It’s pretty amazing what wireless smartphones and tablets can do – from monitoring patients with heart disease, to how well you sleep, to how many calories you burn when you run.
But an even newer group of smart devices that wirelessly link to smartphones and tablets is coming, and health and fitness are the big winners, according to Juniper Research. Intelligent accessories that focus on training, weight management and healthcare monitoring of chronic disease will continue to lead the market for these devices, which will reach 110 million units in 2017 – up from 10 million in 2012, Jupiter’s report noted.
The study also found that consumer electronics uses, such as video eyewear, are areas where Juniper Research sees robust growth. Major retailers are clearing off shelf-space for smart wireless accessories, particularly in the U.S.
The possibilities are endless for smart healthcare device vendors. Right now, only 5 percent of medical devices are wireless, according to a survey by IMS Research.
In addition, Jupiter revealed, “Freemium” (offering basic Web services for free) and SaaS (software as a service) business models “will emerge as the market for smart wireless accessories matures.”
You can thank Nike, Jawbone Up and others who are making us all familiar with – and craving – all the things "smart hardware" can use the processing power of the smartphone to do, like analyzing and relaying information.
In the healthcare sector, managing chronic disease such as diabetes or COPD has become much easier with these devices, saving money and improving care by allowing patients to stay out of the hospital while still being remotely watched. Our military is one of the biggest beneficiaries of this type of care, telemedicine.
Boston-based Rest Devices, Inc. is testing a T-shirt with wireless sensors that measure breathing in sleep-apnea patients to gather information that physicians need to select treatment options, according to Sarah E. Needleman. Users can wear it at home.
"Smart wireless accessories will become an important tool for the self-management of chronic disease, although more complex mHealth ecosystems will require bespoke devices, partly because the smartphone is not yet seen as a medical tool," Anthony Cox said in the story.
Edited by
Braden Becker
