Wearable medical devices market grows

The global wearable medical devices market size is expected to reach USD $85.6-billion by 2027 according to a new study by Polaris Market Research. The report provides a detailed insight into current market dynamics and provides analysis on future market growth.

Smart watch Application for Medical Scan

Wearable medical devices are defined as the autonomous devices worn by the individual to provide medical or fitness monitoring and support over a period of time. They are either worn as a body accessory or being embedded in cloth or shoes. They incorporate non-invasive sensors, wireless transmission, real time data processing capabilities, and also provide medical feedback.

Recent developments in wearable medical devices include alert mechanisms, decision support systems, and real time analysis. These wearables offer point of care, and remote management for rehabilitating individuals, disabled and chronically ill.

Driven by medical innovation

The prominent factors favouring the wearable medical devices market growth include an increase in the prevalence of lifestyle-related diseases, consumer awareness towards fitness, and advancement in technology and medical innovation with ever increasing interest of consumer electronic companies. According to the study published by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), in 2015, there were approximately 415 million diabetic people and it is expected to increase to 640 million by 2040. The high prevalence of diabetes is an important driver boosting market growth.

With a spike in infectious diseases over the past decade, the Stanford Healthcare Innovation Lab (SHIL) set up a team to study the impact of wearables to track infectious diseases. Moreover, in April 2020, Scripps Research Translational Institute (SRTI) launched DETECT, under which data from activity trackers and smart watches would be integrated into public health surveillance program for proactive disease tracking and population health programs.

Med Tech Wearable players

Market participants such as Medtronic plc, OMRON Corp., Biotelemetry Inc., Apple, Inc., Koninklijke Philips, Dexcom Inc., Abbott Laboratories, Verily Life Sciences, GE Healthcare, Bio-Beat Technologies, Masimo Corporation, iRhythm Technologies, Inc., Preventice Solutions, Inc., CONTEC Medical Systems Co. Ltd, VitalConnect, Minttihealth, Biotricity Inc., Cyrcadia Asia Limited., Garmin Ltd, Xiaomi Technologies, ten3T healthcare, Fitbit, Inc., and Huawei Corporation are some of the key players operating in the wearable medical devices market.

Players in the market are focusing on developing low cost wearable accessible to all strata of the population within the geographic footprint. In line with this, India based Muse Wearables is manufacturing a wrist based wearable tracker at a cost of INR 3,500. With this, it will continuously monitor skin temperature, blood O2 saturation levels, and heart rate to track body vital signs to diagnose COVID-19 symptoms in early stages. The device is Bluetooth enabled and could be connected via ‘Muse Health App’.