The Life-Saving Role of IoT in Healthcare
Is it really far-fetched to say that you can save people’s lives through Internet of Things (IoT)?
Consider this scenario
You are in your car at a jam-packed highway, 7.45 am in the morning, going to work. Looking at the extraordinary traffic, you know you will be late for work and you’re getting impatient. “How much early should I be on the road, 5 am??” You have this urge to plow through all the cars in front of you.
Suddenly, a man clambers out of his car, hand on his chest. Looking at his face, you know he’s in considerable pain. He is inching towards the curb, but it looks like he’s about to pass out in front of your car first.
You get out of the car and quickly catch him. In between labored breath, the man said “I can’t breathe…”
You’re not a doctor but you can tell that he’s having the onset of cardiac arrest.
You look at the unmoving cars, most of the drivers looking out helplessly, two more people arrive at the scene. One offers to call 911 and another one is certified in using AED. You know that the nearest hospital is 20 km away.
You let them call 911 anyway, but you have this sinking feeling that the ambulance with AED equipment may not arrive on time. Meanwhile, the man is slowly slipping away. This is the most helpless situation you’ve ever been in.
What do you do in this life-or-death situation?
IoT swoops in
Internet of Things, IoT for short is a network of physical things embedded with sensors that transmit data from one place to another (and vice versa) over the Internet. The kinds of data transmitted vary — from equipment’s location and status to a person’s weight and blood pressure, depending on the use cases of having the IoT-enabled devices.
Smartwatches, smart TVs, even Alexas, function on the premise of IoT. Take a smartwatch as an example. Not only does it keep time and help you interact with your apps without swiping the smartphone, but it can also keep track of your biometric measurements such as heart rate, perspiration levels, and even sleeping patterns.
Drones are another example. We usually hear about the use of drones for photography and videography purposes. A drone was used to record videos and take pictures, commemorating our family’s first get-together after months in lockdown, (no) thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, this is not a full-fledged IoT drone. It’s a hobby drone with limited IoT capabilities which can only be operated via a remote controller within visual line of sight.
IoT drones are those that can be connected with mobile broadband to receive and transmit data over the Internet. According to their specific use cases, they can be equipped with GPS to get location information and sensors to detect movements. For live feeds to monitor people, objects, or surroundings, camera and video devices can be installed. In healthcare scenarios, they can also be enhanced to carry payloads such as medical supplies and AED, and ruggedized enough to fly through various environmental conditions.
Saved by the Drone
Back to the unfortunate situation on the congested highway. What if an IoT drone can be used to deliver the much-needed AED while waiting for the ambulance to arrive? Through the 911 call, the operator tracks the location of the distress call and deploys an AED-carrying drone to the designated location. It definitely takes a shorter time for the drone to reach the area, a feat that can’t be achieved by an ambulance that needs to brave the stand-still traffic.
Once the drone arrives at the location, the qualified person who is already at the scene can detach the AED from the drone and administer it on the man with cardiac arrest. By this time, the man’s chance for survival has improved significantly.
The time window between cardiac arrest and the first shock defibrillation is crucial. The more time a person spends in cardiac arrest before receiving treatment, the lower the chance they have for survival. American Red Cross claimed that for every minute the defibrillation is delayed, the chance of death increases by 10%.
The ambulance arrives 15–20 minutes later. By this time, the patient’s condition is more stabilized, and he only needs to be transported to the hospital for further treatment to ensure complete recovery. By dispatching an AED through a drone expediently, a person’s life has been saved.
Future Outlook
Although drones have not been used in real-life situations yet (as of this writing), they have consistently proven to be better than traditional emergency responders in terms of speed and arrival time during experiments and mathematical simulations.
Of course, some kinks have to be worked out so that this novel way of saving lives can become more practical, user-friendly and safe for the surrounding people.
AED-carrying drones should be permitted to operate autonomously beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) to really make an impact in saving lives. Until this time of writing, clear regulations allowing drones to fly BVLOS have not been forthcoming in the US due to safety concerns of people and infrastructures on the ground. Having said that, a few countries have already legalized flying drones BVLOS, imposing certain restrictions.
Mobile connectivity is also a key factor in enabling autonomous operation of IoT drones. This is to ensure continuous and reliable communication between the drone and the controller to eliminate risks of flying to the wrong location, or worse, falling to the ground and causing injuries. So, a secure and strong wireless network connectivity is crucial to cover more areas for drone operations.
We can’t totally rule out the role of civilians in this life-threatening situation. After all, they need to administer the AED to the patient before the entire medical team arrives at the scene. So, tests are underway to determine the best method to get the AED into a bystander’s hands from the drone. Do you land the drone and get the bystander to physically remove the AED? Should the AED be landed on a mini parachute instead?
It goes without saying that knowledge about recognizing cardiac arrest, performing CPR and using AED is still relevant and essential, and should be made part of public health and safety awareness.
Many other healthcare use cases can benefit from IoT enablement. Although this technology is regarded as new, there are 31 billion IoT devices in 2020 alone. This can only mean that rapid improvement and innovation of IoT will be here in no time.
Can you think of other ways for IoT to revolutionize healthcare? How about the roles of IoT-drones in fields other than healthcare? Well, endless possibilities abound!
Originally published at https://shigimyusof.com on April 12, 2020.
