Internet-of-Things Devices and Assistive Technologies for Health Care: Applications, Challenges, and Opportunities

Medical conditions and cases are growing at a rapid pace, and physical space is starting to be constrained. Hospitals and clinics no longer have the ability to accommodate large numbers of incoming patients. It is clear that the health industry needs to improve the current state of its valuable and limited resources. The evolution of Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices along with assistive technologies can alleviate the problem in health care by providing a convenient and easy means of accessing health-care services wirelessly. There is a plethora of IoT devices and potential applications that can take advantage of the unique characteristics that these technologies can offer. However, at the same time, these services pose novel challenges that need to be properly addressed. In this article, we review some popular categories of IoT-based applications for health care along with their devices. We then describe the challenges and discuss how research can properly address the open issues and improve the already-existing implementations in health care. Further possible solutions, including machine learning (ML) techniques, are also discussed to show their potential as viable solutions for future health-care applications.