According to growthplusreports.com’s global report, the global wearable medical device market size is expected to reach 132.5 billion in 2031. Various companies and entities are actively investing large amounts of resources into this market. Wearable medical devices can be categorized into monitoring equipment, diagnostic equipment, and treatment equipment. Treatment equipment can be further categorized into pain management equipment, respiratory therapy equipment, physical rehabilitation equipment, drug delivery equipment, hearing aids, and wearable defibrillators.
The New Trend: Smart Medical Care
Modern smart medical care has been infused with new technologies to help reduce the workload for medical staff and improve the quality of medical care. For example, the smart drip monitoring system in the drug delivery equipment category is capable of monitoring the weight of the liquid inside the drip bag. The information is then transmitted wirelessly to nursing station smart whiteboards, medical work carts, or medical mobile apps. This takes off some workload of the medical staff who need to patrol each room and check each patient’s data.
In this ecosystem of smart devices, the following scenarios are the most common:
The Hidden Risks of Smart Medical Care Devices
During our cooperation with medical solution providers, Allion’s medical device consulting team learned the most common issue for users, which was the automatic notification function was often delayed or unresponsive. This can result in the medical staff having to physically check the information to ensure safe IV drips.
Based on our experience, it was initially speculated that the main cause of this issue was the environment of the hospital having lots of wireless signals that affected the notification signal. To solve this issue, Allion’s consulting team went on-site to measure and analyze the wireless signals and their distribution in the hospital.
Figure: Wireless signal measurement test results (blue represents a weaker signal)
As seen in the figure above, there are more blue areas on the right side of the floor plan, meaning the stability and coverage of wireless signals on this floor are not ideal. The room where the drip monitoring system had issues was inside the blue area.
One of the main reasons for this problem is there is a large number of rooms and compartments with thick walls and steel bars on this floor. There are also large numbers of computers, tablets, mobile phones, and other devices with wireless signals and frequencies being transmitted simultaneously. Wireless signals can affect each other when there are too many devices in the same space, resulting in delayed notifications.
Faster, Easier, Better! Your Most Trusted Testing Consultant
In the past, this industry had a passive attitude towards medical care. Now with new technology, solutions are constantly being introduced into this environment. However, one of the biggest hurdles to overcome is the compatibility of smart medical devices that can be affected by different medical care user scenarios. Allion’s medical device consulting team can provide manufacturers with the following services:
Faster
Allion has capabilities and experience in wireless detection and measurement in various scenarios. Problem analysis, on-site measurement, result analysis, and improvement strategies are some solutions we provide our clients with.
- Quickly provide product development certification strategies and modification suggestions
- Quickly provide wireless signal performance measurement testing and give consulting solutions
- Quickly confirm whether wireless monitor systems are operating normally
Easier
By implementing AI and automation solutions, Allion ensures that every test is “qualitative, quantitative, and reproducible”, helping our clients to improve product performance in a more efficient manner.
- Less labor-intensive testing methods
- Time-saving and cost-effective testing solutions
- More accurate test results
Better
With more than 30 years of expertise, specialized technical team, and comprehensive testing environments and equipment, Allion is committed to providing clients with more improved quality of service based on extensive experience of User Scenario Testing.
- Provide a better and more complete consulting strategy with discussions
- Simulate better and more complete user scenario tests that include performance and functional testing under various conditions
- Professional debugging support and issue isolation
If you have any questions about smart medical devices or its ecosystem, please feel free to contact us through the online form.