Guest article provided by: andolasoft.com
The COVID-19 pandemic is the biggest ever healthcare challenge faced throughout the world in centuries. It has brought people’s lives upside down, heavily impacted all industries, and changed the path of business operation. But the technological impact of Pandemic has not slowed down yet – it has innovated to peak levels.
New technology trends show how people’s perceptions are taking a drastic shift, and digital technology structures are no longer in synchronization with them. This disproportion is causing misalignment of business standards with people’s views—giving rise to a phenomenon called “tech-clash.” Though this pandemic crisis is completely different in nature, it has failed to make things worse for the global community. Technology usage has intensified beyond limits. With a great transformation in technologies, businesses are able to outsmart today’s insecurity.
Talk of Tech in Healthcare during Pandemic
One of the top challenges during the Covid-19 pandemic has been to track and control the spread of the virus while getting an effective protocol for treatment and a possible cure. To protect as well as help people recover from the catastrophic effect, researchers have invested heavily in branches such as Medtech/biotech, popularizing the new concept of telemedicine. This emerging technology started at a slow pace for outpatient care but has gained momentum, later on, offering new healthcare solutions during lockdowns.
The Covid-19 has also given rise to new worries regarding the impact and recovery. To measure its economic and sociological impact, data analytics has been practiced 35% more than pre-COVID time. Many individuals, companies, and countries have started analyzing data from medical research to predict everything from the way of recovery to potential improvements, etc.
Coming to delivery drones, their use has shot up by 57% in the pandemic that hit the global market. They have a remarkable role in restoring essential supplies like personal protective equipment (PPE), testing kits, and groceries in hard-to-reach locations during lockdowns. The drones lower the risk of fatal consequences while ensuring contact less delivery.
COVID-19 has seen 5G technology use getting amplified to bring consumers the experience of smooth and uninterrupted connections (video calling). From shopping, telemedicine to education and transportation, it has re-created fast and ultra-reliable virtual communication. Thus, people are under the realization that cellular technology like 5G can solve their connectivity problem.
Apart from using emerging technologies for personalized health protection and care such as PM (precision medicine), 3 technologies have been adding value to public health schemes in the region-wise government response to the pandemic: AI, AR/VR technology, and edge computing.
Unexpected Progression & Adoption of Technologies
As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to attack lives all over the world, national governments focus more on developing and using technologies. AI, machine learning, IoT, robotics, blockchain, and cybersecurity have been adopted by them at a fastened speed. All of these emerging technologies have come together to restrict the pandemic effect to a great extent.
AI has been addressing the need to help answer queries of people about the novel coronavirus by going through thousands of scholarly articles available around the world. Health care institutes have been able to access and use VR/AR driven medical tools to make disease control protocols or undertake precautionary measures in a contactless manner.
The airline security group, for example, relies on virtual reality to help employees at airports properly screen and identify passengers who are infected at domestic and international airports. Edge computing has outshined when it comes to collecting health details as well as the travel history of hundreds of thousands of people by local health professionals through their smart devices without overloading public networks.
Key Areas Emerging Technologies Taking On
In this pandemic situation, emerging technologies have been practiced in some of the crucial areas in the healthcare sector day and night. They are as follows:
- Preventing infection from spreading it to others – Technologies such as remote patient monitoring, disinfection robots, and no-contact digital thermometers have helped to keep the infection under control.
- Extra support for highly susceptible groups in the community – Online doctor visits, WhatsApp Chabot’s, and online apps/tools for engaging patients together with virtual diagnostic tests have reduced the total number of actual hospital visits.
- Overall public health and safety management during the pandemic – Supportive digital tools and apps for medical workers, use of drones for supply delivery, and specific isolation units have been effective in preventing the infection from reaching frontline staff.
- To rule out virus transmission to the community – Video streaming services (Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, etc.), remote workability, with isolation, worry, and anxiety management, have enabled people as well as medical professionals to maintain their physical and emotional health during the pandemic.
Emerging Technology Trends Controlling the Pandemic
The corona pandemic is leaving a deep impact on different areas of the economy and society. With emerging technology trends this impact could be kept to minimal.
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Say hello to Remote Medicare
Medicare has gone virtual during this pandemic. Remotely connected healthcare platforms have enabled both patients and doctors to consult and get medical attention immediately. While maintaining social distancing, remote patient care has successfully filled the shortage of health professionals, and added pace to the process of testing, tracing, and isolating virus carriers.
