Internet of Things in Healthcare Research: Trends, Innovations, Security Considerations, Challenges and Future Strategy

Abstract

The Internet of Things (IoT) has become a transformative force across various sectors, including healthcare, offering new opportunities for automation and enhanced service delivery. The evolving architecture of the IoT presents significant challenges in establishing a comprehensive cyber-physical framework. This paper reviews recent advancements in IoT-driven healthcare automation, focussing on integrating technologies such as cloud computing, augmented reality and wearable devices. This work examines the IoT network architectures and platforms that support healthcare applications while addressing critical security and privacy issues, including specific threat models, attack classifications and security prerequisites relevant to the healthcare sector. This study highlights how emerging technologies like distributed intelligence, big data analytics and wearable devices are incorporated into healthcare to improve patient care and streamline medical operations. The findings reveal significant potential for IoT to transform healthcare practices, particularly in-patient monitoring, and clinical decision-making. However, security and privacy concerns continue to be a substantial barrier. The paper also explores the implications of global IoT and ehealth strategies and their influence on sustainable economic and community growth. It proposes an innovative cooperative security model to mitigate security risks in IoT-enabled healthcare systems. Finally, it identifies key unresolved challenges and opportunities for future research in IoT-based healthcare.