While the popularity of wearable fitness technology is growing by the day, with increased competition and lower prices, wearable technology has begun to spread much more quickly. Wearable technology, such as FitBits and smartwatches, is likely to become considerably more common in the coming years.
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What Are Wearables?
Wearable technology is a term used to describe a collection of gadgets such as smartwatches and fitness trackers that gather data such as daily steps, heart rate, and respiration rate. These gadgets are designed to be worn throughout the day and are referred to as wearables.
With the growing need for consumers to monitor their health data and follow crucial signals, the usage of wearable technology has tripled in the previous five years. According to consumer studies, more than 80% of people are interested in utilizing wearable fitness equipment.
Wearable technology demand has grown far faster than anticipated, resulting in a very huge market. Insurers and businesses are now searching for ways to use wearable health technologies to help their staff and consumers. So, how does wearable technology, which has seen far more demand than projected in recent years, help healthcare services?
Wearable Technology For Health Improvement?
To determine if wearable healthcare technologies are advantageous, it is necessary to first define wearable technology. Wearable healthcare technology includes items like smartwatches and Fitbits, which are designed to capture users’ health and activity data. These gadgets can transmit real-time health data to a doctor or healthcare practitioner. Consumers’ growing willingness to share their wearable data with healthcare professionals and insurance suggests that wearable technology device demand will skyrocket in the coming years.
Different Types Of Wearables Devices Present In the Market Today!
Wearable Fitness Trackers
Wearable fitness trackers are the most basic and original kind of wearable technology. These bracelets have sensors that allow users to monitor their physical activity and heart rate. Wearable fitness trackers link with a variety of smartphone apps to give users health and fitness recommendations.
Smart Health Watches
Smartwatches have evolved from being only a gadget that displays step counting and duration in the early days to being clinically useful healthcare instruments. In 2017, Apple released the Apple Heart Study app to help patients with atrial fibrillation monitor and stimulate their heart rhythms. The current version of the watch received a blood oxygen saturation monitoring function, a new sleep tracking feature, an FDA-approved ECG sensor, and an improved heart health tracker in 2020.
People may use smartwatches to perform the same tasks that they can with their phones in their daily lives. We may display activities like reading the information, sending messages, and making phone calls as examples of daily operations. Fitness tracker functions, as well as exercise and health recommendations, are all available on smartwatches.
Wearable ECG Monitors
Wearable ECG monitors are consumer electronics gadgets that use cutting-edge technology. The ability to measure electrocardiograms, or ECGs, separates these gadgets from smartphones. The Move ECG is a gadget that can monitor the electrocardiogram and communicate the data to the user’s doctor. It has been named the best product in its industry on multiple platforms. It also can detect atrial fibrillation. Apart from these, it can track distance, elevation, walking, running, swimming, and cycling automatically.
Wearable Blood Pressure Monitors
In 2019, the first wearable blood pressure monitors were introduced. Although this gadget resembles a traditional smartwatch, it has an oscillometric blood pressure monitor that can track blood pressure throughout the day. The gadget, which has an average memory capacity of 100 records, may send this data to the mobile app with which it is linked. Doctors can use this gadget to get a sense of how a person’s everyday choices impact blood pressure.
Biosensors
Smartwatches and wrist trackers are not the same as biosensors. A biosensor is a gadget that allows patients to roam around while collecting information on their heart rate, respiration rate, and body temperature. According to research done in the United States, this wearable technology reduced the number of individuals suffering from heart and respiratory problems by 89 percent. These findings suggest that wearable devices enhance patient outcomes while also reducing the number of healthcare staff.
Key Challenges of Wearables:
Battery Life
Not only do wearables require long-lasting batteries, but they must also be able to fit into the tiniest of packaging while not exploding into flames if stabbed or overheated.
Connectivity
For connectivity, wearables must rely on low-power wireless communications such as Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) rather than Wi-Fi and 3G/4G cellular radios, which are more well connected but consume a lot of battery.
Design
No one wants to wear a heart rate monitor that looks like a piece of electronics; despite performance drawbacks such as poor battery life and restricted functionality, the Apple iWatch continues to sell well because it looks great. Wearables don’t just need to look nice, they also need to feel comfortable and give top performance.
The Need For Wearables Technology:
- Brings Fitness back into focus
- Reduces Health-Related Expenses
- They allow users to stay fit and active for a much longer period
- Tracks a disease in its early stages
Conclusion
Wearable technology is a developing sector with a lot of room for growth. As more individuals appreciate the importance of wearables in the medical field, the sector is fast expanding.
