Advocates of machine-to-machine (M2M) enabling technologies are always ready to talk up the kinds of application it could benefit. Typically, M2M can be seen in a range of applications - security and surveillance, building automation, supply chains and logistics management - however, it is healthcare that is best placed to progress beyond proof-of-concept stage when it comes to the ‘device shall speak unto device’ model.In short, the M2M model uses wired or wireless connectivity to exchange information and communications between Web-connected devices without the need for human intervention.
The benefits are numerous for patients, carers and clinicians alike, and particularly if a migration from conventional to M2M is worked into planned technology upgrade cycles. Given that M2M can use a lot of mainstream ICT, its costs can be diffused and aligned with those IT lifecycles common to PC and Internet-connected medical devices, rather than very expensive specialist hardware and software. This benefits both physicians and healthcare finance offices.
Definitions of what M2M means for the healthcare sector vary between sources. Some benefits extend from established telemedicine systems; others are only practical using an M2M model and the assumption that patients have local access to broadband connection. M2M can, in theory, provide real-time statistics, faster responses and ongoing revenues throughout product lifetime.
The potential to automate healthcare procedures - freeing up staff and only involving doctors when they are actually required - is compelling for a healthcare sector looking to make best use of its available resources. Data regarding patients’ conditions can be more easily monitored, and can be fed into ‘big-picture’ data sets to be analysed for wide-scale trends. Applications can be more easily changed or upgraded. M2M also provides patients with more control over their treatment regime.
According to Vodafone’s mHealth programme, the need for technological intervention in the delivery of healthcare services is due to the kind of shifts in healthcare demand that are evident around the world: ageing demographics, a rise in chronic diseases (such as diabetes), allied to an increasingly technically-savvy patient population, are affecting the type and intensity of care required to the point where established healthcare models are becoming unsustainable.
Generically, the M2M model begins with a remote sensor gathering source data (blood pressure, heart rate, blood levels, say), and transferring it via a conventional Internet link through the public network, then routed to a controlling server; the data is then analysed and acted upon by host systems which can be hosted by a medical facility, or a cloud service provider, for example.
M2M is associated with telemedicine, a technology that has been around in various forms for some years. Telemedicine is the use of telecommunications and IT in order to provide clinical health care remotely, overcoming distance barriers, and providing access to medical support that might otherwise not be so accessible. Telemedicine can also be part of the life-saving equipment used in critical care and emergency situations. The interface between healthcare and IT is always growing and already starting to infiltrate the social dependency between individuals, community group members, and social media, as well as what might be termed ‘personal ICT’. A recent report from Carers UK highlights how this trend should play a key role in bringing advance healthcare to an ageing population as unsustainable demands are made on health organisations’ resources.
Traditional telemedicine has mostly relied on special dedicated communication channels involving human supervision, whereas in the M2M context, much of the monitoring, data gathering and analysis occurs automatically between the connected devices. Different M2M telemedicine solutions developers are looking at different architectural models. A typical example of M2M communications is road traffic control.
The system connects to the sensor monitors and sends information on volume and speed characteristics; this is sent to specialised software that controls the traffic devices, including traffic lights and information signs. The incoming data is then manipulated to control the traffic flow.
State agencies are already on the case. The UK’s National Health Service (NHS) has begun investigating ways to deploy M2M healthcare. The government has challenged the NHS to find 20bn worth of efficiency savings by 2015; M2M is viewed as one way that this can be achieved. One of the first areas for M2M applications is patient monitoring. The aim is to use M2M technology to bring better compliance with prescribed treatments, faster reaction times to medical emergencies, and generally better outcomes for patients.
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