RE Practices When Developing IoT for Healthcare: The Case of GlucoCheck

The development of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies has shown great promise in revolutionizing the healthcare industry. The current affordability of sensors and the growing availability of high-resolution devices in the market allow the creation of low-cost prototypes, thus empowering small research groups and industries to compete with established companies and laboratories. However, the lack of a process to control the cost of some phases of the development (e.g., data collection and testing of new devices) still give an advantage to established companies that can invest more resources and quickly obtain a patentable product. To understand the problems that smaller laboratories face in developing IoT solutions for healthcare, we first analyze the development process of a provisionally patented device for the non-invasive checking of glucose in the blood. By examining this case, we identify and highlight several challenges that hinder the successful development and implementation of IoT solutions with RE. By understanding and addressing these challenges, we can foster an inclusive environment that enables smaller groups to develop IoT solutions successfully, thus improving access to affordable healthcare for a broader population.