Cellular LPWA Use Cases for Health Care and Wellness Monitoring

Berg Insight estimates that connected home medical monitoring devices will reach 115.7 million in 2026. Of those devices, 51 million will have cellular connectivity.

The COVID-19 pandemic increased the need for monitoring patients at home and made the benefits of remote health care more evident.

Continuous monitoring for patients with chronic diseases has proven effective in reducing hospitalization and improving quality of life. Health care providers can monitor the patient remotely and adapt the treatment to the patient’s condition.

Remote health monitoring is vital for assisting the aging population. Wellness monitoring devices and personal emergency response systems (PERS) help older people live more independently.

Connected Devices for IoT Health Monitoring

Examples of connected health monitoring devices include:

• Medication compliance devices. Connected pillboxes monitor patient medication adherence and can remind them to take their pills.
• Wearables. Wearable health devices can monitor vital signs like heartbeat and oxygen level. Some may include sensors like an accelerometer to detect falls or push buttons to request immediate assistance.
• Sleep monitoring devices. These machines include continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) ventilators that treat obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS). The remote connection assesses and improves patient compliance.
• Heart monitoring devices, such as cardiac rhythm management (CRM) and electrocardiogram (ECG). These devices are connected to the implantable CRM or ECG and transmit reading data to the doctor.
• Glucose monitoring devices. These devices assist people affected by diabetes.

Why Choose Cellular LPWA for Health Monitoring

Let’s analyze the benefits of using cellular LPWA for health and wellness monitoring devices.

Ready to Use

Cellular-connected medical devices benefit from not relying on the patient’s smartphone. The patients don’t need to set them up, which is advantageous for older people who aren’t familiar or comfortable with the technology.

Globally Available

Cellular LPWA is available worldwide, which is vital if the patient moves or if the same device is commercialized in different countries.?

Based on International Standards

Cellular LPWA technology relies on secure international standards that are constantly updated.

Small Size Is Possible

Due to cellular LPWA’s low complexity and single antenna use, small sizes are possible, which is essential for compact use cases like wearables.?

Suitable for Battery-Powered Devices

Cellular LPWA features Power Saving Mode (PSM) and extended Discontinuous Reception (eDRX) for reducing power consumption. PSM and eDRX enable devices to consume as little power as possible when there is no data to transmit or latency is acceptable in the data reception. These capabilities are valuable for battery-powered applications, such as connected pillboxes and wearables.?

Good Coverage

Even inside buildings and underground (e.g., inside parking lots), good coverage is achieved by the extended coverage capabilities defined for cellular LPWA.

An Overview of Cellular LPWA Technology

Cellular LPWA technologies include LTE-M and NB-IoT. They are the lowest category available (in terms of cost and complexity) for cellular Internet of Things (IoT).

These technologies are suitable for medical devices that typically send small amounts of data (e.g., data from the medical sensor or data on the medical device usage) at given intervals.

LTE-M and NB-IoT were defined in 3GPP Release 13 (with some add-ons on 3GPP Release 14 and 15). Cellular networks supporting these technologies are now commercially available worldwide.

2G and 3G network shutdowns are in progress or finalized in some countries. LTE-M and NB-IoT offer the best migration paths for cellular-connected medical devices requiring low-speed data rates. These technologies are also good choices for cellular-connected home health monitoring devices.

Connect with a Telit IoT expert in health care applications and reduce your time and effort to get your next device to market.