Research Paper on Wearable Tech History and Its Impact on Healthcare

Introduction

Wearable technology is one of the most fast-growing technologies in health sector. With this technology, learning more about oneself has become high-tech and real-time. The biological and physiological processes of the body can be monitored at will, thus making the "quantified self" a reality for everyone. Using different devices and apps, one can track their heart rates, record the food details that they consume, monitor their moods and the weather surrounding them. The technology has immensely reduced the number of patients who used to jam health institutions for checkups over various medical conditions. One can learn about themselves in their own self-tracking devices and gauge their improvement attempts based on the results displayed by those devices. The primary objective of this article is to discuss the history of wearable tech and its role in future healthcare.

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The History of Wearable Technology

Manufacture of wearable technology is believed to have started in 13th century when the first eyeglasses were invented. The invention was motivated by the numerous cases of people who could not see properly. Another remarkable invention was made during the 16th century when Nuremberg eggs, the first wearable portable clocks were manufactured. The watches were designed to be worn around the neck and they became very popular and a status symbol in Europe. However, they were later on replaced by pocket and wrist watches. Abacus ring is also another form of wearable technology that was invented in China in the 17th century. These developments motivated Edward Thorp to create the first wearable computer in the 1960s. He revealed in his book 'Beat the Dealer' that he created a microcomputer that would be worn in a shoe to disguise the roulette. The timing device would enable him to predict whether a ball was going to land on a roulette or not, giving him a score of 44 percent in the game (Haskins, 2017).

The invention of Edward Thorp was proceeded by numerous wearable tech discoveries that ranged from wristwatches to sunglasses. The first calculator wristwatch was developed in 1975, and four years later, Sony Walkman was invented and it became more prevalent to the latter. One of the greatest achievement in wearable technology was made in 2002 when Bluetooth headset was invented. The invention of the headset put the wearable devices on mainstream popularity which subsequently propelled other companies to diversify in their production of wearable technologies. Many wearable devices were produced between 2006 and 2013. Some of these iconic wearable technology devices that were manufactured during that period are Nike+, Google Glass and Fitbit (Sharon, 2017). The production of wearable technology grossly improved in 2014, with different media outlets dubbing that duration as the "The Year of Wearable Technology." During that year, Apple watch was introduced and activity trackers became more popular. The expansion of other wearable technology devices such as track seizures or sunlight exposure was also noticeable during that period. Since then, wearable technology has become more rampant and it has heavily been embraced by the health sector.

The Impact of Wearable Technology on How People Monitor Their Health

Wearable technology is one of the fast-growing industries in the world. The products produced by the industry affect human beings in different ways, particularly on how they monitor their health and interact with medical practitioners. Most health and fitness-related wearable technologies are not obstructive, easy to use and makes the interpretation of statistical feedback very simple. These devices are very instrumental in encouraging wearers to be more focused on their fitness, modify their behavior by reminding them to exercise or take their medication, and provide a platform that enables both the physicians and the patients to share data and collaborate on strategies of health (Pikkarainen et al., 2018).

Wearables are manufactured by different companies to provide safe working conditions and predict injuries and fatal accidents that an employee might encounter, improve customer service and increase productivity (Pikkarainen et al., 2018). These devices have different applications. They remind wearers of their fitness levels, help in behavior modification by reminding their wearers to take their medicine or to exercise. The devices also offer patients and doctors a platform that enables them to share information and collaborate on effective strategies of health. Patients who monitor their own body conditions using these wearables have the advantage of reducing the cost of NHS as they control their healthcare and enhance a healthy lifestyle (Park & Skoric, 2017). According to Shi & Wang, the use of wearable tech has approximately reduced the cost incurred by patients by 60 percent (2017).

Wearable technology would be very instrumental in educating and empowering patients on how to take care of their health. The technology contains the real-time personal health data of a patient which they can easily access. This is in contrast with the past years when a patient fully relied on a physician's opinion as a feedback on medication and their health progress. Patients can currently monitor their own health at the comfort of their homes or offices without calling on a doctor for any assistance unless their conditions deteriorated to a point that calls for medical attention. Individuals who wear these devices can now make their own decisions on matters that affect their bodies. For instance, people normally consume Ingestion Event Markers (IEMs) together with medication to collect information from within their body and transmit it on the wearable devices that they are putting on. This enables them to stick to treatment plans by making their personal health data more accessible to them. Another example of a wearable device that is instrumental in guiding patients on their medication is a baby monitor which was recently released by Intel. The machine has numerous possible medicinal applications beyond nurseries.

