from wearable sensors to robots, the most popular devices – breaking latest news

More and more technological patients. For them, wearables (wearable sensors) are now a habit, chatbots are good conversation partners. Virtual reality and robots – assistants, novelties to explore. Despite a certain retreat that appears to have hit digital health services after the explosion of remote medicine during Covid, the data collected byDigital Health Observatory of the Milan Polytechnic

bode well. The survey was carried out in collaboration with Doxapharma on a sample of a thousand peoplestatistically representative of the Italian population, and of about 350 patients suffering from chronic diseases or serious health problems, in collaboration with some patient associations (Aisc, AmrR, Apmarr, Fand, FederAsma, Onconauti and Ropi).

Monitoring of clinical and environmental parameters, adherence to therapy

Some of the technologies to support the patient at home are already quite common, such as health apps, used by 38% of patients, he explains Clare Sgarbossa Director of the Observatory. The most popular features are related to monitoring of clinical parameters (21% of patients) et al improvement of physical activity (18%); even if less used, apps for are of great interest monitor quality of life or health status through questionnaires (53% of patients) and those to improve adherence to therapy (51%).

We also find among the most popular technological solutions wearable devices, or wearables, to monitor clinical parameters, used by 29% of patients and considered interesting for the future by another 40%. Other more innovative technologies are less used, but arouse the curiosity of patients and people in general. Among these, the technologies of virtual or augmented reality (of interest to about half of patients and one in four people); sensors to monitor the environmental conditions in the home (interesting for 48% of patients and 35% of people); voice assistants, or chatbots, (47% and 33%) that allow you to receive information and support in the health sector (for example, to remember to take a medicine) e i robot assistivi (42% e 31%).

It is therefore about a market which, although still in a stage of development, appears of great potential: on the one hand it has set in motion startups and European institutions, which are investing in it, on the other it appears interesting in the eyes of those who represent the target of these solutions, i.e. patients and, in a broader sense, the entire population Italian, adds Chiara Sgarbossa.

Startups and European projects

But the Observatory’s research doesn’t stop there. The Pnrr (National Recovery and Resilience Plan) plans to dedicate 2.7 billion euros to strengthening home care, with the aim of improving assistance to people suffering from chronic diseases and, in particular, the over 65s. So we went to verify which are the areas of innovation that can be of help to people, patients and non-patients, at home .

The Digital Health Observatory has therefore carried out a census of international startups and European projects aimed at developing this type of digital solution. The analysis showed that European projects have patients (51% of projects) and the elderly (43%) as their main targetWhile startups have the healthy person as their main target (66% of the solutions developed). From the census it was possible to classify the different functions that digital solutions offer during the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and follow-up process.

The most widespread area (in about a third of startups) is that of applications for monitoring clinical parameters, often dedicated to chronic patients, and which also provides for the offer of other functions (doctor-patient communication and monitoring of adherence to therapy). Then there are the apps for the lifestyle improvement (movement, nutrition, meditation and mindfulness), points out the director.

European projects aim above all at the monitoring of clinical parameters (more than half of the projects deal with this type of solution) which, in the case of projects aimed at elderly people, is also associated with the monitoring of environmental parameters and the fall detection.