Role of Internet of Things (IoT) in diagnosis and monitoring of COVID-19

The article "Internet of things (IoT) applications to fight against COVID-19 pandemic" reviewed the various applications of IoT during COVID-19. It is used for screening infected cases.  It is used for various biometric measurements such as heart rate, blood pressure and glucose level. This technology helps quarantine the infected person and also ensures proper monitoring system during quarantine. IoT also decreases the workload of medical staff thereby increasing their efficiency. It captures the real time data and other adequate information of the patient and which is helpful in timely treatment and quality supervision. With this innovative technology patients in the remote location were treated properly via well connected tele –devices.

This article also talks about the issues and challenges in implementing this technology such as safety, security and privacy of data, data storage and management.

Read here :

//www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7198990/

The IoT refers to an interconnected web of smart gadgets, sensors, and individuals through which information can be gathered in raw form and communicated through the internet to be analysed for trends or patterns. Recently, IoT has been gaining attention in multiple disciplines including COVID-19, where it was mainly used for early detection, isolation and tracing of the contacts via use of IoT protocols like Radio-frequency identification (RFID), Wireless Fidelity (WiFi), Global Positioning System (GPS). This article reviews various IoT enabled technologies and applications used during COVID-19.

//ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/9296161

@kamalpreet

Yes, I agree that in the current global scenario of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Internet of Things (IoT) can have a substantial role in addressing the monitoring of COVID-19 patients by making use of interconnected networks and can contribute effectively in combating the pandemic. An IoT technology based system could oversee healthcare ecosystems by addressing disease prediction, medicine administration, averting crucial equipment failure and by utilising remote assistance in diagnosis. IoT based solutions can contribute in various domains like remote telehealth and delivering remote education in times of pandemic through IoT based Classroom Teaching. It could even deliver workforce IoT based tracking for monitoring employee well-being and also in providing various workplace technologies like virtual (co)working and productivity-related workplace tools.

An interesting read: Applications of IoT Technology in Covid-19 Pandemic Response: Challenges and Solutions

IoT is an excellent tool for the healthcare system and has proved very useful in recent times, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. A paper published in ELSEVIER on "Application of cognitive Internet of Medical Things for COVID-19 pandemic" highlighted a novel application, specific to the medical domain referred to as Cognitive Internet of Medical Things (CIoMT). This CIoMT system enables real-time tracking, remote health monitoring, rapid case diagnosis, contact tracking, clustering, screening, and surveillance, reducing the burden on the medical industry in terms of infection prevention and control. But every innovation comes with its share of challenges, and the challenge with these applications is transparency from the users. Until and unless the user is transparent enough with the data he provides, absolute effectiveness of the applications cannot be offered.

Here is another good article for information on IoMT " An Internet of Medical Things-Enabled Edge Computing Framework for Tackling COVID-19"

In the article, the use of IoT during COVID-19  role of IoT during pandemic and its various application has been discussed. IoT has become an integral part of our everyday life. During COVID-19, IoT has been used in telehealth consultations, digital diagnostics, remote monitoring, and robot assistance. Consumer, commercial, industrial, infrastructure, and military IoT are the areas where IoT can be applied.  Consumer IoT used for the consumer’s convenience such as home appliances, light fixtures and voice assistance. Commercial IoT is mainly used in healthcare and transportation industries like smart pacemaker and vehicle to vehicle communication respectively. In Industrial Internet of things devices such as digital control systems, smart agriculture, and big data are used. Infrastructure IoT is used to connect smart cities with user-friendly apps and management systems e.g.  Data arrangement and management  in a systematic way on online server. Military IoT used to create surveillance robots and human-wearable biometrics for military purpose.

Read here for more information: //www.iotforall.com/use-of-iot-during-covid-19

An increase within the use of mobile technology and smart devices within the healthcare sector leads to a big impact. The healthcare sector has put a great effort into COVID-19 diagnosis, screening and treating the infected individuals to address this pandemic. IoT allows integrating physical devices capable of connecting to the Internet and provides real-time health status of the patients to doctors. In recent years, the Internet of Things (IoT) has gained convincing research ground as a replacement research topic ,especially in healthcare.

