Transforming Healthcare with Wearable Tech: Positive Changes vs. Challenges

The rapid evolution of computing has transformed many industries. From communications to consumer goods, the consumers of the 21st century have an incredible ability to get the items they’d like, in a fraction of the time it took their ancestors.

This innovation has not only changed how people acquire products, but it has also had a remarkable effect on the development of technology that can support the work of doctors and other medical staff, with minimal intrusion on the user. While wearable healthcare technology has a storied history, modern developments have highlighted how beneficial it can be, when introduced to the broader community.

For those completing a Master of Social Work qualification, it can be helpful to understand how wearables first made their way into the healthcare space. While they present remarkable opportunities to improve the quality of life for users, wearable technology can also introduce new risks in today’s digital world.

A Short History of Wearables

Wearable technology has been around for a lot longer than you might first believe. Almost half a millennia ago, people looked to tell the time, without having to rely on town clocks or large sundials. The solution? Build a small watch that is small enough to wear as a pendant or stuff into a pocket. With that, the very first wearables were developed.

While wearables such as watches are helpful, it’s important to note that in the centuries since their initial development, the world has experienced radical change. The 20th century, in particular, introduced the computer - a device that had the potential to provide rapid calculation and computational power.

As computers became more mainstream, developers looked for applications where they could be reduced in size. For example, early computing systems such as ENIAC were as large as 1800 square feet, and 27 tons - reducing them to a size that was small and powerful was incredibly desirable.

The 1960s saw the implementation of early wearable technology - curiously enough, in the space of probability. Mathematicians Claude Shannon and Edward Thorp wanted to see if they could use technology to improve their odds of roulette, a popular casino game.

By developing this technology, Shannon and Thorp were able to create the first instance of a wearable computer - which was then subsequently used to win substantial amounts of money from casinos (and, naturally, getting such devices banned from casinos around the world).

In the decades since the first modern computer, computing has evolved in many aspects. The Internet has become a modern pillar of global communication, and technology giants such as Apple, Google, and Samsung are constantly developing devices that provide healthcare support, such as modern smartwatches like Fitbit or Apple Watch.

The Incredible Power of Data in Healthcare

Why are healthcare devices so helpful, you might ask? The answer, interesting, lies less in the technology, but more in what these devices produce - data.

Many new healthcare wearables provide a vast range of health data points - from heart rate to sleeping patterns, wearable healthcare devices can provide a level of detail that isn’t seen in a standard doctor's consultation.

Take, for example, atrial fibrillation, a condition that affects some half a million Aussies. Atrial fibrillation can be difficult to diagnose, and in some cases can be difficult to detect in a short timeframe. Healthcare devices that are constantly connected can help identify patterns that may not necessarily be able to be seen in a traditional consult.

A recent large-scale study involving some 450,000 patients found moderate success in the identification and subsequent diagnosis of atrial fibrillation, highlighting just how powerful wearable technology can be in identifying health conditions. Some products are now using this evidence to promote their products, such as Apple’s recent Heart Rate Notifications campaign for their Apple Watch.

Challenges With Rapid Innovation

Innovation often comes with unforeseen hurdles - as regulators struggle to track the pace of change, it becomes imperative for device manufacturers to operate in ways that safeguard the interests of customers.

Often, with the rapid rate of development and implementation, the protection of customers can sometimes feel like a second thought. While most healthcare data is protected under the Privacy Act, healthcare data generated by a third-party app was not a use case that was implemented when legislation was introduced in the 1980s.

As a result, users of wearable healthcare can sometimes be unaware of where and how their data may be exposed. Unfortunately, no precedent exists to stop a healthcare wearable provider from selling data to other parties.

Another consideration is the role that these device manufacturers have in the production of their products. International manufacturers must be aware of their obligations under local Consumer Law, and if not, will likely incur the wrath of regulators.

The Importance of Safeguards

Wearable tech can be incredibly powerful - however, it often includes a suite of features that can be misused by bad actors. Products such as AirTags have come under fire in recent years for their inherent capability to provide near real-time tracking of the objects they are attached to.

While wearable technology can be incredibly powerful for owners, the same technology can be inherently risky for vulnerable end users. In recent years, wearable fitness trackers have embedded features such as GPS and shared healthcare records - providing avenues for abusers to track victims.

Safeguards must be embedded both at the manufacturer and user level. Providing the ability for GPS to be turned off, and limiting sharing, can provide opportunities for domestic violence victims to access the benefits of wearable healthcare technology, without exposing them to the risk of harassment and abuse.

Wearable technology is rapidly approaching an inflection point - as prices drop and devices become more accessible to the average consumer, their ability to support and uplift medicine will become increasingly significant.

What will become of wearable technology in the future? Consider a world where machine learning is embedded with millions of hours of tracked data - providing a wealth of insights to users. It may even be possible that next-generation healthcare wearables may become a new safeguard in the fight against poor health.

(Devdiscourse's journalists were not involved in the production of this article. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of Devdiscourse and Devdiscourse does not claim any responsibility for the same.)