Wearing Your Heart (Monitor) on Your Sleeve: Will Data Be the New Doctor?

Abstract

Imagine wearing a shirt or a wristband that tells you how hard you are exercising or warns you if you are getting sick. These are simple examples of wearable medical devices that could transform healthcare—either by helping people to manage serious diseases that they already have, or by spotting the early signs of a disease so that it can be treated before the person even feels sick. This article will focus on two examples of wearables: one for the management of diabetes and another that may be able to prevent heart attacks. Wearables like these and many others that are being developed could greatly improve human health. However, these technologies come with some big challenges, because they collect a lot of personal data. We need to find ways to protect people’s privacy by keeping that sensitive data safe. In the future, wearables will certainly help doctors do their jobs… but might they even replace doctors altogether?