The IoT revolution is reshaping modern healthcare systems. It's evolving healthcare systems from conventional to more personalized healthcare systems through which patients are often diagnosed, treated, and monitored more easily. IoT is increasingly becoming an important technology in healthcare systems where it can deliver lower expenses, a far better quality of services, and advanced user experiences. The key to combating COVID-19 is to diagnose it early to stop spreading the virus widely. IoT devices can make the detection process faster and more efficient by capturing data within their sensors then analyzing the info for patients, healthcare providers, and authorities to diagnose, control, and ultimately stop this contagion.

This article highlights the different types of IoT which an interesting read . //link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s41666-020-00080-6#citeas

Covid-19 global pandemic was a nightmare to all of us, it has called for a new era in terms of improving the digital technology inclined towards the medical field in terms of reducing the prevalence of covid-19.( //www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-0824-5)

Early diagnosis can be possible only when the clinical symptoms are identified. It was found that few covid patients were also having underlying co-morbidities which were contributing towards different types of clinical features of covid. (Huang, C., Wang, Y., Li, X., Ren, L., Zhao, J., Hu, Y., ... & Cao, B. (2020). Clinical features of patients infected with 2019 novel coronavirus in Wuhan, China. The lancet, 395(10223), 497-506.)

The IoT Technology should be based on the early diagnosis of the clinical features of covid-19, and more focused on the diet of covid patients as it could serve as a self-management tool by providing innate immunity which is essential to progress from “illness to Wellness.” This article gives a brief overview about the immune system components by focusing on a particular leukocyte, the gamma delta (+%) T cell were released from dietary components of plant origin were found to increase the immunity. ( //alliedhealth.ceconnection.com/files/NT0111-1337267421067.pdf ).

IoT can also serve as a creative and excellent technology for screening an infected patient and also for patient monitoring during quarantine situations and can also play a key role in tackling challenging situations. Some of the critical merits of IoT in covid are,

• Reduces chances of mistakes
• Lesser expenses
• Superior Treatment
• Enhanced Diagnosis
• Effective Control

(Read here for more information: Singh, R. P., Javaid, M., Haleem, A., & Suman, R. (2020). Internet of things (IoT) applications to fight against COVID-19 pandemic. Diabetes & Metabolic Syndrome: Clinical Research & Reviews, 14(4), 521-524.)

Below is an interesting read of a comparative study on low-power wide-area networks (LPWAN).

//www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405959517302953

The internet is a new type of Petrol in the current era. In current times the internet plays a vital role. During covid-19 physical diagnosis and monitoring of patients are very difficult, in this condition IoT is very useful, safe, and fast. IoT also helps to give and take all information fast and correct. Several applications and web pages have been developed based on questionnaires and some have already been implemented for health monitoring and diagnosis.

//www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7396324/#:~:text=Mobile%20and%20web%2Dbased%20applications,physical%20devices%20and%20the%20Internet

The Internet of Things (IoT) has enabled diagnosis and treatment of patients remotely, and facilitated the delivery of vital medicine and medical equipment even to unexplored areas. IoT technology offers developing markets the opportunity to fight COVID-19 effectively and most importantly to accelerate the digitalization of healthcare systems, plugging critical gaps in affordability, quality and access. Beyond COVID-19, further development of IoT could help predict future pandemics, by using statistical-based methods and converging with artificial intelligence and big data. This could position IoT as a key enabler of healthcare transformation in the near future, from a reactive to a proactive system.

This blog explores the use of IoT technology in remote patient monitoring and vaccine cold chain management during the Ebola and COVID-19 crises, while reflecting on necessary factors for IoT to scale.

