How IoT Can Significanlty Improve Healthcare in the Context of Smart City
readmissions for health-related parameter
monitoring, which would ultimately result in
releasing the beds that can be used for
actual treatment-related patient care. IoT
enables remotely monitoring patients in
their habitat and, in cases of any predicted
risk events, enables proactive remedial
action.
such as remote ICUs, improving the last mile
service to city patients.
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has
implemented one such solution in
Singapore, under the ambit of Smart City
health: To help seniors age and live
independently, with medical professionals
remotely monitoring and supporting them.
Singapore is under growing demographic
pressures with citizens over 65 years of age
expected to double by 2030 (known as the
“silver tsunami”), steadily putting greater
demands on social services and geriatric
care. In order to address these challenges,
TCS
collaborated
with
Singapore
Management University (SMU) to establish
an innovation lab, backed by a grant from
Government of Singapore, for research in
several aspect of intelligent city, primarily
monitoring the wellbeing of elderly.
Wearable/medical devices worn on the body
(i.e., pulse, steps, ECG bands) read the
relevant health parameters and pump the
data to the Internet through a gateway
(mostly a smartphone for outdoor
scenarios). For home-based care, medical
devices push the data to a gateway (home
router) using proximity (short range)
communication protocols such as Wi-Fi, BLE,
RFID (BLE is used widely due to range and
energy efficiency). Gateways near the edge
are embedded with more intelligence (more
than edge but less than cloud analytics
layer), filter and apply rules, thereby saving
network bandwidth and cost. Once the data
reaches the cloud through the gateway, it is
visible to the associated stakeholder for
visualization and analyses with automated
workflow. This architecture supports 2-way
communication, with instructions being
pushed from cloud to device for software
updates,
commissioning
or
de-
commissioning, patch upgrades etc.
The solution leverages Passive Infrared
motion sensors (on doors) to detect the
motion of the elderly in a particular part of
the home, to derive real-time information
relevant to caregivers when short-term
anomalies arise (i.e., falls, fainting). The
solution was deployed on TCS’s IoT platform,
known as TCS Connected Universe Platform,
and provides services such as sensor device
management, data acquisition and storage,
and analytics. Analytics included anomaly
detection algorithms for understanding
elderly heath/mobility/sleep patterns and
predicting any risk event, which is then
averted by proactive remedial action.
Further, such continuous monitoring
enables physicians to make informed
decisions as well as offer treatment that is
evidence-based. This advocates precise
medication, reducing adverse impact on
patient health and unnecessary loads on
payers. This concept is further being
elaborated to cater to serious scenarios,
For Singapore’s administration, this meant
less pressure on nursing homes, for which
there is already high demand. This initiative
is a benchmark for cities seeking to reform
18
June 2016