The resounding success of health-promoting smart gadgets for private use has been outshone by another no less important development: Wearables are steadily advancing into many fields of professional healthcare. They are essential to the digital revolution that is also changing the field of medicine. A development that visitors at the world's largest medical trade fair – tMEDICA in Düsseldorf, Germany with more than 5,000 exhibitors – will be able to experience for themselves from November 13 – 16, 2017. The MEDICA CONNECTED HEALTHCARE FORUM in Hall 15, which will dedicate special sessions to the field of wearables is going to be the hotspot for everybody interested in this topic, specifically on November 13, from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm and November 14 from 2:00 to 5:00 pm. In addition, the Wearable Technologies Show (also in Hall 15) will offer an overview of exciting new developments. This is where both prototypes and research projects are going to be presented in addition to products that are already heading for the market.

“Wearables represent one of the major enablers of digitization in healthcare,” says Christian Stammel, Founder and CEO of WT Wearable Technologies Group. The wearables used in the health sector are more than just fitness trackers strapped to the wrist. There are many applications that have been very successful for decades – even if they were not previously called wearables: “We define all electronic components that are worn on the body, close to the body or in the body as wearables,” explains Stammel. It is a definition that also includes pacemakers and hearing aids as well as smart implants.

Wearables are already having an impact on new treatment methods and are creating new methods of diagnosis, monitoring and medication across all aspects of medical care – from prevention and inpatient and outpatient care to rehabilitation. The spectrum ranges from intelligent band aids for measuring blood-sugar levels, such as the product already implemented by Abbott, through patches that deliver the individually required quantity of drugs to intelligent pills that are able to monitor the correct drug administration. A sensor in the form of a pill by Proteus Medical, for instance, enables physicians to track when patients have taken their medicines. Adherence to required therapies is one of the factors that are decisive for the success of drug treatments. The ‘mylife OmniPod’ insulin-management system also represents a new type of insulin-pump therapy. The eponymous pod is applied directly to the skin – without annoying tubes between the pod and the ‘personal diabetes manager’. This gives the people using it with more freedom in their everyday lives.

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