Today it is impossible to imagine the healthcare industry without modern technologies. Artificial intelligence, wearables, drones, robots are gradually becoming a familiar health tool. Modern technologies are used to diagnose, treat, monitor, conduct operations, transport medicines and blood.

What is IoMT?
The Internet of Medical Things is the connected system of medical devices and applications that collect data which is provided to healthcare IT systems through online computer networks. According to Allied Market Research today there are 3.7 million medical devices in use that are connected to and collect information to provide a better healthcare service based on it.

Problems and benefits of IoMT
There are several realities that caused an incredible IoMT growth. The first one is an increasing amount of elderly people (according to United Nations projections, by 2025, 1.2 billion of the 8 billion people on earth will be elderly) who need a good treatment that can be achieved easier with various wearables and medical devices. IoMT doesn’t aim to replace doctors or medical care. In contrary, they are going to become real friends of doctors helping to collect health information more easily and to increase its quality. Government regulatory policies create favorable conditions for technologies implementation in the healthcare process which can decrease the cost of healthcare services. Since the cost of some medical diagnostics are pretty expensive but can be partially replaced by wearables that many people can afford today. But there are several challenges for achieving these goals such as a technical side of the question. These goals require the transformation of the whole healthcare industry and also it has to be secure and easy to use. In order to provide highly sensitive and confidential data with high security to combat cyber attacks, employing blockchain technology could be used. Using a combination of artificial intelligence and blockchain technology, companies could keep all the data loads secure.

Live IoMT solutions
The most advanced methods of diagnosis are the use of artificial intelligence. With the help of machine learning technologies, the diagnosis automatically will be the next step in the transformation in the healthcare industry.

Beyond Verbal is a company from Israel, which in September 2016 presented a project of a system based on artificial intelligence. The task of the system is to diagnose diseases by voice. It’s about recognizing intonation and other nuances that a person can not recognize by ear. For the testing of the system, the developers proposed AI to analyze more than 2.5 million audio recordings with voices in 40 different languages.

In February 2017, experts from North Carolina developed a miniature wireless device. The device should remotely diagnose the physical health of soldiers and athletes. The sensor of the elastic polymer material is attached to the wrist or chest. The device controls the electrical properties of the skin. These properties vary depending on the level of perspiration of a person. The received data is sent to the owner’s tablet or smartphone. Scientists said that the sensor controls the hydration of the skin, which means it helps to protect people working in hot conditions, improve the physical training of athletes, etc.

In May 2017, Perm scientists announced the creation of a system for diagnosing cardiovascular diseases, based on a neural network and the method of mathematical freezing. The database was provided to work effectively and test the system from the emergency cardiology department of the local hospital. The network is capable of self-learning and successfully diagnoses. It uses data on previous illnesses, history of relatives’ diseases, pulse data, pressure. The system takes into account 69 indicators.

In August 2017, China presented an auxiliary system based on AI technologies for setting a clinical diagnosis. To analyze 100 case histories, the system takes 4.8 seconds or 0.05 seconds for each story. Diagnoses of AI on 98% coincide with those that are carried by qualified medical staff. To create the system, millions of patient records were used. The accuracy of the machine diagnosis is 20% higher than that supplied by the doctor.

In December 2016, Israel presented a prototype of a bracelet with an NFC chip, which allowed emergency assistance to wounded soldiers in combat. The device stores data about the patient’s health, information about the treatment already provided, photos of the patient’s wounds and GPS coordinates of the places where the soldier was injured. Developers will test the bracelet in order to understand whether it is reasonable to organize mass production.

Scientists from the University of Tokyo have developed an artificial intelligence system for the treatment of phobias and post-traumatic stress. This required finding the brain classes responsible for the memory of fear. Therefore, 17 volunteers with the help of current discharges “created” the memory of fear. AI quickly and accurately determined the knowledge of the brain responsible for this memory. Now the doctors have built an effective treatment program.

Wearable devices are already monitoring the indicators of physical activity. For example, a device developed by the UCB and Byteflies Sensor Dot will notify patients about an impending epileptic seizure. The sensor makes several different measurements to accurately predict the time of the impending attack.

In May 2017, Apple CEO Tim Cook (Tim Cook) tested a device similar to a glucometer. Now, in order to measure the sugar level in measles, people suffering from diabetes need to pierce their fingers. Wearable devices, if their error in determining the blood sugar level will be minimal, can also be used for monitoring, without having to take blood sampling.

