Digital Lifescapes

Healthcare sector innovation tends to progress at a slow pace, due to a number of historical factors that inhibit agility. For example, the Smart Home healthcare market continues to grow and evolve, but the scale of the opportunity remains under-penetrated. Last year, new smart home healthcare shipment and service revenues grew 25 percent to reach $22.9 billion worldwide, but that growth rate may be hard to sustain, despite the potential for further growth. According to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research, new smart home healthcare shipment and service revenues will reach $26.5 billion in 2023 -- that's up by 15 percent from 2022. Smart Home Healthcare Market Development Smart home healthcare, encompassing connected home care, remote patient monitoring, and social robotics, can improve the health and care of the most vulnerable while reducing staffing and other costs. It also represents an opportunity for a host of players from smart home vendors and beyond to extend ...

Precision Medicine uses molecular info to extract the optimum medical method from diagnostic protocols, by merging the impact of environmental and genetic factors. Data access is essential, with genetic metabolic and clinical data used to build a fuller picture of a patient's biology. Moreover, the primary aim of precision medicine is to design and optimize a pathway for diagnosis, therapeutic intervention, and prognosis, using large biological datasets. Personalized, evidence-based medicine uses stored health data, which includes patient diagnosis, laboratory work, insurance claims, and demographic information. The results enable healthcare providers to predict and prevent some illnesses. Precision Medicine Market Development According to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research, the total investment in precision medicine will reach $132.3 billion globally by 2027 -- that's increasing from only $35.7 billion in 2022. The significant market growth of 270 percent is...

Almost one-third of the healthcare organizations in the Asia-Pacific region are well aligned with their ecosystem, according to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). However, sustainability lies in effectively handling the challenges of healthcare organizations, by sensing the future technological trends. IDC recently released its Asia-Pacific market outlook. The predictions provide the Digital Health trends in the region -- enabling healthcare organizations to be proactive, instead of merely being reactive. The study emphasizes a rapid shift from hospital-centric to patient-centric care delivery. Widespread deployment of Telehealth services led consumers in the region to look at integrated (hybrid) care.  Medical 'Care Anywhere' Market Development Although digital front door strategy plays a critical role across the care continuum, a combination of physical and digital access -- while defining and designing hybrid integrated care -- must be ensured f...

The healthcare sector has advanced technological innovation. But the fragmented way in which many hospitals acquire solutions can introduce cost, time, and resource inefficiencies that hinder care delivery and the ability to meet strategic objectives. Therefore, the last several years have seen healthcare providers around the world embrace the concept of the 'smart hospital' as a means of optimizing multiple aspects of their IT performance. However, hospital implementation of new technologies can present significant challenges for the adopting organizations in terms of cybersecurity, interoperability, and execution. Smart Hospital Market Development According to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research, smart hospitals will deploy 7.4 million connected Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) devices globally by 2026 -- that's estimated to be over 3,850 devices per smart hospital. This global figure represents total growth of 231 percent over 2021 when 3.2 million dev...

The global COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated digital transformation across many industries. As an example, consider the healthcare sector. Some routine medical situations can be diagnosed and resolved online. While the trend was already in motion long before the pandemic arrived, the adoption of telehealth increased rapidly in 2020. Around the world, many governments responded to the disruption and inaccessibility of healthcare facilities by loosening previous regulations and restrictions on the practice of telemedicine apps, and teleconsultations. This decision resulted in the mass adoption of these medical services among patients and providers. According to the latest market study by Juniper Research, telemedicine will save the healthcare industry $21 billion in costs by 2025 -- that's rising from an estimated $11 billion in 2021. This increased app usage represents an anticipated growth rate of over 80 percent in the next four years. Telehealth Services Market Development The co...

More informed healthcare executives will apply artificial intelligence (AI) strategies to leverage this new technology in five core areas that improve decision making during the current pandemic, according to the latest worldwide market study by Gartner. "In the fight against COVID-19, AI offers an important arsenal of weapons," said Erick Brethenoux, research vice president at Gartner . "It allows predictions to be made about the spread of the virus, helps diagnose cases more quickly and accurately, measures the effectiveness of countermeasures to slow the spread, and optimizes emergency resources, to name a few." Early Detection and Epidemic Analysis AI techniques are used to understand, analyze and predict how and where the virus is spreading or slowing down. Automated contact tracing, for example, is used to build detailed social interaction graphs by analyzing a myriad of citizen data such as mobile phone locations and public facial recognition and back...

Especially in times of crisis, technology can be the catalyst for much-needed change. The vendors that enable the Global Networked Economy have become essential to all forward-looking leaders that seek innovation as a tool to uncover new solutions to significant challenges. Medical-related industries have discovered their New Normal. The Coronavirus outbreak has proven that healthcare institutions can no longer ignore the role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in their daily workflow. And, cognitive systems are essential components of their solutions to the current crisis. AI systems infrastructure spending in the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries is expected to increase from $463 million in 2019 to more than $2 billion over the next 5 years, according to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research. Medical AI Apps Market Development "Artificial Intelligence is playing a key role in responding to the pandemic," said Lian Jye Su, principal analyst at ABI Res...

