BiowireleSS: Market Opportunities in Wireless Healthcare, 2014

LONDON, Jan. 27, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Reportbuyer.com just published a new market research report:

BiowireleSS: Market Opportunities in Wireless Healthcare, 2014


Thintri Inc. announces the release of BiowireleSS: Market Opportunities in Wireless Healthcare, 2014, a new market study covering opportunities emerging in the use of wireless technologies in healthcare delivery. This comprehensive examination of the subject discusses the various technologies and their impact on the healthcare landscape, with market forecasts to 2020.

Wireless Medical Applications
• Chronic disease management
• Post-surgical recovery
• Vital sign monitoring
• Pro-active monitoring
• Eldercare
• Remote diagnosis
• Emergency communications
• Wellness and Fitness
• Telemedicine
• Facilities monitoring
• Asset and staff locating
• Positioning
• Asset management
• Tracking pharmaceuticals
• Tracking meds compliance
• Imaging and Video
• Research and clinical trials
• In-home assistance

Wireless Technologies
• WPANs/WBANs/MBANs
• WLANs, Wi-Fi
• WiMAX
• ZigBee
• Bluetooth
• ANT
• Ultra-wideband (UWB)
• E-textiles
• Radar
• Web conferencing
• Capsule endoscopy
• Implantable and ingestible sensors
• Epidermal electronics
• Smart bandages
• Smartphone apps
• RFID, RTLS, IPS

Market Demand
2013–2020 forecasts
• E-Textiles and
• Wearable Sensors
• Wireless Imaging and Video
• Smart pills & capsule endoscopes
• mHealth and remote monitoring
• Smartphone apps
• RFID
• RTLS
• Market volumes and unit sales
• Application segments
• Regional markets

Background on BiowireleSS

Biomedical Wireless Technology, Networks and Sensing Systems, or BiowireleSS, is rapidly becoming an integral component of healthcare delivery. A wide range of wireless technologies is being brought to bear on a long list of healthcare and pharmaceutical applications with the promise of utterly transforming healthcare as we know it today.

BiowireleSS will bring unprecedented efficiencies and productivity to healthcare delivery while lowering costs and improving patient outcomes. More importantly, many patients and their healthcare providers will experience far more freedom and flexibility. Where once a patient would have been confined to a hospital bed for extensive tests, or to be monitored post-surgery or for chronic conditions, in many cases patients will soon be monitored at home, free to go about their normal activities, while a wireless device will transmit data to healthcare providers, who will be alerted if vital signs vary from normal ranges. Hospitals will use wireless technology to instantly track equipment and staff, and automate facilities management tasks such as keeping medication at the proper temperature and storing records in the cloud, with far greater efficiency and reliability than was previously possible.

Wireless technologies applicable to healthcare will include smart garments and e-textiles; wearable sensors that can be worn on the wrist, in armbands, etc.; other sensors that are attached directly to the skin, and even epidermal electronics, small, temporary tattoo-like patches that will contain both sensors that can monitor body functions as well as wireless transmission capability and power generation/harvesting. RFID/RTLS systems will allow tracking of both hospital staff and equipment for instant locating, as well as tracking of pharmaceuticals to prevent counterfeiting. Wireless imaging and video will facilitate remote diagnosis for those lacking access to specialists. Smartphone apps will bring healthcare information directly to consumers. Many other scenarios are emerging as well.

The development of these wireless technologies, many now near market entry or already commercialized, comes as a "perfect storm" takes place, largely due to recent Federal legislation that can only be implemented in any practical sense by use of such technologies. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as the ACA or "Obamacare," will implement extraordinary measures to increase the efficiency and reliability of the US healthcare system. For example, Meaningful Use will mandate the complete move to electronic record-keeping and fundamentally changing the way physicians interact with patients and clearing the way for remote monitoring of patients.

Other ACA provisions, while not explicitly concerned with technology, will force healthcare providers to find new ways to increase efficiency and effectiveness, and thus maximize health and wellness, as part of a broad move from fee-for-service to fee-for-outcome. Hospitals, for example, will pay a penalty if a patient is readmitted within a certain period of time after discharge for the same condition. Hospitals will see full beds as expenses, rather than sources of profit. Many of the requirements of the ACA are in line with the capabilities of emerging wireless technologies and will be fundamental to their realization.

