EMPOWERING PATIENTS THROUGH WEARABLES: A DOCTOR PERSPECTIVE

Wearable Technology Devices have become increasingly popular in the last decade. The usefulness of wearables spans diverse fields which include the medical field, defence, fashion, and gaming to name a few.

- Dr Mayur Manji Mewada

In the medical field, wearables can be useful for diagnostic purposes, monitoring purposes, and; to some extent, be a part of treatment modalities for certain diseases. The history of wearables can be dated back to centuries ago when human beings tried to use wristwatches and hearing aids. The first advanced scientific wearable was seen around the year 1970 in the form of calculator wristwatches. Real momentum for wearables picked up after the introduction of smartwatches around 2013. Since 2013, smart watches, smart glasses, and smart wristbands have been the most commonly used wearables by the population for their health care needs.

The Covid-19 pandemic provided valuable insights regarding improvements and advancements needed in the existing smartwatches. The current generation of smartwatches has features that include monitoring of heart rate, oxygen saturation, blood pressure, ECG, sleep quality, step count, and calorie count. With multiple parameters being added to the current generation of smartwatches, the concepts of QUANTIFIED SELF, BODY HACKING, or SELF SURVEILLANCE are gaining recognition. Let us understand how wearables can have an impact on healthcare; both positive and negative.

The biggest advantage of using wearables is that it inculcates a sense of responsibility in a person towards his health. Being aware and obsessed about one's own health parameters helps a person plan his or her lifestyle goals. Wearables also serve as a medium to impart some basic health care information to a common man as to what are the normal ranges for various health parameters of the human body. In many cases, it helps a person to seek medical help when required. Apart from being helpful to the general population, in carefully selected scenarios, it serves as an important support system even for doctors in treating their patients. We discuss a few important health conditions and how wearables can serve for the betterment of patients.