Digital apps available for remote Medicare are the signs of the technological revolution the global population is living through during this pandemic.
Examples of solution providers: – Telehealer, X2AI, Spire Health, Biofourmis, StethoMe, Resmetrix, etc.
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Protective measures through digital apps and devices
Everyone from doctors and nurses to pathology staff has been using useful mobile apps to keep them updated and ready to treat already infected patients. Other robotic sanitizing and disinfecting machines are increasingly being used in affected cabins.
Examples of solution providers: – Aeris Health, Aseptic Health, RespoKare, BlueDot, and EzySpit.
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Diagnosis and monitoring goes beyond hospital
The mission of home quarantine has been effective due to the online diagnosis and monitoring service. WhatsApp Catboats and symptom checkers on mobile are able to give out information fast and easy. Contactless infrared thermometers make sure the patient’s temperature is regularly checked without putting frontline workers at risk.
Examples of solution providers: – Avidhrt, Current Health, Certintell, VivaLNK, and Co-Diagnostics.
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Non-risky hospital care and support
Hospitals remain focused, prepared, and support Corona patients well while exposing their staff to minimal risk. The use of blood testing tools, respiratory rate monitoring machines, and more surgical-grade supplies has helped in the effective treatment of patients.
Examples of solution providers: – Sonovia and Ruxin Medical
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Robotic analytics and disinfectant solutions
The disinfectant solutions spraying robots are deployed in hospitals and outside to sanitize areas, vehicles, and equipment nearby. Robotic health analytics and respiratory machines, for example, are in use to restrict infection among medical professionals as much as possible. These efforts of robots are really significant in a response to the pandemic.
Examples of solution providers: – Diligent Robotics, XAG Robot
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Automated sensors, drones, and AR tools to restore supply chain
Hospitals as well as public healthcare facilities could restore the medical supply chain with robotic drones’ delivery and perform temperature checks in patients using automated thermal sensors. Augmented reality is preferably in use to teach patients on health matters, engage them, and create a more personalized treatment experience.
Examples of solution providers: – CLEW, Augmedics, etc.
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City life is coping up with video/image analytics, geofencing apps, etc.
City life is slowly recuperating as people keep updated about pandemic conditions with mobile apps, videos, and images. Urban farming and out-of-site construction are new ideas in effect, making sure food supply and temporary shelters are available to the city population. Additionally, secure online payouts and cashier-less payment counters are other options available to help meet the rising demand of people in this pandemic.
Examples of solution providers: – Senssight, Electorate, Telebeacon, GRONSKA, Full Stack Modular, AiFi, etc.
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it’s now about learning over electronic platforms, communicating and collaborating with digital apps
It is not just digital apps helping people stay connected to their dear ones on a regular basis but the e-learning platforms that are proving effective in teaching students their curriculum without fail. Offices without fear of a temporary shutdown are using zoom and other virtual meeting tools to stay connected and carry on. Video streaming and online entertainment apps on mobile are now used widely for time pass.
Examples of solution providers: – Scener, Replika, Prometheus, Walkabout, Welcome Fit, Bawiq, and Flow Lab, etc.
How to Even Out the Pandemic Impact?
This is an exceptional situation which most of the world was not ready for. The SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) outbreak of 2003 in china was the last pandemic causing the death of 774 people. That incident was a trigger to advanced research and development and to find some easy to implement medical solutions/guidelines.
History has revisited in 2020 as many remote health startups and organizations, mobile health, contactless diagnostics /testing, and delivery systems have now become part of a response to the Corona pandemic. It is really inspiring. With a huge toll on public life only because of the novel coronavirus, you are likely to see the trend of emerging technologies continuing to assist hospital staff, voluntary health workers, and the general public as a whole.
Author Bio:
Jay – Do what you do best in – that’s what I’ve always believed in and that’s what I preach. Over the past 28+ years (yup that’s my expertise ‘n’ experience in the Information Technology domain), I’ve been consulting to small, medium and large companies ‘bout Web Technologies, Mobile Future as well as on the good-and-bad of eCommerce tech. Blogger, International Business Advisor, Web Technology Expert, Sales Guru, Startup Mentor, Insurance Sales Portal Expert & a Tennis Player. Currently working at Andolasoft the web and mobile app development company USA. And top of all – a complete family man
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