Wearable health systems: from smart technologies to real applications

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)
• Materials Science
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Wearable health systems (WHS) aim to provide continuous health monitoring outside clinical settings.
• Intelligent WHS are integrated systems capable of sensing, processing, and communicating physiological data.
• The development of WHS is crucial for extending healthcare services and improving patient management.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present the state-of-the-art in wearable health systems (WHS).
• To outline current research achievements in the field of WHS.
• To identify research trends and challenges in WHS development.

Main Methods:

• Review of current research and development in wearable health systems.
• Analysis of 'application-pull' (user demand) and 'technology-push' (innovation) drivers.
• Exploration of interdisciplinary synergies across various technological domains.

Main Results:

• WHS development is propelled by both user-driven healthcare demands and technological innovations.
• Interdisciplinary collaboration, particularly with ICT, is vital for advancing WHS.
• WHS enable unobtrusive monitoring, point-of-care diagnostics, and personalized health management.

Conclusions:

• Wearable health systems are evolving through a combination of application-pull and technology-push strategies.
• Continued interdisciplinary research is essential for realizing the full potential of WHS.
• Future WHS research should focus on addressing identified trends and challenges for enhanced healthcare.