MedTech can help protect health in the post-COVID world - Telstra
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MedTech can help
protect health
in the post-COVID
world
AI-based healthcare and smart,
connected devices are leading
the charge
Medical technology (MedTech) pioneers have been pushing monitor their patients as they recover remotely in their homes.
harder than ever to help the healthcare industry gain the This could drastically ease the burden of hospitals, especially
upper hand against disease outbreaks. Much of this innovation during pandemic outbreaks, while enabling better recovery
revolves around emerging Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) care for patients who have undergone orthopaedic and other
technologies, with MedTech innovators developing a range procedures.4
of wearable and connected devices that will become part of
everyday life as people pivot towards the ‘new normal’. John Nosta, founder of digital health think tank NOSTALAB, sees
MedTech innovations as transformative clinical tools which will
Leading the IoMT race are MedTech innovators in Asia-Pacific. have greater impact once they are connected into far-reaching
Buoyed by their advancements in medical devices and cloud- ecosystems.
based analytics, the global IoMT market is predicted to outpace
growth in many other sectors. Prophecy Market Insights, a He argues: “Technology now offers us the opportunity to
market research firm, expects the global IoMT market to grow enhance many aspects of clinical practice from physical agility
from US$24.4b in 2019 to $285.5b by 20291 while Deloitte to cognitive function. As technology and artificial intelligence
is equally confident, recently predicting that spending on advance, the burden of many aspects of care can shift,
connected IoMT technologies in the Asia-Pacific will grow from freeing up the clinician for a higher and richer level of patient
$11b in 2017 to $51b by 2022.2 engagement.”5
The view of the sector is optimistic, because IoMT innovations With innovations ranging from robotic microsurgery to AI-based
have the potential to improve every part of the healthcare image analysis, MedTech is positioned to revolutionise every
system. For example, cloud-based home hospitalisation aspect of the medical industry – here are five of the leading
systems3 that combine environmental sensing units with MedTech innovations with the greatest potential to shape the
connected devices to measure vital signs could help doctors future of healthcare.
“Provided MedTech companies can convince clinicians and patients of the
value and benefits of connected medical devices, the pace and scale of
health care transformation will be exponential.”
- Deloitte Centre for Health Solutions
01
MedTech wearables
Over the years, wearables have seen significant technological
advancements in everything from battery efficiency to
waterproofing, always-on connectivity, and more. Consequently,
the capabilities and adoption of wearable technologies have
increased dramatically in recent years, with sector revenues
projected to grow by 21.4% annually from 2020 to 2025,
according to a recent analysis by global research firm, Research
and Markets5.
2020 Projected annual revenue growth
for wearable technologies sector5:
2025 21.4%
What were once rudimentary fitness trackers have evolved into
full-featured smart watches that now double as movement
monitors, fall sensors, heart-rate monitors, and even portable
ECGs capable of detecting heart arrhythmias. Other wearable
technologies, such as AI-assisted ‘hearables’6 and wireless
wearable pumps7 capable of delivering insulin injections for
three days, will not only help automate healthcare delivery in the
home but also help keep doctors and allied health specialists in
the loop with updated patient data.
Wearables are not just for patients. In the fight against
COVID-19, healthcare workers have found support in wearable
innovations that are equipped with temperature sensors
capable of detecting even low ambient levels of the virus.
Biosensors for healthcare
monitoring
A crucial innovation in the fight against COVID-19, biosensors8
help to enhance the safety of public and high-traffic private
spaces by detecting chemical substances in the body which
could indicate illness, and also for tell-tale signs of infection
such as changes in heart rate, blood pressure, blood glucose
asthma, oxygen saturation, and more.
Often integrated as components in MedTech solutions, these
biosensors can be found in everything from monitoring devices
to the autonomous robots that patrol Chinese hospitals,
detecting viruses and disinfecting areas with their built-in
ultraviolet-C lamps9. On the other side of the globe in New
York City’s Rockefeller Cente10, AI-based thermal cameras are
being installed in public places to measure the temperatures of
passers-by in real time with unprecedented accuracy. One such
system can measure8 the forehead temperatures of up to 200
people per minute within a tolerance of 0.5°C.
