With the Internet of Things beginning to pervade every walk of life, how can the medical and healthcare fields be left behind, especially as it has been proved that IoT can save precious lives in far-flung areas where no medical facilities are available.

Smart devices have become ubiquitous, and leveraging the availability of these devices even among the less privileged sections of society, presents a humungous opportunity for IoT to address the healthcare needs of people far away from any physical medical centers.

IoT has the potential to take care of many health-related situations, such as remote health monitoring, fitness programs, severe diseases, and healthcare for the elderly. Some of the smart medical devices that can be used to provide timely and cost-effective healthcare are smart sensors, diagnostic and imaging devices.

Healthcare provided through IoT is likely to reduce costs, as well as increase the quality of life of a patient. Healthcare providers, on the other hand, can cut down on device downtime through remote control. Besides, IoT can provide for the most efficient use of limited resources by ensuring they are used to service more patients.

State-of-the-art healthcare facilities using wireless technologies are expected to support severe diseases, early diagnosis, real-time monitoring, and medical emergencies. For example, a patient’s health profile and diagnostic data are captured using portable medical devices and sensors attached to his/ her body. This data can then be analyzed and stored, which slowly aggregates to the patient’s medical history, and in the case of any future health issue the patient faces, doctors can quickly relate and connect it with previous medical records and come up with the best solution to treat it.