In November 2016 DaVinci’s robotic surgical system took part in more than 450 operations. The system is installed in the Regional Clinical Oncology Center and the Research Institute of the Regional Hospital of the Ministry of Health in Krasnodar region. The system provides a 3D image of the operating field and allows you to transfer the movements of the surgeon to their manipulators with high accuracy. Thus, the doctor can work with tools, remotely, using joysticks and a three-dimensional image in a tenfold increase.

Market forecast
According to Tractica analysts, the world’s revenue from the sale of healthcare software and services will more than double from $13.5 billion in 2016 to $28.2 billion in 2021. Analysts at Allied Market Research reported the global mobile healthcare market is estimated at $10.5 billion in 2014. According to forecasts of Berg Insight: 7.1 million patients in 2016 were observed remotely, and by 2021 the number of such patients will reach 50.2 million.

The number of mHealth devices with integrated 2G / 3G / 4G modules increased from 3.0 million in 2015 to 4.9 million in 2016.

According to Tractica forecasts, shipments of medical robots will grow from 3.4 thousand in 2016 to 10.5 thousand by 2021. It is expected that sales of medical robots will increase from $1.7 billion to $2.8 billion by 2021.

Therefore, IoT is likely to change the whole healthcare system and surely will bring positive results in it. It’s really important that modern technologies are used in such an important field as healthcare. Hopefully, all these solutions will decrease the number of people suffering from different diseases and will rise life expectancy. So we are lucky to face these improvements and enjoy a healthy and full life.

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A digital twin is the replica of a physical asset. A digital twin can be used for various different purposes and is most closely associated with IoT (Internet of Things.) Digital twins are used for processes, products, and services. One example might be a simulated airplane engine that can be digitally tested. Another example might be a security system that uses sensors to monitor movement in a building. The digital twin is directly related to the physical asset.

Why do we need digital twins?

Digital twins provide many benefits. When used for testing or development they provide us with safety and a cost-effectiveness. It is much cheaper to test a simulated engine than to wreck a real one. It also allows us to test products without ruining them and providing maximum feedback. Using sensors and IoT we can instantaneously measure data as tests are being made. In manufacturing digital twins provide system management, data tracking, and other benefits.

The problem.

There is a lot of data. Moving data takes a lot of power and security measures. It is costly and if this data isn’t secure it can be even more costly. Storing data is also a big obstacle, it can be very costly. A lot of data is still subject to hacking or human error which is a big problem. Also with the majority of companies having offices internationally or across states, there is the problem of where to store all of this data.

Obstacles

- Storage
- Security
- Data Transfer
- Data Collection
- Data Organization

The solution

Blockchain may have brought us bitcoin, but where it really belongs is with IoT. Blockchain nearly solves all of these problems. Let’s take a look at how blockchain works. Blockchain is the name of a new process that moves data using cryptology by creating blocks that are all connected. Take a look at the process below.

The benefit of using blockchain is that each block is encrypted and attached to the block before and after it. This means that in order to hack a block you would have to somehow change all of the blocks. It also means that once a block is made it cannot be changed unless an authorization is made. As you can see in the diagram above each authorized party will have access to the same block. This eliminates human error problems. This also saves on storage. Blockchain is fully decentralized which is another benefit.

So how does blockchain connect to digital twins?

IBM has invested heavily in blockchain and has created a department especially for digital twins. IBM Watson IoT is creating digital twins by using blockchain and also implementing blockchain into existing digital twins. Blockchain with the solutions listed above, has the power to make digital twins more effective and possibly take it to the next level.

Being that digital twins were so expensive, the industries that were able to take advantage of this technology were limited.

With blockchain every aspect of the digital twin will be drastically cheaper and allow digital twins to be created for more industries. It is estimated that the digital twins market will reach 15.66 Billion USD by the year 2023. It is expected to affect around 80% of large companies. China, Japan, and India are expected to see the largest investment in the digital twins industry. This fact is do to the large manufacturing industry in these countries. The USA is expected to see a large investment in blockchain/digital twins for consumers IoT products.

Digital twins are also expected to rise as they are directly tied to the 3d printing industry. Which is already a 20 billion USD industry and rising.

No matter what industry you are in creating a digital twin is relative to you. Whether you have a digital twin or are creating one, blockchain is the solution for you. If you are unsure or still don’t understand, call today and get a free consultation.

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What is Internet of Medical Things (IoMT)?

Development of Digital Twins with Blockchain Technology