Capable of easily maintaining a higher degree of safety than
humans alone can provide, the widespread adoption of
biosensors is all but guaranteed, with business consulting firms
such as Grand View Research expecting the market to grow at a
healthy 7.9% annually from 2020 to 202711.
2020 Expected annual market growth
for biosensors11:
02
2027 7.9%
Robotics for healthcare
resource optimisation and
automation
The overwhelming need for healthcare resources around the
world due to the COVID-19 pandemic has created a massive
demand for robotic process automation (RPA), as healthcare
providers seek to speed up routine activities such as COVID-19
testing12. Beyond automating routine tasks, advancements in
precision and intelligence have also led to the rise of robotic
surgery, with the da Vinci Surgical System performing 1.25
million low-risk procedures7 in 2019 alone, freeing up skilled
surgeons to take on more complex surgeries. platform, uses AI to direct patients to the right hospital
department with 95% accuracy, reducing labour costs by half.
Meanwhile, another AI-driven analytics tool at the University of
Pennsylvania scours patient data to predict18 which patients risk
severe sepsis or septic shock – in some cases 12 hours before
the condition might be detected by doctors.
Predictive healthcare systems can also help to determine
the most effective interventions, by aggregating data about
past patients, common symptoms and treatment plans, then
correlating them with patient outcomes. As Robin Cavanaugh,
CTO of patient engagement solutions provider GetWellNetwork,
notes19: “Predictive analytics will guide patient care by
suggesting additional healthcare services that similar patients
have utilised, augmenting treatment protocols with healthy
Healthcare process automation robots living suggestions and curating information to resources that
may be helpful after treatment.”
Intelligent automation has also been used to accelerate
research and development. Pharmaceutical giant Novartis
International AG recently utilised RPA to complete their drug Accelerating vaccine
discovery process four months ahead of schedule13, and
Zuellig Pharma built an RPA system that cleared a backlog development with AI
of 10,000 auditing cases while delivering a 24/7 order
processing system14 that supports 35,000 medical facilities. The global race for a vaccine has been one of the highest-profile
stories of the COVID-19 pandemic, with researchers around
With studies showing how RPA can reduce operational costs the world sharing data and working together to accelerate the
for pharmaceutical companies by up to 25% and provide process for vaccine development, testing, and manufacturing.
up to 600% return on investment15 within months, robotics These are heavily data-driven projects, so researchers have
is primed to not only advance, but transform the healthcare focused their efforts by using AI on supercomputers20, allowing
industry. them to quickly narrow down billions of candidate molecules to
just a few thousand.
Big Data-driven predictive
healthcare systems
The COVID-19 outbreak, other than being a proving ground for
MedTech, has also brought the value of artificial intelligence (AI)
techniques to the fore. BlueDot, a firm specialising in AI-based
outbreak risk software, recently made the news by flagging the
coronavirus outbreak 16 even before the Chinese government
issued its warning to the World Health Organisation.
Using big-data analytics and machine-learning algorithms
to pick up subtle patterns from mountains of clinical data,
predictive healthcare systems help clinicians to optimise
medical therapies, personalise patient care plans, and predict The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, one of the US
potential medical issues before they happen. government’s national security laboratories, leveraged21 a novel
AI-driven modelling platform to choose the 20 most promising
These tools have already seen success in the field. The patient antibody candidates from a field of 1,040 possibilities.
triage tool from JD Health17, a pharmaceutical e-commerce 03
Northwestern University researchers, on the other hand, used22
an AI model to rapidly evaluate vaccine research studies,
cutting down a typically 314-day process to just five minutes.
In a similar vein, Harvard University’s newly launched Human
Immunomics Initiative23 will lean heavily on AI-based analytics
to analyse the human genome and hasten the development of
appropriate targeted therapies.
Enabling an interconnected
MedTech future
The global COVID-19 fight has led to a surge of innovations in the
already-growing MedTech market, from wearables to robotics,
AI techniques, and more. But the one thread that ties these
innovations together is their ability to wirelessly link up into a
supercharged, intelligent healthcare infrastructure.
