Wearable tech, such as Google Watches, has been making a splash in almost every profession. These versatile gadgets can communicate with your home, act as neat pedometers, let you listen to the radio and almost anything else you could dream up.
But can they help monitor the health of patients in hospitals?
According to the Guardian, some companies have plans to integrate smart watch technology into the fabrics of patients’ garments, allowing them to track their behaviour and (most importantly, for us) monitor their hygiene.
A bright future
Indeed, monitors are already prominent in many facets of healthcare. When placed in beds, they can detect bedsores – yet none have been invented to monitor physiological changes in patients.
However, some nifty wearable tech products are available to keep track of patients’ health in broader forms.
The HealthPatch MD, for instance, is a small strip attached to patients and operated via a small remote. From there, it tracks heart and respiratory rate, skin temperature and much more. Although it requires a small amount of extra wiring, it’s a positive indicator of where we’re headed.
In terms of healthcare waste, monitoring equipment can provide a world of possibility. Just imagine an app that could tell you when certain hospital waste facilities needed emptying. The real-time nature of phones could turn a rigorously scheduled routine into something even more tightly constructed.
Wearables could even allow the waste professional on the go to check their personal hygiene, keeping them safe from any cleanliness disasters whilst carrying out their responsibilities.
Much of this is little more than speculative, but wearable technology is proving that there’s a bright future for healthcare – and the waste that comes with it.
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