The WIMDs of change: present and future security concerns associated with Wearable and Implantable Medical Devices

The popularity of Wearable and Implantable Medical Devices (WIMDs) has risen dramatically in recent years and this technology is expected to be integrated into expanding medical networks in the years ahead. Data collection via networks of WIMDs promises to revolutionise healthcare by providing timely and effective diagnosis and delivery of care. The combination of big data practices with this emerging techno logy may provide vital insights into disease patterns and help to generate innovative health solutions. Despite boasting an array of potential benefits, the increased prevalence of WIMDs poses a threat to patient safety and national security. WIMDs may be hacked by malicious actors to administer fatal individual attacks or to overwhelm and disrupt critical infrastructure. The present and future national security risks associated with the emergence of WIMDs are likely to be underestimated. This is due to the unique vulnerability of this technology combined with the recent tendency to focus on data privacy issues when considering the potential impact of cybersecurity breaches. Greater attention should be given to the direct threat to life that hacks to WIMDs c ould cause, as well as the possibility for coordinated attempts to disrupt large medical networks. Future research should investigate the psychological and behavioural effects of interfering with WIMDs in order to mitigate the future risks of mass panic an d societal disruption

The digitalization of holistic well-being models

Objectives The main objectives of this thesis were to examine the current consumer quantified-self technology in use today, how the technology can be used for well-being purposes, and the different factors in play when building the future well-being models. The research was conducted as an examination of literature. Summary The main applications of quantified-self technology are activity trackers, sleep trackers, and habit trackers. EEG (electroencephalogram) sensors are also used, but less popular. There are several initiatives such as Google Fit and Neosmart Health that use this technology with AI (artificial intelligence) and ML (machine learning) to create constantly developing well-being models. The technology is developing, but science is still yet to prove that using quantified-self technology works to improve users’ health. Furthermore, the applications are data heavy and issues with data ethics need to be sort out before wide commercial health applications can be assembled. Conclusions Quantified-self technology is still in its beginning phases. The potential of the technology with health care applications is notable in theory, but studies in randomized settings need to be conducted to prove the health benefits of using such technology. A working model for data ownership and privacy also is required for revolutionary health care applications. Until there is enough science and regulation behind quantified-self technology, industry pioneers will continue building new iterations of the technology and pushing it to be the future of health care

Towards Functionalities of Self-Tracking Wearables, their Effects on Humans and their Application Areas: Where can We Improve?

Self-Tracking wearables bear valuable opportunities, which unfold when the frame conditions invite users to keep track. In this work, we present the following six crucial functionalities of self-tracking devices: feedback, socializing, goal setting, self-monitoring, gamification and measurement itself. We describe effects that result from functionalities. Subsequently, we derive potential relations between functionalities and their main effects mentioned in literature. We identified sets of functionalities that are combined by the manufacturer so that a certain effect can be enhanced or attained. Furthermore, we put the functionalities of self-tracking devices in connection with lifestyle areas and show in which areas the functionalities are already applied and can be used in future. These findings are summarized in the result artifact and are based on a structured literature review, carried out with five prevalent databases. From the findings, we derived three scientific implications as well as three practical implications for wearable manufacturers and physicians

Fitness Technology and Exercise Engagement: How Technology Affordances Facilitate Fitness Goal Attainment

To realize desired health returns, fitness technology providers, users, and corporate wellness program managers need to understand how individuals’ different uses of fitness technologies influence their fitness experience and fitness goal achievements. Thus, this study draws on the theory of affordances and the concept of engagement to develop and empirically test a model of fitness technology use as goal-directed behavior. Doing so highlights the relationship between trying to use fitness technologies and trying to perform fitness activities with fitness goal attainment. Our results show that while actualized self-appraisal affordance amplifies users’ cognitive exercise engagement, cognitive exercise engagement does not significantly influence fitness goal attainment. Furthermore, actualized self-appraisal and social appraisal affordances enhance users’ emotional exercise engagement, positively influencing fitness goal attainment. Thus, facilitating the actualization of self-appraisal and social appraisal affordances that increase individuals’ emotional exercise engagement is essential to the effective use of fitness technologies

