Following the announcement that researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) produced a wireless device that allows healthcare professionals to monitor patients remotely;

Aliyah Farouk, Medical Device Analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers her view:

“MIT’s device’s artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities enables high-risk patients to be assessed without the need to attend hospital, reducing the risk of exposure. GlobalData expects the wide adoption of remote patient monitoring (RPM), especially in the US and the UK, as the paradigm of medical practice shifts towards telemedicine. RPM shows tremendous promise in improving COVID-19 management and keeping patients out of the hospital.

“The global large-scale implementation of remote patient monitoring (RPM) has been limited as most countries lack the regulatory frameworks to authorize and reimburse telemedicine services in emergency and outbreak situations. However, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recently published a guidance allowing companies to expand the distribution of hospital devices for use in patients’ homes.

“Numerous companies have been taking advantage of this by producing and repurposing devices to increase their remote functionality.”