Regular wellness checkups are foundational to medical care. They present opportunities for preventative care, they present opportunities to detect and diagnose ailments and they are a necessity during the treatment of medical conditions. Many health experts are convinced that remote medical monitoring technology will improve healthcare.
New semiconductor-based technologies can make diagnoses and resultant therapies more readily available, less invasive and more effective. Intelligent, connected portable devices make it possible to provide care through remote patient monitoring without necessitating a doctor’s visit or hospitalization. Such technology can be used not only to supplement a schedule of personal wellness checkups but can also create opportunities to access one’s health where access to healthcare otherwise wouldn’t exist, such as in remote regions of the world.
Limited access to medical care
In some parts of the world, trained medical professionals and healthcare facilities are scarce, if not completely unavailable. There are areas where healthcare resources exist but are still insufficient to meet demand. Even in locations where medical resources are readily available, soaring healthcare costs can make professional medical care unaffordable.
These challenges might be more acute and prevalent in developing countries, but they exist in affluent nations, too. In all cases, connected medical devices can help overcome limits to healthcare access.
Covid-19, for a time, interrupted not only social activity and business operations but also the delivery of medical care. So as not to overwhelm hospitals and clinics, many non-life-threatening surgeries and therapies were put on hold. That, however, reinforced the conviction among health professionals that remote medical monitoring will be increasingly useful.
Trends in health
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Another trend and driver that leads health professionals to anticipate greater reliance on remote monitoring devices is the graying of global populations. Older people are far more apt to need medical care. According to the World Economic Forum, demographers have noted the increase in the percentage of older people in China and Japan in particular, but the United States, Canada and most of the countries in Europe and South America are also getting older. The ability to actively monitor the health of aging populations will allow health organizations all around the world to better manage healthcare, potentially helping to avoid hospitalizations.
Separately, health organizations note that the incidence of certain afflictions is growing. According to the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) Global Health Estimates, noncommunicable diseases, including cancer, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases, now make up seven of the world’s top 10 causes of death. This speaks to the urgent need to drastically improve the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of these diseases.
The use of remote medical devices is expected to help detect, monitor and even help treat these and other ailments, leading to better outcomes and helping to reduce the strain on healthcare systems.
The market for health-monitoring devices
At national and global levels, health programs tend to be formulated to respond to a very specific problem in a prescribed geography. That makes it harder to deploy general health solutions, such as remote medical technology, according to the WHO.
Technology adoption is often complex. Health organizations would not be able to simply formulate and fund programs to promote the use of remote medical technology. They would also have to create programs to help patients use and interact with whatever medical advice they receive.
The WHO and other organizations say that now that they understand the scope of the situation, they intend to formulate plans to rise to the challenge. The ability to remotely monitor a patient’s condition helps solve many healthcare concerns. The prevailing trends in health and healthcare all provide momentum to the growing use of remote medical monitoring technology.
Projections for the global medical devices market vary from one company to the next, but they all expect substantial growth. Most sources agree the market was worth somewhere around $500 billion in 2022. That should grow to anywhere between $700 billion to $800 billion in the next five to six years, depending on the source.
Figure 1: Worldwide medical semiconductor revenue forecast by application market (Source: Databeans)
Medical devices
Innovations in semiconductor technology have made it possible to create a growing toolbox of medical devices that are small, highly accurate, smart and connected.
Some of these devices (and the ailments they address) include:
- Glucometers and CGMs for measuring blood sugar levels (diabetes)
- Pulse oximeters for measuring blood oxygen levels (pulmonary disease, heart disease, Covid diagnosis)
- Electrocardiographs (ECG)/stethoscopes for measuring heart activity and for listening to heart and lung activity (various)
- Fitness trackers, which can monitor any combination of the following: heart rate, blood pressure, weight, glucose, stress (various)
- Hearing aids (brain atrophy)
These devices have common technical requirements that include ultra-low–level signal sensing, signal processing and control, and secure connectivity.
Figure 2: Worldwide consumer medical semiconductor revenue forecast (Source: Databeans)
Onsemi has been at the forefront of developing technology for remote medical devices for well over two decades. The company is a pioneer in developing miniaturized system-in-package solutions for the medical microelectronics industry through its in-house advanced packaging technology and FDA-compliant manufacturing.
For example, onsemi devices enabled with Bluetooth Low Energy technology make it possible to build wearables and other small medical devices that can operate for extended periods up to 10 years without changing batteries, equating to longer product life.
The existence of high-quality healthcare isn’t enough. Healthcare also has to be widely accessible.
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