Cool IoT Use Cases: Bringing clinical accuracy to remote environments
Market overview
Advanced healthcare systems combined with IoT connectivity allow paramedics operating in remote, harsh environments to stay in touch with distant physicians and conduct clinical examinations.
The problem
Discovery Channel’s Sharkwrecked show wanted to remotely monitor and diagnose diver conditions in the shark-infested waters off the coast of the Bahamas. An onboard team of paramedics needed to monitor vital organs, ECG, temperature, heart rate, skin health, glucose levels, and pain.
The players
Dictum Health, whose products enable real-time remote medical care by integrating diagnostic medical devices with applications that bring physicians and remote patients together. AT&T provided the requisite IoT connectivity service.
The solution
Dictum Health’s Virtual Examination Room and VER-MEDIC, a mobile rugged telehealth system was deployed on Discovery Channel’s yacht. Divers and show staff had access to a comprehensive clinical service that provided the same accuracy as an in-hospital examination.
They were able to monitor critical parameters in order to ensure the health and safety of the divers. Moreover, using AT&T’s global network, the on-board medics could stay in touch with remote physicians through the virtual examination room for any major emergencies.
During the voyage sharks were not the only threat. Alone in open water, the divers endured 90-degree Fahrenheit (32 degree Celsius) weather during the day followed by plummeting temperatures at night. The risks of dehydration, hypothermia, and drowning were real. Therefore, having a medical device to safely monitor the divers became crucial.
Business benefits
- Accurate, real-time clinical data
- Operation in harsh environments
- On-line access to remote physicians
The author is freelance IoT writer, Bob Emmerson
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