We are continually hearing how healthcare tech will change the world and how the potential of connected devices will improve patient outcomes and save lives. Interoperability and enabling patient data have become buzzwords for the healthcare industry. Most of this happens in the context of possibility or the future.
How Healthcare Tech is Saving Lives
However, at CloudMine we get to see the extraordinary way healthcare tech is saving lives today, right now. Usually, when we write our blogs, we’re explaining what company is using our platform and why but it’s also important to measure why what developers do every day matter in a greater context. It’s stories like these that keep us excited.
#1. Dennis Anselmo
Dennis Anselmo is a 62-year-old watch fanatic from Alberta who bought an Apple watch that saved his life two weeks later. Mr. Dennis said one day he just was not feeling right. He was hot and cold and figured the flu was coming on. When he looked down at his smartwatch he saw his heart was racing at 210 bpm. Dennis was in the midst of a heart attack. After an ambulance came Anselmo learned that a major artery was over 70% clogged. Doctors told Anselmo that if he had ignored the symptoms of the first heart attack he would have a fatal heart attack within a few hours of the first.
#2. Andrew Josephson
Andrew Josephson was a recent Lehigh graduate. After coming home from college he built an application that allowed an iPhone to listen to heartbeats through its microphone. Once the beat went into the phone it was analyzed against heartbeats that were regular. After he finished building it he found his heartbeat, his father’s heartbeat and his sister’s heartbeat were all regular. He also learned that his mother was irregular. After a trip to the doctor, Andrew’s mother learned that she was suffering from mitral valve regurgitation, a serious disorder that prevents a heart valve from shutting properly. Left untreated, the condition can cause heart failure. Thanks to her son’s application doctors were able to intervene before it was too late.
#3. A Massachusetts Teen
A Massachusetts teen claims his Apple Watch saved his life. After football practice, Paul Houle experienced intense pain in his chest and back. Believing something was wrong, Paul put on his Apple watch to see if he could put quantifiable data behind what he was experiencing. Two hours after practices, Houle said his heart was still beating at 145 bpm. After a trip to the hospital, Paul was diagnosed with rhabdomyolysis or rhabdo, “a condition that is brought about by intense exercise which can cause muscle cells to leak, releasing enzymes and proteins into the bloodstream.” It would have eventually caused his kidneys liver and heart to fail. Paul believes that if it weren’t for his Apple watch he would not have done anything about it.
Conclusion
With IoT devices trending on the consumer front, these are just a few of many stories happening every day. They are a step in the right direction for patients to become more engaged with their own health. Have an idea of your own? Interested in building your own application for an IoT device? Sign up for a developer account or talk to experts today.
Beth is Cloudmineinc’s senior health editor and a certified personal trainer. She has over 10 years experience as a science journalist and is the author of two books. She deadlifts over 315 lbs.