As emerging 5G mobile networks take hold, IoMT sensors and
devices will increasingly be directly connected to citywide
wireless networks – fuelling a market for connected medical
devices that is expected to grow24 from $41b in 2017 to $158b in
2022.
Market for connected medical devices24:
$41b $158b
2017 2022
With years of experience connecting people and devices with
high-efficiency sensor networks, Telstra’s history of healthcare
innovation has come to the fore during this pandemic.
In Australia, Telstra’s dedicated IoT Network25 already connects
devices across the country, providing the security, reliability and
coverage that networked IoMT solutions need to interconnect.
Outside of Australia, Telstra offers a secure, global network
solution underpinned by the largest subsea cable network in
Asia-Pacific, which integrates technologies like Cloud, SD-WAN
and Collaboration services.
As IoMT devices and systems become ubiquitous within the
world’s healthcare systems, the connected MedTech innovations
of today will become the support systems of tomorrow, running
on the back of a resilient, globally connected network – one that
Telstra is well-placed to help you architect.
“We have a once in a generation opportunity to transform how healthcare
works by connecting patients with their clinical team digitally in real time.”26
Andrew Stormont
Telstra Product & Technology Mobility Executive
04
References:
1. Global New Wire, Global Internet-of-Medical-Things (IoMT) Market Paved Way for Extensive Healthcare Modernization, July 2020
2. Deloitte, Medtech and the Internet of Medical Things, 2020
3. Science Direct, A home hospitalization system based on the Internet of things, Fog computing and cloud computing, 2020
4. Science Direct, Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) for orthopaedic in COVID-19 pandemic: Roles, challenges, and applications, July 2020
5. Global News Wire, Global Medical Wearables Industry (2020 to 2025) - Growing Adoption of Mobile Platforms Presents Opportunities, June 2020
6. Spectrum, Hearables Will Monitor Your Brain and Body to Augment Your Life, May 2019
7. RoboGlobal, 2020 Trends in Robotics, AI, and Healthcare Innovation, 2019
8. RT Insights, How AI is Enabling Pervasive Biosensing, June 2020
9. Spectrum, Autonomous Robots Are Helping Kill Coronavirus in Hospitals, March 2020
10. The Wall Street Journal, Welcome Back to the Office. Your Every Move Will Be Watched, May 2020
11. Grand View Research, Biosensors Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Application, March 2020
12. CiGen, 6 Benefits of Implementing Robotic Process Automation (RPA) in Healthcare, May 2020
13. Automation Anywhere, How Intelligent Automation Can Help Fight COVID-19 & Other Crises, April 2020
14. SAP, SAP Intelligent RPA Success Stories – How Can Automation Streamline Customer Orders During Times of Disruption at Zuellig Pharma?, June 2020
15. Roboyo, Robotic Process Automation for Pharma, July 2020
16. CNBC, Bluedot Used Artificial Intelligence to Predict Coronavirus Spread, March 2020
17. JD, In-Depth Report: The Logic Behind JD Health’s Today and Tomorrow, March 2020
18. Codete, Predictive Analytics in Healthcare: Use Cases,Benefits & Challenges, April 2020
19. Healthcare IT News, 2020 outlook: Predictive analytics, AI, enhanced security, telehealth and more, January 2020
20. Wired, AI-Powered Biotech Can Help Deploy a Vaccine In Record Time, May 2020
21. Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Accelerating vaccine research for COVID-19 with high-performance computing and artificial intelligence, April 2020
22. Northwestern University, AI Speeds Up Search for COVID-19 Treatments and Vaccines, May 2020
23. Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Human Immunomics Initiative will decode immune system, speed new vaccines, April 2020
24. Business Insider, IoT Healthcare in 2020: Companies, devices, use cases and market stats, February 2020
25. Telstra, Innovate for Confidence
26. Telstra, Inside the ways 5G will transform healthcare, Dec 2018
Read about our solutions for MedTech
Contact your Telstra account representative for more details.
Singapore International
+65 6270 1110 Sales: tg_sales@team.telstra.com
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