However, the road to implementation of BiowireleSS will not be smooth. Many technologies that could open up new wireless healthcare markets are still too costly. Customer education remains a significant obstacle as well.

Understand the Markets

Realizing the wide-ranging market potential in wireless healthcare delivery will depend on the development of appropriate business models, some of which are already deployed or in development. Those that are successful, and the industry consolidation that will invariably follow, will define the wireless healthcare landscape for the next couple of decades.

The 15% of the US population that is considered fragile or episodic and which forms a large portion of healthcare demand, as well as many suffering from temporary conditions, will have to be monitored closely in order to avoid hospital stays. The best way to address the needs of these populations will be the widespread use of new wireless technologies. At the same time, demand will also come from the wellness and fitness segments, which will find a bewildering array of technological options available to monitor personal training and wellness regimes. This complex mix of technologies, legislation, markets and shifting demand will present healthcare providers and wireless technology developers with extraordinary opportunities as well as threats in an uncertain, rapidly developing environment.

Thintri's market study, BiowireleSS: Opportunities in Wireless Healthcare, will examine the leading emerging wireless healthcare-related technologies, their capabilities and limitations, along with their most promising applications and markets.


Report Contents

Executive Summary 1

E.1 Emerging Business Models 1
E.2 Overview: BiowireleSS 3
E.3 Wireless Coexistence & Security 4
E.4 Standards & Regulation 4
E.5 Hardware: Sensors and Networks 5
E.6 Wearable Monitors and E-Textiles 7
E.7 Wireless Technology in Imaging & Video 8
E.8 MHealth & Remote Monitoring 10
E.9 RFID and Positioning 13

Chapter 1 Emerging Business Models 16

1.1 Introduction – The Advent of Wireless Medical Technology 16
1.2 An Era of Disruption and Challenge 18
1.3 Wireless Platforms for Medicine 19
1.4 Telemedicine & Remote Presence 20
1.5 Managed Networks and Network Models 25
1.6 Autonomous Networks 27
1.7 Making Use of the Cloud 28
1.8 Facilities Monitoring 29
1.9 Effects of the ACA and New Technologies on Business Models 31

Chapter 2 Overview: BiowireleSS 35

2.1 Introduction 35
2.2 Requirements for BiowireleSS 36
2.3 The Promise of BiowireleSS 37
2.4 Radiation Safety Issues 39
2.5 The Path to Growth 39
2.6 Networked Approaches 41
2.6.1 Introduction 41
2.6.2 WLAN - Wi-Fi 43
2.6.3 WiMAX 45
2.6.4 Bluetooth 46
2.6.5 Zigbee 48
2.6.6 ANT 49
2.6.7 UWB 50
2.6.7.1 Standards 51
2.6.7.2 Characteristics 52
2.6.7.3 UWB Applications 52
2.6.7.4 Radar & Imaging 53
2.6.7.5 Capsule endoscopy 55
2.6.7.6 Location & Positioning 56
2.6.7.7 UWB in WBANs 57
2.6.7.8 Power Consumption 58

Chapter 3 Wireless Coexistence & Security 59

3.1 Wireless Coexistence 59
3.2 The Influence of Standards 60
3.3 Security 61
3.4 Interoperability 63

Chapter 4 Standards & Regulation 64

4.1 Background: The Need for Regulation 64
4.2 Wireless Spectrum Allocation for Medical Use 65
4.3 Industry Standards 67
4.4 Meeting Bandwidth Demand 68
4.5 Medicare & CMS 69

Chapter 5 Hardware: Sensors and Networks 71

5.1 Body Area Networks: WBANs, WPANs, MBANs 71
5.1.1 Background 71
5.1.2 Protocols and Platforms 72
5.1.3 Needs, Issues, Concerns, etc. 74
5.1.4 MBAN Hardware & Systems 75
5.1.5 MBAN Applications 77
5.1.6 Market Growth 81
5.1.7 Wireless Sensor Implementation 84
5.1.8 Brain Research, Rehabilitation 85
5.1.9 Sensor Hardware Issues 86
5.1.10 Implantable and Ingestible Sensors 87
5.1.11 Implantable Active Devices 88
5.2 Radar 90
5.3 Epidermal Electronics 90
5.3.1 Background 91
5.3.2 Technology 92
5.3.3 EES Applications and Market Opportunities 95
5.4 Smart Bandages 97

