The Internet of Things

12Healthcare

Duarte Gonçalves‐Ferreira, Joana Ferreira, Bruno Oliveira, Ricardo Cruz‐Correia, and Pedro Pereira Rodrigues

CINTESIS – Center for Health Technology and Services Research, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal

12.1 Internet of Things in Healthcare Settings

The ageing population and the related rise in chronic illnesses is giving rise to new challenges in health services [1–6]. There is a growing demand for healthcare and health monitoring, increasing the need for hospital beds, equipment, doctors, nurses, and other health professionals [1, 4, 6, 7]. There is thus an urgent need for solutions that reduce the pressure on healthcare systems and institutions without compromising the quality of the services provided [1, 2, 5].

The application of Internet of Things (IoT) technology in healthcare has emerged as a powerful weapon in reducing the pressure on healthcare systems and early IoT‐based systems have been developed in many health‐related applications such as remote health monitoring, fitness programs, chronic diseases, and elderly care [1, 2, 8–10].

A Market Research Report from GrandView Research estimated that the global healthcare sector will invest nearly 161 billion dollars in IoT devices, software, and services in 2020, up from 58.9 billion dollars in 2014 [11]. The report pinpoints two main factors for this increase: the increasing geriatric population and technological advancements in IoT technology such as 5G networks and faster, ...