IoT Based Healthcare System Architecture

Introduction

A smart IoT healthcare system is revolutionizing patient care by seamlessly integrating advanced technologies into medical practices. Through interconnected devices, sensors, and data analytics, it enables real-time monitoring of patient vital signs. This system empowers healthcare professionals with actionable insights and facilitates remote patient monitoring.

Smart Healthcare System Components

The system consists of three main parts:

• IoT sensors
• Cloud connectivity
• MCU (Microcontroller Unit)

Various sensors are used in smart healthcare systems. They are commonly used in healthcare monitoring systems to track vital signs, physiological parameters, and activity levels of patients, enabling remote patient monitoring, disease management, and preventive healthcare interventions.

Information collected by sensors from patients can be relayed to the cloud servers. Web portals or mobile applications read this cloud data and display useful parameters for medical professionals.

Common Sensors Used in IoT Healthcare Systems

Following are some of the common sensors used:

• Heart rate sensors: Maxim (MAX30100) is a pulse oximeter and heart rate sensor module used for non-invasive heart rate monitoring. Analog Devices AD8232 is an ECG sensor used for monitoring heart rate and cardiac activity.
• Blood Pressure sensors: Examples are Omron BP785N, UA-651BLE from A&D Medical.
• Temperature sensors: Examples are Texas Instruments devices such as TMP36 (analog output) and TMP102 (digital output) as well as Maxim DS18B20 (digital temperature sensor).
• Movement and activity sensors: LSM series sensors from STMicroelectronics.
• EEG sensors: Sensors from NeuroSky MindWave.
• Respiratory Rate sensors: Maxim MAX30100, PureSAT SPOT sensors.

Benefits or Advantages of a Healthcare System

Following are the benefits or advantages of an IoT based healthcare system:

1. IoT devices enable continuous monitoring of vital signs of patients. This allows healthcare professionals and doctors to remotely monitor them.
2. The real-time data of patients helps doctors or medics to plan treatment based on individual health profiles.
3. Such systems facilitate early detection of health issues based on subtle changes in physiological parameters of the patients.
4. It enables a more active role for patients and offers tools for self-monitoring and health management.
5. IoT streamlines healthcare processes such as appointment scheduling, medication management, and inventory tracking. This reduces the burden on administration and improves operational efficiency.
6. IoT-based telemedicine platforms enable virtual consultations, remote diagnosis, and remote patient monitoring.
7. The data gathered by IoT sensors can be analyzed to identify valuable insights for medical research and health management.
8. Such healthcare systems help in reducing costs by optimizing resource utilization, minimizing unnecessary hospitalizations and emergency visits.
9. Systems support management of chronic diseases by providing tools for continuous monitoring. It helps patients better manage their conditions and improves their quality of life.
10. IoT-based healthcare systems contribute to medical research and innovation by generating large volumes of data for clinical studies, enabling the development of new treatments, medical devices, and healthcare technologies.

Overall, IoT-based healthcare systems revolutionize the delivery of healthcare services by leveraging technology to improve patient care, enhance efficiency, and drive innovation in the healthcare industry.