New Product Development Processes for IOT-Enabled Home Use Medical Devices: A Systematic Review

Background: In the new forefront of healthcare at patients’ homes, medical devices developed to use at home setting by lay users are essential. The adoption of home-use medical devices will benefit both patients and public healthcare services in terms of quality of life, enhanced outcomes, and reduced cost of care. Home use medical devices associated with Internet-Of-Things (IOT) technology assists patients in performing self-care as well as providing health information remotely to health care professionals. However, adopting technology requires understanding the nature of the medical device and medical device development (MDD). Existing studies concerning the new product development (NPD) processes or design processes were systematically reviewed to explore knowledge and expertise to provide a framework for IOT engineers or designers to adopt IOT technology to home use medical devices. Objective: This study aimed to review the published literature to explore the current studies in the field of the NPD process, design process, design methodology, and outcome of the device affecting user acceptance. Methods: A systematic review following PRISMA guidelines of the English language literature from four electronic databases and academic search engines published from 2007 to 2018 was conducted. The papers were screened and assessed following predefined inclusive and exclusive criteria. The results were analyzed according to the research questions. Results: The findings revealed state-of-the-art in the NPD process and design process (n=4), the design methodology (n=23), and the resultant outcomes of empirical or clinical research in the validation stage (n=14) of medical device development (MDD). The findings also delineated existing studies in NPD, design process, and design methodologies aimed to ensure that medical devices would be effective and safe. Human factor engineering (HFE), cognitive method, ethnographic, and other methodologies were proposed to understand users, uses and context of use. Barriers, constraints, and multidisciplinary communication were addressed. Tools, processes, and methodologies were proposed to overcome the barriers. Conclusion: As home-use medical device development (MDD) and the adoption of IOT technology is now at a crossroads. This study addresses the necessity for future academic studies related to IOT adoption to MDD, including unique risks, multidisciplinary problems, emerging from IOT technology. Finally, future studies aimed at fabricating the NPD process or design process for IOT home-use medical devices to gain user acceptance were outlined

Examining consumers’ adoption of wearable healthcare technology: The role of health attributes

With the advancement of information technology, wearable healthcare technology has emerged as one of the promising technologies to improve the wellbeing of individuals. However, the adoption of wearable healthcare technology has lagged when compared to other well-established durable technology products, such as smartphones and tablets, because of the inadequate knowledge of the antecedents of adoption intention. The aim of this paper is to address an identified gap in the literature by empirically testing a theoretical model for examining the impact of consumers’ health beliefs, health information accuracy, and the privacy protection of wearable healthcare technology on perceived usefulness. Importantly, this study also examines the influences of perceived usefulness, consumer innovativeness, and reference group influence on the adoption intention of wearable healthcare technology. The model seeks to enhance understanding of the influential factors in adopting wearable healthcare technology. Finally, suggestions for future research for the empirical investigation of the model are provided

M-health review: joining up healthcare in a wireless world

In recent years, there has been a huge increase in the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) to deliver health and social care. This trend is bound to continue as providers (whether public or private) strive to deliver better care to more people under conditions of severe budgetary constraint

SecureTrack- A contact tracing IoT platform for monitoring infectious diseases

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for innovative solutions to monitor and control the spread of infectious diseases. With the potential for future pandemics and the risk of outbreaks particularly in academic institutions, there is a pressing need for effective approaches to monitor and manage such diseases. Contact tracing using Global Positioning Systems (GPS) has been found to be the most prevalent method to detect and tackle the extent of outbreaks during the pandemic. However, these services suffer from the inherent problems of infringement of data privacy that creates hindrance in adoption of the technology. Non-cellular wireless technologies on the other hand are well-suited to provide secure contact tracing methods. Such approaches integrated with the Internet of Things (IoT) have a great potential to aid in the fight against any type of infectious diseases. In response, we present a unique approach that utilizes an IoT based generic framework to identify individuals who may have been exposed to the virus, using contact tracing methods, without compromising the privacy aspect. We develop the architecture of our platform, including both the frontend and backend components, and demonstrate its effectiveness in identifying potential COVID-19 exposures (as a test case) through a proof-of-concept implementation. We also implement and verify a prototype of the device. Our framework is easily deployable and can be scaled up as needed with the existing infrastructure.Comment: 22 Pages, 8 figures, To be published in "The Global Interdisciplinary Green Cities Conference 2023 Business, Engineering, Art, Architecture, Design, Political Science, International Relations, Applied Science & Technology.

Health promotion with physiolytics: What is driving people to subscribe in a data-driven health plan?