Chapter 6 Applications and Markets: Wearable Monitors and E-Textiles 99

6.1 Introduction 99
6.2 Commercial History 100
6.3 Sample E-Garments 101
6.4 Markets 104

Chapter 7 Applications & Markets: Wireless Technology in Imaging & Video 109

7.1 Imaging 109
7.2 Video 112
7.3 Capsule Endoscopy 114

Chapter 8 Applications and Markets: mHealth & Remote Monitoring 117

8.1 Mobile Healthcare: Background 117
8.2 Remote Monitoring 118
8.2.1 Regional Effects 121
8.2.2 Eldercare 123
8.3 Emerging mHealth and Monitoring Markets 124
8.4 Smartphone Apps 132

Chapter 9 Location-Based Services: RFID, IPS, RTLS 135

9.1 Introduction 135
9.2 RFID 135
9.2.1 RFID Technology 136
9.2.2 RFID Applications 137
9.2.3 Asset Tracking 139
9.2.4 RFID Markets 139
9.3 Positioning & Locating 144
9.3.1 Indoor Positioning Systems 144
9.3.2 Real Time Locating Systems 145
9.3.3 Location Systems Applications and Markets 146



List of Report Tables and Figures

Figure E-1 Markets, E-Textiles and Wearable Sensor Systems 8
Figure E-2 Global Wireless Medical Imaging Market 9
Figure E-3 Global Overall mHealth and Remote Monitoring
Market Volume 12
Figure E-4 Global RFID Markets, Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals 14
Figure E-5 Global RTLS Markets 15
Table 2.1 Dedicated, Unlicensed Medical Spectrum 41
Table 2.2 Wireless Platforms for BiowireleSS Applications 42
Figure 2.2 Bluetooth Ranges 47
Table 2.3 ZigBee Frequencies and Data Rates 49
Table 4.1 Common Standards for Medical RF Communication 65
Figure 5.1 A Typical MBAN Usage Scenario 75
Figure 5.2 Epidermal Electronics 91
Figure 6-1 Markets, E-Textiles and Wearable Sensor Systems 105
Figure 6-2 Regional Markets, E-Textiles and Wearable Sensor Systems 105
Figure 6-3 Market Segmentation, E-Textiles and Wearable Sensors 108
Figure 7-1 Global Wireless Medical Imaging Market 111
Figure 7-2 Global Wireless Medical Video Markets 114
Figure 7-3 Global Smart Pill Market 115
Figure 7-4 Global Capsule Endoscopy Market 116
Table 8.1 Required Data Rates for Physiological Signals 119
Figure 8-1 Global Overall mHealth and Remote Monitoring
Market Volume 126
Figure 8-2 Global Market Volume, mHealth & Remote Monitoring:
Chronic Disease Management, Short-Term Monitoring and Active Treatment 129
Figure 8-3 Global Market Volume, mHealth & Remote Monitoring:
Diagnosis, Wellness/Fitness 129
Figure 8-4 Unit Sales, mHealth & Remote Monitoring: Chronic
Disease Management, Short-Term Monitoring and Active Treatment 130
Figure 8-5 Unit Sales, mHealth & Remote Monitoring: Diagnosis,
Wellness/Fitness 130
Figure 8-6 Global Market Volume, mHealth & Remote Monitoring:
Emergency Response 131
Figure 8-7 Unit Sales, mHealth & Remote Monitoring:
Emergency Response 131
Figure 8-8 mHealth and Remote Monitoring Market Volume:
Communications and Smartphone Apps 133
Figure 8-9 Unit Sales, mHealth & Remote Monitoring:
Communications and Smartphone Apps 134
Figure 8-10 Market Volume, mHealth Smartphone Apps, by Segment 134
Figure 9-1 Global RFID Markets, Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals 141
Figure 9-2 Global Healthcare & Pharmaceutical RFID Markets,
Hardware vs. Tags 141
Figure 9-3 Global Medical RFID Market: Healthcare vs.
Pharmaceuticals 142
Figure 9-4 Regional Markets, RFID in Healthcare and
Pharmaceuticals 142
Figure 9-5 Healthcare RFID Markets by Application 143
Figure 9-6 Pharmaceutical RFID Markets by Application 143
Figure 9-7 Global RTLS Markets 149




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BiowireleSS: Market Opportunities in Wireless Healthcare, 2014
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