Wearable fitness technology has made such inroads into the healthcare business that products like FitBits and smartwatches are now considered mainstream. Wearable technology adoption has more than tripled in the previous four years, reflecting consumers’ heightened interest in monitoring their health and vital signs.

Wearables demand is likely to expand further in the coming years as customers express a desire in sharing their health data with providers and insurance. According to an October 2021 projection by Insider Intelligence, the US Smart wearable user market will expand 25.5% year on year in 2023, up from 23.3% year on year in 2021. 

What precisely is wearable healthcare technology?

Wearable technology includes Fitbits and smartwatches, as well as any sort of electronic gadget designed to be worn on a user’s body. Wearable gadgets in healthcare are intended to collect data on users’ health and exercise, and can even convey a patient’s health information in real-time to a doctor or other healthcare expert.

Wearable Devices in Healthcare: Examples

Wearable technology advancements and increased consumer demand to take charge of their health have led the medical industry, including insurers, providers, and technology companies, to produce more wearable devices such as Fitbits, smartwatches, and wearable monitors.

Fitness Trackers That You Can Wear

Wearable fitness trackers are wristbands that contain sensors that monitor the user’s physical activity and heart rate. While they are some of the most basic and original forms of wearable technology, they have staying value because they easily sync to smartphone apps to give users vital health and fitness tips. The Fitbit Flex was an early and popular wearable technology choice. Users were drawn to the device’s stylish design and ability to track their step progress throughout the day using the five indicator lights. The Fitbit Sense 2, its most recent edition, offers an assortment of health tracking capabilities to enhance sleep and eliminate, as well as a battery life that can last a full week. 

Wearable Health Monitoring Devices

Smartwatches, which were once solely used to count steps and indicate time, have now evolved into clinically effective healthcare tools. In 2017, Apple released the Apple Heart Study app, which monitors users’ heart rhythms and alerts them if they are having atrial fibrillation. In September 2022, the business unveiled its most recent two watch models. Apple’s Series 8 model includes best-in-class health features such as a unique temperature sensor that enables additional functionality for women’s health and Crash Detection for serious car accidents. The second-generation Apple Watch SE is an outstanding low-cost option to the Series 8, featuring a speedier processor and longer battery life than its predecessor. Smartwatches enable users to accomplish actions that they would regularly perform on their phones—reading notifications, sending short messages, making phone calls—while also providing some of the exercise- and health-tracking features of fitness trackers.

ECG Monitors That Can Be Worn

Wearable ECG monitors are at the cutting edge of consumer electronics, and their capacity to measure electrocardiograms or ECGs distinguishes them from some smartwatches. According to Business Insider, Withing won the best wearable at the 2019 Consumer Electronics Show with their Move ECG gadget. The Move ECG can do electrocardiogram measurements and email the results to the user’s doctor, as well as identify atrial fibrillation. It can also track pace, distance, and elevation, as well as walking, running, swimming, and bicycling automatically. 

Blood Pressure Monitors That Can Be Worn

Omron Healthcare introduced HeartGuide, the first wearable blood pressure monitor, in 2019. Despite its appearance, HeartGuide is an oscillometric blood pressure monitor that can track blood pressure as well as daily activities such as steps done, distance traveled, and calories burned. HeartGuide can store up to 100 readings in memory, and all data can be transmitted to the HeartAdvisor mobile app for evaluation, comparison, and therapy optimization. HeartAdvisor customers can keep, track, and share their data with their doctor while also obtaining insights into how their behaviors affect their blood pressure.

Biosensors

Biosensors are emerging wearable medical gadgets that differ significantly from wrist trackers and smartwatches. The wearable biosensor from Philips is a self-adhesive patch that allows patients to move while collecting data on their mobility, heart rate, respiration rate, and temperature. According to Augusta University Medical Centre research, this wearable gadget reduced patient progression into avoidable cardiac or respiratory arrest by 89%. This highlights wearables’ ability to improve patient outcomes while potentially reducing staff workload.

Medical gadget advancements and the future 

Medical gadget advancements and the Future The wearable healthcare technology market is booming, and as it matures, more wearable technology will be available to individuals and businesses in the United States. According to an Insider Intelligence study, the number of people who use health and fitness apps will increase to 91.3 million by 2023, up from 88.5 million in 2022.

This growing trend in wearable fitness technology will impact insurers, health providers, and businesses’ decisions to use wearable health monitoring devices. Insurers can reduce the rising cost per patient by utilizing wearables to increase customer lifetime value. Wearable technology encourages behavior that lowers hospital visits and readmissions owing to poor personal health management. 75% of 1,000 people polled in Market Measurement’s 2021 CVS Health Care Insights study agreed that wearables help them engage with their health.