Clinical-grade remote patient monitoring (RPM) is a solution that involves the secure transmission of medical data collected on devices, via telecommunications services. It's enabled through text, sound, images or other digital media used for the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of healthcare patients. The applications of emerging technologies such as the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Big Data analytics are enabling vendors to develop new use cases for remote patient monitoring. Remote Patient Monitoring Market Development In recent years, venture capitalists have increasingly invested in start-ups with competencies in these areas, especially integrated and lower-cost monitors and sensors. With this development, RPM will help to shift some healthcare services from the hospital to the home. According to the latest market study by Frost & Sullivan, RPM is forecast to become a mainstream medical service, with related rev...

Wearable technology adoption has reached a turning point in developed markets across the globe. Berg Insight released its latest findings of the connected wearables market. Shipments of connected wearables reached 116.8 million worldwide in 2018. Growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.4 percent, total shipments of smartwatches, smart glasses, fitness & activity trackers, smart clothing, mobile telecare and medical devices as well as other wearable devices are forecasted to reach 238.5 million units in 2023. Wearable Device Market Development Bluetooth will remain the primary connectivity option in the coming years. A total of 67.7 million of the wearables sold in 2023 are forecast to incorporate embedded cellular connectivity, mainly in the smartwatch and telecare or medical device categories. The connected fitness & activity tracker segment is led by Chinese Xiaomi, which has been successful with its Mi Band fitness tracker. Fitbit is still among the lar...

How can artificial intelligence (AI) technology improve traditional medicine? With 97 percent of all drug discovery programs reportedly failing, the development of a single new therapeutic involves an average cost of $2.6 billion. Helping to improve that process is a huge upside opportunity. Today, the complex research framework that's involved in the discovery and development of new therapeutic products makes drug innovation an extremely laborious process, according to the latest worldwide market study by Frost & Sullivan. Pharmaceutical AI Market Development More than 60 percent of known diseases remain untreatable. Meanwhile, life sciences companies are making progress in the fields of gene and cell therapies, omics technologies, and smart molecules approaches, creating the need for advanced, cost-effective technologies that can parse large quantities of data. "Pharmaceutical companies are increasingly recognizing the value of deploying AI-based platforms that c...

The Internet of Things (IoT) includes small devices that create a constant steam of data that needs to be captured and interpreted as actionable insight. This use case is especially important within the healthcare sector, where the ongoing analysis of data can be applied to improve a person's life. The gradual change in direction for fitness wearables to become essential healthcare devices will lead to over 75 million Americans using dedicated activity trackers by 2021 -- that's over double the current user base, according to the latest market study by Juniper Research. Healthcare Wearable Market Development The new research has found that this shift in focus will help to alter the consumer perception of wearable trackers, making them seem more necessary to achieving and maintaining good health -- and potentially lower healthcare expenses, based upon lifestyle choices. Vendors like Fitbit, Withings and Misfit are leading this change, making integration with medical data...

The high-cost healthcare system in the United States is clearly ready for a major digital transformation . In particular, cloud-based video technology has begun to display the potential to alter legacy processes. Virtual visits with a practitioner has surfaced as a viable method of seeking help for certain medical conditions. Catalyzed by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) rising prevalence of chronic conditions and an impending physician shortage, virtual visits will gain adoption in the U.S. healthcare industry. According to the latest study by Frost & Sullivan, the telehealth market will achieve a CAGR of 17.8 percent from 2015 to 2021. Both physician and patient familiarity with cloud-based video services is laying a foundation for the use of telehealth virtual visits. Early adopters have expressed their satisfaction with these services, encouraging providers to establish additional services focused on behavioral health and other specialized therapeutic areas. Market Developme...

Activity tracker shipments continued to grow in 2015 -- up almost 80 percent over 2014. Shipment totals will top 87 million in 2021 as these devices continue to lead consumers into the emerging wearable wireless connected health and well-being market, according to the latest market study by ABI Research. "Activity trackers are the current vanguard device for bringing consumers into connected medical services,” said Jonathan Collins, principal analyst at ABI Research . "As they continue to proliferate, they will spur greater investment in mHealth device development and adoption, as well as the services that can help bring the data these devices collect into health care provision." Essential Network Platforms and Infrastructure Despite the increasing popularity of activity trackers, the professional medical device market still awaits the shift to connected devices that has been underway in the consumer fitness market over the past few years. Connected medical devic...

