SECURITY & WELFARE
The Monitoring Of Things
Health monitoring is going mobile – but how secure is patient information online? Dirk Paessler, CEO of Paessler, explains how to keep a handle on a whole new world of data in healthcare.
The Internet of Things (IoT), where all manner of devices are inter-connected and communicate with one another via the Internet, may well have a significant effect on the healthcare sector. Software developers across all industries are taking note of the rise of IoT, and speculating on the ways that it could change the course of their profession. But in healthcare, where its capabilities could extend to potentially life-saving applications, its arrival is being monitored particularly closely.
IoT brings virtually endless possibilities. From satellites to washing machines and even coffee machines, devices will be able to interact without the need for human input. It is impossible to know whether the Internet of Things will ever achieve its full potential, but for healthcare, the changes could herald a new dawn for the industry.
With IoT, appliances from pacemakers to hearing aids will be inter- connected, allowing networked devices to perform a wide range of medical tasks, from regulating a patient’s body temperature to monitoring hospital equipment. The data collected by the ‘things’ can then be relayed to other devices on the network. Imagine a baby monitor that can send information on a child’s breathing and temperature to its parent’s smartphone.
Wearable technology – electronic devices you wear on your body – is
- 32 -
particularly suited to the provision of healthcare, for example in monitoring a patient’s pulse or heart-rate. If there’s a sudden drop in heart-rate, an ambulance could automatically be informed, find the patient via GPS and hopefully save their life.
But there are also challenges. One of the biggest will be integrating a large, hugely diverse group of ‘things’ – whatever they may be – into the existing network. Then there’s the data to think about. It will need to be added to the central IT system and then processed, examined and presented in such a way that it can be acted on. The IT network will be at the centre of it all, requiring close attention to ensure its smooth running.
IoT’s capabilities could extend to potentially life- saving applications.
Network monitoring will play an important role in the advent of IoT. Traditionally used to monitor the network on which everything runs, it can detect faults before they impact performance. However, with IoT it has the potential to offer even more – to monitor the actual ‘things’ on the network so that you are always aware of the status of the many devices connected to it. If one of the devices on the network gets disconnected or is simply switched
off, network monitoring can act as an early warning system, helping to avert what, in a healthcare context, could be a potentially life-threatening incident. It can also act as a control centre or dashboard that brings together traditional IT and, in this case, medical devices.
Network monitoring also has a part to play in keeping data secure. The major concerns over IoT’s expansion into the healthcare sector often come from patients, many of whom worry about the storage of sensitive personal data across so many connected systems, and the potential for invasions of privacy. Network monitoring is a robust and agile tool, and can help bolster network security by informing IT professionals at the slightest hint of an IT system breach. And given that network monitoring apps allow system administrators to monitor the status of a network around the clock, network security can be almost guaranteed.
Network monitoring can help unlock the many benefits that the Internet of Things promises to bring to the world of healthcare. It can give a critical insight into the performance of any device, whatever it may be, providing healthcare professionals with reassurance and knowledge in a changing, increasingly connected world.
www.paessler.com
www.tomorrowscare.co.uk
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48