Wearable healthcare: Lessons from the past and a peek into the future

The market for wearable healthcare devices is one of the fastest growing markets of this decade. In this paper, we conduct a thorough review of the peer-reviewed and grey literatures on wearable healthcare. Then, using SWOT analysis, we examine the market's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and some of the major threats it faces. Our structured examination revealed that the primary areas of innovation in wearable healthcare include infant safety and care, elderly care, chronic disease management, military support, sports medicine, and preventive medicine. We also found that several hurdles stand in the way of the wearable market's success; these include threats to data security and privacy, regulatory requirements, cost of system operation and management, and subpar adoption rates. Overall, our analysis revealed that significant effort is needed to address the identified technological, societal, and governmental barriers that are preventing the wearable healthcare market from reaching its full potential. Incentives by the Federal government that fuel innovation and encourage adoption by healthcare professionals and patients is deemed necessary for the wearable market's continued growth.