//www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/blog/iot-applications-in-the-fight-against-covid-19/

In the following paper, remarkable applications of IoT are recognized and analyzed. IoT helps in tracking and monitoring infected people, capture the data, contact tracing, location, and handles all the data using a virtual management system. Additionally, it provides clarity and accuracy
in treatment. Also, it facilitates proper planning by the doctors, academicians, government, etc. for a healthier working environment during
and post COVID-19 epidemic. 

Few examples of the use of IoT during the pandemic are:

• Smart tracking of infected patients: Using IoT devices, the live location of the Self-quarantining persons can be tracked to activate the alert
  system if they leave their homes. The service providers can handle the cases smartly by tracking the
  patients.
• Predicting the virus: Based on available data reports, statistical methods can be used to predict the situation of things and
  events for decision making. It will help the doctors to provide immediate treatment to the patient.
• Availability of the Ambulance: By tracking the location of the patient, the ambulance will be made available from the nearest hospital.

Read More: Suhasi P M, Khadija Fatima, Nagamani N Purohit, Rekha P M, 2020, IoT in the Face of COVID – 19, INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENGINEERING RESEARCH & TECHNOLOGY (IJERT) NCAIT – 2020 (Volume 8 – Issue 15). //www.ijert.org/research/iot-in-the-face-of-covid-19-IJERTCONV8IS15028.pdf

@harpreet Absolutely, IoT-based technology not only used in a curative way but also used as a preventive way. This paper beautifully described how we can use IoT for current and future pandemics. The author explains the IoT technology in response to COVID-19 in 3 phases; early diagnosis, quarantine time, and after recovery. the paper explains each and every gadgets/device's role in the prevention and curation of COVID-19. Here is the link: //www.researchgate.net/publication/343150208_Internet_of_Things_for_Current_COVID-19_and_Future_Pandemics_an_Exploratory_Study

IoT is definitely an effective element in healthcare, however various challenges are there for proper implementation of IoT platforms such as connectivity, power, high cost, speed etc. The technologies, which are cost effective and can work without power have to be identified along with the development of IoT. Secondly, it will also increase the breach of privacy and confidentiality thus specific mechanisms have to be developed which can help in protecting privacy of the person. Especially in context of the developing countries, there are no effective regulations which are very much needed in case of IoT implementation. Thirdly, images and videos shared through IoT platforms may lack high quality resolution,which is very necessary for quality health services and correct diagnosis. Thus, specific guidelines need to be framed regarding quality of images and video.

In case of Covid as I observed that after completion of hospitalization, people are facing lots of issues in their health such as body pain, fatigue, breathing issues but no care is there. In this case IoT based platforms can help after hospitalization so that people can take help from quality sources in case they are facing any health issues. However, limitations should be addressed before implementation.

"Internet of Things (IoT) rises as a powerful domain where embedded devices and sensors can connect and exchange information over the Internet. The importance of IoT devices and data can be critical, so security constraints are required to keep IoT data safe from intruders; authentication is one of basic and important means to confirm data privacy and security. The nature of IoT devices as a resource contains devices required a special authentication schema that does not consume high computing and energy resources." Quote Azzawi.

The world is in a constant state of technological development and its high time we involve in it and apply it in our practices in healthcare. The below shared article proposes a model of IoT which can be used in healthcare.

//www.researchgate.net/profile/Mustafa-Azzawi/publication/309718253_A_Review_on_Internet_of_Things_IoT_in_Healthcare/links/581e46e008aea429b295c6eb/A-Review-on-Internet-of-Things-IoT-in-Healthcare.pdf

The COVID 19 pandemic has shown us that there is a need of creating a wider infrastructure to cope up with the increased burden of medical facilities. The “internet of medical things”, the system which emphasizes the necessity of interoperability among other medical technologies, points out that the existing system needs to strengthen to meet with the future public health crisis.

Click the link below to read an interesting article on “How the Internet of Medical Things is Meeting New Healthcare Demands During COVID-19”
//www.iotforall.com/how-the-internet-of-medical-things-is-meeting-new-healthcare-demands-during-covid-19