13 IoT Based Wearable Healthcare System: Post COVID-19
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income countries per capita, but they (high income countries) have strict regulation of waste disposal. Mostly solid waste (which contains heavy metals and other
toxic pollutants) is disposed of as a landfill which pollutes the soil. Wastewater from
the health system (hospital) generates waste in terms of pharmaceutical products,
microorganisms, heavy metals, etc. Since materials are discharged in water as an
untreated substance, therefore, they tremendously pollute the ground and drinkable
water resources. Greenhouse gas emission from the healthcare system is another
concern for health. Significant amount of heating and cooling systems are used in
the hospital. This also increases the carbon emission in the environment. A large
amount of chemicals in the world is consumed/used by the healthcare industry [7].
Processing of the chemicals can indirectly pollute the environment.
When a patient comes to a doctor and if the doctor advised him/her to go for
a full body check-up to find the disease source, he/she has to go under different
tests. These tests are carried out in a diagnostic centre/hospital. The instruments
used for diagnostics purposes are big and it needs a suitable operator to operate it.
This method directly or indirectly generates pollution in the environment. Since the
last few decades technology has improved drastically specially micro and nanotechnology. Nowadays micro/nano sensors and devices are found everywhere in every
instrument. These micro/nano sensors are small in size and it consumes less power
[8]. Similarly a recent research is going on wearable sensors and devices for the
diagnostics purposes. To solve all these problems in healthcare, we can use the electronic health (e-health) technology. Presently most of the people are carrying smartphones. Using health App patients can directly know their health status. This way
smartphones can act as a medium between doctors and patients. Patients (staying in
remote locations) will use the wearable microsensors and devices which will collect
the data in real time. If any abnormalities are found in the data, it will immediately
be sent/transferred to patients and doctors through Wi-Fi/Bluetooth modules. Then
doctors will analyse these data sets and send the reports to patients in their mobile.
Wearable sensors and e-healthcare systems reduce the energy consumption in the
hospitals as patients do not need to visit the clinic/hospital to test their health.
In this chapter we will discuss the future of micro/nano sensors/devices and wearable sensors/devices with technology like artificial intelligence, machine learning,
IoT for the future treatment of the patient. Use of these IoT enabled sensors/devices
can reduce the pollution directly or indirectly and reach toward a sustainable environment. This chapter first talk about the wearable sensors and devices that can be
used for sensing application and the second part of the chapter will discuss IoT for
healthcare applications.
13.2 Wearable Sensors and Devices
In this part we will discuss the wearable sensors and devices used for healthcare
monitoring systems. Materials used for fabricating sensors and different types of
devices will be discussed.
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income countries per capita, but they (high income countries) have strict regulation of waste disposal. Mostly solid waste (which contains heavy metals and other
toxic pollutants) is disposed of as a landfill which pollutes the soil. Wastewater from
the health system (hospital) generates waste in terms of pharmaceutical products,
microorganisms, heavy metals, etc. Since materials are discharged in water as an
untreated substance, therefore, they tremendously pollute the ground and drinkable
water resources. Greenhouse gas emission from the healthcare system is another
concern for health. Significant amount of heating and cooling systems are used in
the hospital. This also increases the carbon emission in the environment. A large
amount of chemicals in the world is consumed/used by the healthcare industry [7].
Processing of the chemicals can indirectly pollute the environment.
When a patient comes to a doctor and if the doctor advised him/her to go for
a full body check-up to find the disease source, he/she has to go under different
tests. These tests are carried out in a diagnostic centre/hospital. The instruments
used for diagnostics purposes are big and it needs a suitable operator to operate it.
This method directly or indirectly generates pollution in the environment. Since the
last few decades technology has improved drastically specially micro and nanotechnology. Nowadays micro/nano sensors and devices are found everywhere in every
instrument. These micro/nano sensors are small in size and it consumes less power
[8]. Similarly a recent research is going on wearable sensors and devices for the
diagnostics purposes. To solve all these problems in healthcare, we can use the electronic health (e-health) technology. Presently most of the people are carrying smartphones. Using health App patients can directly know their health status. This way
smartphones can act as a medium between doctors and patients. Patients (staying in
remote locations) will use the wearable microsensors and devices which will collect
the data in real time. If any abnormalities are found in the data, it will immediately
be sent/transferred to patients and doctors through Wi-Fi/Bluetooth modules. Then
doctors will analyse these data sets and send the reports to patients in their mobile.
Wearable sensors and e-healthcare systems reduce the energy consumption in the
hospitals as patients do not need to visit the clinic/hospital to test their health.
In this chapter we will discuss the future of micro/nano sensors/devices and wearable sensors/devices with technology like artificial intelligence, machine learning,
IoT for the future treatment of the patient. Use of these IoT enabled sensors/devices
can reduce the pollution directly or indirectly and reach toward a sustainable environment. This chapter first talk about the wearable sensors and devices that can be
used for sensing application and the second part of the chapter will discuss IoT for
healthcare applications.
13.2 Wearable Sensors and Devices
In this part we will discuss the wearable sensors and devices used for healthcare
monitoring systems. Materials used for fabricating sensors and different types of
devices will be discussed.