Wearable technology is essential in assisting patients and physicians to track their health records and determine symptoms that would help in diagnosing diseases. Some wearables are designed to gather information about organ function and diseases on a patient and send it directly to the physicians. This enables them to access in-depth information about the physiological conditions of the patient when observing a certain disease or diagnosing a patient. For instance, Freescale KL02 chip is either swallowed or embedded directly in a diseased organ where it reads and send biometric data to a patient or a physician via Wi-Fi, which allows them to track their health records and respond to the typical recommendations provided by the device (Parra et al., 2016). Medical wearable devices are also instrumental in assisting in medical procedures. The application of wearable technology seems to be infinite in the health sector. During operations, surgeons wear google glasses to give other physicians and medical students a perfect point of view during surgical and medical procedures. For instance, a surgical team at the University of Alabama at Birmingham in the fall of 2013 used VIPAAR technology together with Google Glass when carrying out a surgery on a patient. By merging the two technologies, the surgeons could interact and see the two sets of hands in the surgical field. The technology is very useful in improving patient care by enabling veteran surgeons to provide valuable expertise to inexperienced surgeons.

Wearables in health institutions enable patients to control and manage their pain. The technology industry is currently manufacturing portable pain relief devices that would substitute the need for daily pain medication for an estimated 1.5 billion people who suffer from pain around the world. One of the devices that are being manufactured to relieve pain is Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulations (TENS). It is being designed to release low-voltage electrical stimulation to eliminate pain in chronic sufferers. The device is composed of Bluetooth connectivity that is connected to a smartphone app which enables patients and physicians to track and manage pain. Wearable technology also makes personal fitness more fun. Gadgets such as the Misfit Shine and Jawbone's UP fitness band are very integral in helping their users track and monitor sleep patterns, the level of fitness, bodily functions, calorie functions and encourages users to take an active role in making an improvement on their health by setting goals, providing challenges and interactions that make the experience be more lively. The wearable technologies can also change how patients and doctors share information, make decisions about healthcare and interact. With the use of technology, patients would be in control of their own data and be very involved in their overall wellbeing. The involvement of patients in checking their own body conditions could minimize the number of doctor visits and increase the success rate of treatment. The new advancement in technology would also be useful in helping doctors learn, consult and instruct patients effectively. The wearable devices would eventually advance the skills of the doctors and predispose patients to better healthcare without extensive travels.

The Impact of Wearable Tech on Personalized Healthcare

The invention of wearable tech has had many changes in personalized healthcare and it is perceived that these wearable devices will have more impact on the health sector. The technology is opening new healthcare frontiers with the skin-worn patches offering one path that remotely and precisely captures and monitors important signs and information about health in one's body. These devices will enable one to monitor their body functions and behavior which ranges from calorie output to REM patterns. These devices, for instance, trackers would be very instrumental in diagnosing health conditions, making recommendations of the corrective actions to be taken and identifying the potential cause of any mysterious symptom. The overall data collected from the personal trackers would be useful in identifying health issues and prompt early intervention before they become more complex problems that would pose a threat to the body. The data collected from health trackers also empowers patients to take action on their own to correct the lifestyle problems that are causing health issues to them. The fast feedback provided by wearable tech could also offer instant gratification and motivation to patients in monitoring their own health. Besides the impact of wearable tech on patients, it will also allow doctors to have unprecedented access to patient data. This would enable them to get accurate information about patients which under normal circumstances is subjected to inaccuracy due to an inability of a patient to provide the right report about their own status. The devices enable would enable doctors to track biological systems and identify patterns that would have negative impacts on health. With the right information at their disposal, doctors would be able to offer more personalized treatment plans.

The accuracy and scope of health care data are constantly improving, thus increasing the potential of wearables to reduce healthcare costs by identifying the common trends and commonalities among people-thus facilitating effective methods of preventive care. Wearable tech can move healthcare beyond personal monitoring and treatment towards a proper health management system. It can also change the way data and analytics are applied by empowering and engaging patients to be active in data collection. Despite the fact that te...