments now provide accurate and insightful information about human activity across a range of applications.
Aged care
Injury through falling is a significant problem that can cause physical trauma and stress on elderly patients. By using wearable applications on the patient’s legs and back, healthcare professionals are able to measure poor balance, uneven gait patterns and identify who may be at a higher risk of falling.
Wearable devices are also able to aide in fall detection, when elderly patients or residents do not have close supervision of nursing or hospital care. For example, sensors are applied to the body to detect if a person has fallen, the position they are in and vitals can trigger an automatic alert to the carer.
Medical Carers and OH&S
Musculoskeletal injuries from overexertion in healthcare occupations are among the highest of any profession in the world, especially relating to lower back and shoulder injuries. Data recorded by wearables is now playing an important role in reducing risk to healthcare professionals by assessing manual handling activities and providing an insight into the strains placed upon their body or the body of employees, with potential to implement ‘best practice’ measures to reduce the risk of injuries.
Self-rehabilitation
Wearable technology is shifting treatment towards a ‘self care monitoring’ by encouraging patients to live healthier lifestyles and empowering them to take control of their own health. Beyond just recording data for athletes or fitness fanatics, devices now enable patients to monitor themselves remotely and take control of their own health. This data is able to be relayed to their healthcare professionals to provide an update to progress or keep a check on vital signs.
This in turn works to the advantage of rehabilitation specialists and physiotherapists, who have access to accurate data to provide patients with exercises to perform at home while measuring any advised treatment’s effectiveness to the individual.
Other forms of wearable technology are also being used to monitor sleep quality, to assess voiding episodes in hospital and nursing home environments and even to detect stress levels and as a potential diagnostic to depression.
Wearable sensors in healthcare are part of an ‘empowered self’ movement. Healthcare professionals are putting a greater emphasis on patient education, providing the metrics for patients to understand more about their bodies and manage their own health. This next generation of wearable technology has the power to provide accurate data from the patient’s real world environment, drive improvements in patient care and ultimately reduce costs to the healthcare system.

---

“Data recorded by wearables is now playing an important role in reducing risk to healthcare professionals by assessing manual handling activities.”

---

FAST FACTS

• Wearable technology allows for measuring poor balance, uneven gait patterns and risk of falling.


• Sleep quality and voiding episodes can be monitored with wearables.


• Data recorded by wearables can reduce risk to staff by assessing manual handling activities.


• Metrics empower patients to accept responsibility for their own health.

Dr Andrew Ronchi
Dr Andrew Ronchi B.App.Sci (Physio), PhD (Comm Sys Eng), GAICD Chief Executive Officer, is the brainchild and founder of Melbourne-based technology company dorsaVi. A sports fanatic and former physio for AFL clubs Melbourne and St Kilda, Andrew and his brother Dan developed a suite of wearable sensor technologies that have a unique ability to measure and interpret human movement.