Internet-enabled robotic devices intrigued many of the people who learned about new applications for the first time at CES 2016, others may have already known the numerous commercial use-cases for what's commonly referred to as the Internet of Things (IoT). A variety of advances in batteries, power electronics, motors, sensors, processors, artificial intelligence and other technology fields are now creating an environment where robotics can finally surge ahead in many different ways. According to the latest worldwide market study by IDTechEx Research , the greatest trend will be the growing adoption of mobile robotics. Over the next decade the statically-mounted robots of today will become a minority as next generation robots travel across the ground, in the air and even across oceans and in space. Advancing the Applications for Robotic Devices Autonomous unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) will transfer goods within warehouses, down highways alongside conventional passenger ve...

Shipments of connected wearables reached 72.5 million in 2015, that's up from 25.3 million devices in the previous year, according to the latest worldwide market study by Berg Insight. Many of these devices have become a significant part of the emerging Internet of Things (IoT) phenomena. Increasing by a compound annual growth rate of 25.8 percent, total global shipments of smartwatches, smart glasses, fitness & activity trackers, people monitoring & safety devices and medical devices as well as other wearable devices are forecasted to reach 228.3 million units in 2020. Moreover, Bluetooth will remain the primary M2M wireless connectivity option in the coming years. However, a total of 17.8 million of the wearables sold in 2020 are forecasted to incorporate embedded cellular connectivity, mainly in the smartwatch and people monitoring & safety categories. Apple entered the connected wearables market in Q2-2015 and quickly became the leading smartwatch vendor. The ...

The aging population within many nations has huge implications for healthcare providers, as costs continue to rise and qualified staff remain in short supply. Technology can help to increase productivity and improve the quality of services. Moreover, mobile communications, the public internet and software are all likely to have a positive impact on remote monitoring applications. The connected hospital patient monitoring equipment market consisting primarily of blood pressure monitors, pulse oximeters, and electrocardiogram monitors is set to grow at a 21.1 percent CAGR between 2014 and 2020, according to the latest market study by ABI Research. This increase is driven largely by government regulations and increasing demand in developed markets from a wider hospital patient population. These connected devices not only improve the reliability of patient monitoring but also improve caregiver workflow automation through integration with patient electronic health records. "The...

In 2015, the wearable technology market will reach $24.2 billion. However, 74 percent of that growth will be with mature wearable product categories -- such as smart watches, wireless earphones and blood glucose test strips, according to the latest market study by IDTechEx Research . The last five years has seen significant interest in new wearable devices and associated software applications -- particularly fitness trackers -- as demonstrated by the following Google Trends report. Many of the companies looking to commercialize a new wearable technology are searching for business partners within the healthcare and medical apparatus industry. The motivation is somewhat obvious. The upside opportunity for wearable devices is in the medical and healthcare apps environment. Moreover, including blood glucose monitoring use cases, healthcare is already the largest single sector -- measured by sales revenue -- in the established wearable technology marketplace. Some of the key adva...

Applications for new categories of wearable devices are beginning to evolve into some interesting areas -- particularly within the medical arena, where innovation is likely to have a very positive impact on the professional healthcare sector. Consumer wearable devices targeting health and fitness applications have already demonstrated some promising early-adopter use-cases. Moreover, advancements in neuroscience technology research have several manufacturers preparing to launch Brain-to-Machine Interface (BMI) enabled products. According to the latest market study by ABI Research, revenues from both medical-grade and consumer BMI related products will already approach $10 million in 2015. That said, let's be clear about the potential applications, BMI technology is unable to read your thoughts. However, tapping into brain activity -- as a means of understanding human behavior, or controlling an external activity -- are now becoming possible. Example BMI Application Scenario...

​As the worldwide market for the Internet of Things (IoT) evolves, specific use-cases are emerging at an accelerated rate. Case in point: hospital laboratories are the smallest share of laboratory locations yet its diagnostic test equipment run more tests than any other medical testing facility provider. Connectivity to lab equipment -- and the services enabled by that connectivity -- will increase total global laboratory test throughput to over 3.02 billion more diagnostic tests over the next 5 years. The medical testing laboratory market consists of hospitals, independent labs, physician offices, and other healthcare-related lab environments. According to the latest market study by ABI Research, the benefits of increased lab efficiency cannot be understated -- the diagnostic tests from these labs influence 70 percent of medical decisions ranging from treatment choices to hospital discharge decisions to early detection and prevention of chronic disease. "We have a small ...

When you imagine the emerging market for Wearable Technologies, you'll likely think of eye glasses or wrist bands -- not garments or apparel. Think again; there's more innovation coming to the rapidly growing wearable tech category. According to the latest market study by IDTechEx Research , the evolving field of electronic textiles (e-textiles) describes new technology that is reliant on e-fibers for electronic, electro-optic and electrical functionality. Today, only conductive weavable fibers are widely available commercially. Include in that embroidery and other interleaving technologies using ribbon or fiber. IDTechEx finds that 24 percent of e-textile development projects develop better conductive fibers and another 24 percent concern photovoltaic fibers. Next comes 16 percent of projects on supercapacitors on fibers, with several projects seeking multi-functionality on one fiber, such as supercapacitor layers to store the harvested energy from piezoelectric vibratio...