Difficulties and Opportunities Using Wearable Sensors

SUMMARY:

• The use of wearable sensors in healthcare environments is expected to increase.

• Although wearable sensors advance personalized health monitoring of physical and biochemical signals, several limitations exist.

• Health providers and systems need to consider several key features for optimum program design

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REVIEW

• Wearable digital health technology are  miniaturized electronic devices incorporated into clothing or directly applied to the body.

• Artificial intelligence within wearable sensors will be able to recognize patterns within large data sets and can be used to predict outcomes, make informed decisions about patient care and forecast likelihood of future events.

• Currently, most commercially available wearable devices are limited to tracking one or two health variables.

• There is limited information  on the critical factors for successful wearable implementations.

• Wearable biosensors consist of either:

  • Physical sensors: capable of detecting subtle touch, pulse, joint movement, musculoskeletal system activity.

  • Chemical sensors: Enzyme based sensors with rapid response time, capable of analyzing biofluids.

Types of Wearable Sensors

• Chemical sensors capable of detecting:

  • Lactate

  • Glucose

  • Urea

  • Cortisol

  • Electrolytes

  • Trace elements

  • Proteins

  • Lipids

  • Antimicrobial agents

  • Vital signs

  • Oxygen saturation

  • Ketones

  • Certain Vitamins

  • EEG

  • ECG

  • EMG

  • EOG

• Health providers and/or systems should consider 7 critical factors in the design of their wearable sensor program implementation for success.

Critical Risk Factors

Critical Success Factor Considerations

CONCLUSIONS:

• Wearable sensor information will play a crucial role in improving data normalization and signal processing.

• There are currently limits on sensitivity, accuracy, and technical validation.

• Other features such as battery life, data security and standardization will need to be addressed.

• As technological improvements with wearable sensors improve pattern identification, identify and delete anomalies and distinguish between signal and noise, interest will continue to expand.