Data-driven health promotion programs and health plans try to harness the new possibilities of ubiquitous and pervasive physiolytics devices. In this paper we seek to explore what drives people to subscribe to such a data-driven health plan. Our study reveals that the decision to subscribe to a data-driven health plan is strongly influenced by the beliefs of seeing physiolytics as enabler for positive health behavior change and of perceiving health insurances as trustworthy organizations that are capable of securely and righteously manage the data collected by physiolytics

Prevalent Elements of Consumer Wellbeing in Wearable Technology Use: An Interdisciplinary Systematic Review and Future Research Agenda

The impact of wearable technology (wearables) on user wellbeing requires closer examination given the growth in adoption across multiple domains including workplaces, leisure, and healthcare. This paper consolidates research on consumer wellbeing and wearables through an interdisciplinary systematic review of 23 empirical journal articles from psychology, information technology and business domains. Our analysis highlights the principal conceptualisations of wellbeing and offers insights into theories, methods, and key variables in these studies. The findings reveal an overemphasis on adoption and usage of wearables in the literature; a narrow definition of wellbeing; and a limited range of theoretical and methodological perspectives. We propose that future research should be holistic, drawing on mainstream wellbeing theories and examining micro, meso, and macro level conceptualisations of wellbeing. Employing diverse methodologies such as longitudinal, time sampling, cross-sectional, qualitative, and quantitative approaches, and randomised control trials. We develop a framework outlining avenues for future research to extend current understanding in this research domain

Using smartwatches for fitness and health monitoring: The UTAUT2 combined with threat appraisal as moderators

Recent advancements in smartwatch technology have led to several applications in continuous fitness and health monitoring. Considering the benefits of smartwatches, their low level of usage for fitness and health monitoring purposes, and the limited understanding of determinants of their usage, this study advances the body of knowledge by developing an innovative and comprehensive research model that integrates the extended unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT2) with perceived vulnerability and perceived severity as moderators. The model was tested using partial least squares (PLS), in a quantitative study with data from 271 respondents from Malaysia. The results showed that performance expectancy, effort expectancy, facilitating conditions and hedonic motivation have positive impacts on behavioural intentions towards using smartwatches for health and fitness monitoring. Perceived vulnerability moderates positively the impacts of effort expectancy. Perceived abstract severity moderates positively the impacts of social influence and negatively the influence of hedonic motivation. The findings provide useful insights for smartwatch technology developers, marketers and managers in developing more effective devices and strategies and consequently promoting smartwatches as health monitoring devices. These outcomes extend the UTAUT2 and provide new insights into drivers of the use of smartwatches for fitness and health monitoring

Health Wearable Tools and Health Promotion

The application of wearable technology for health purposes is a multidisciplinary research topic. To summarize key contributions and simultaneously identify outstanding gaps in research, the input-mechanism-output (I-M-O) framework was applied to synthesize findings from 275 relevant papers in the period 2010–2021. Eighteen distinct cross-disciplinary themes were identified and organized under the I-M-O framework. Studies that covered input factors have largely been technocentric, exploring the design of various health wearables, with less emphasis on usability. While studies on user acceptance and engagement are increasing, there remains room for growth in user- centric aspects such as engagement. While measurement of physiological health indictors has grown more sophisticated due to sensitivity of sensors and the advancements in predictive algorithms, a rapidly growing area of research is that of measuring and tracking mental states and emotional health.Relatively few studies explore theoretically backed explanations of the role of health wearables, with technocentric theories predicting adoption favored. These mainly focused on mechanisms of adoption, while postadoption use and health behavior change were less explored. As a consequence, compared to adoption mechanisms, there is an opportunity to increase our understanding of the continued use of wearables and their effects on sustained health behavior change. While a range of incentives such as social, feedback, financial, and gamification are being tested, it is worth noting that negative attitudes, such as privacy concerns, are being paid much more attention as well. Output factors were studied in both individual and organizational settings, with the former receiving considerably more attention than the latter. The progress of research on health wearables was discussed from an interdisciplinary angle, and the role of social scientists was highlighted for the advancement of research on wearable health

Cyborgs as Frontline Service Employees: A Research Agenda

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.Purpose This paper identifies and explores potential applications of cyborgian technologies within service contexts and how service providers may leverage the integration of cyborgian service actors into their service proposition. In doing so, the paper proposes a new category of ‘melded’ frontline service employees (FLEs), where advanced technologies become embodied within human actors. The paper presents potential opportunities and challenges that may arise through cyborg technological advancements and proposes a future research agenda related to these. Design/methodology This study draws on literature in the fields of services management, Artificial Intelligence [AI], robotics, Intelligence Augmentation [IA] and Human Intelligence [HIs] to conceptualise potential cyborgian applications. Findings The paper examines how cyborg bio- and psychophysical characteristics may significantly differentiate the nature of service interactions from traditional ‘unenhanced’ service interactions. In doing so, we propose ‘melding’ as a conceptual category of technological impact on FLEs. This category reflects the embodiment of emergent technologies not previously captured within existing literature on cyborgs. We examine how traditional roles of FLEs will be potentially impacted by the integration of emergent cyborg technologies, such as neural interfaces and implants, into service contexts before outlining future research directions related to these, specifically highlighting the range of ethical considerations. Originality/Value Service interactions with cyborg FLEs represent a new context for examining the potential impact of cyborgs. This paper explores how technological advancements will alter the individual capacities of humans to enable such employees to intuitively and empathetically create solutions to complex service challenges. In doing so, we augment the extant literature on cyborgs, such as the body hacking movement. The paper also outlines a research agenda to address the potential consequences of cyborgian integration