Subjectivities in motion: Dichotomies in consumer engagements with self-tracking technologies

With the rise of self-tracking technologies (STT), self-quantification has become a popular digital consumption phenomenon. Despite recent academic interests, self-tracking practices remain poorly understood, in particular, little is known on how consumers engage with STT and how such behavioural trends produce new subjectivities. This paper adopts a Foucauldian perspective of self-surveillance to explore: how do subjectivities emerge from consumer interactions and engagements with self-tracking technologies? Data were collected from twenty participants using an ethnographic research design over six months consisting of semi-structured interviews and participant observation. The findings reveal two sets of dichotomies in the way consumers engage with STT, categorised as: ‘health and indulgence’ and ‘labour and leisure’. Through these dichotomies of self-surveillance, four subjectivities emerged: ‘redemptive self’, ‘awardee’, ‘loyal’ and ‘innovator’. Our study presents subjectivities as a continual process of (re)configuration of the self, as consumers move from one dichotomy to another. At the practical level, our findings offer novel approaches to segment consumers by reviewing the different contours of consumer behaviour in their interactions with STT

Prospective Follow-up of Adolescents with and at Risk for Depression::Protocol and Methods of the Identifying Depression Early in Adolescence Risk Stratified Cohort (IDEA-RiSCo) Longitudinal Assessments

Objective: To present the protocol and methods for the prospective longitudinal assessments — including clinical and digital phenotyping approaches — of the Identifying Depression Early in Adolescence Risk Stratified Cohort (IDEA-RiSCo) study, which comprises Brazilian adolescents stratified at baseline by risk of developing depression or presence of depression. Method: Of 7,720 screened adolescents aged 14-16, we recruited 150 participants (75 boys, 75 girls) based on a composite risk score: 50 with low risk for developing depression (LR), 50 with high risk for developing depression (HR), and 50 with an active untreated major depressive episode (MDD). Three annual follow-up assessments were conducted, involving clinical measures (parent and adolescent-reported questionnaires and psychiatrist assessments), active and passive data sensing via smartphones, and neurobiological measures (neuroimaging and biological material samples). Retention rates were 96% (Wave 1), 94% (Wave 2), and 88% (Wave 3), with no significant differences by sex or group (p &gt; 0.05). Participants highlighted their familiarity with the research team and assessment process as a motivator for sustained engagement.Discussion: This protocol relied on novel aspects, such as the use of a WhatsApp bot, which is particularly pertinent for low-to-middle-income countries, and the collection of information from diverse sources in a longitudinal design, encompassing clinical data, self-reports, parental reports, GPS data, and ecological momentary assessments. The study engaged adolescents over an extensive period and demonstrated the feasibility of conducting a prospective follow-up study with a risk-enriched cohort of adolescents in a middle-income country, integrating mobile technology with traditional methodologies to enhance longitudinal data collection. <br/

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

User Satisfaction with Wearables

This study investigates user satisfaction with wearable technologies. It proposes that the integration of expectation confirmation theory with affordance theory sheds light on the sources of user’s (dis)confirmation when evaluating technology performance experiences and explains the origins of satisfaction ratings. A qualitative and quantitative analysis of online user reviews of a popular fitness wristband supports the research model. Since the band lacks buttons and numeric displays, users need to interact with the companion software to obtain the information they need. Findings indicate that satisfaction depends on the interaction’s quality, the value of digitalizing physical activity, and the extent to which the informational feedback meets users’ needs. Moreover, the results suggest that digitalizing physical activity has different effects for different users. While some appreciate data availability in general regardless of their accuracy, those who look for precision do not find such quantification useful. Thus, their evaluative judgments depend on the wearable system’s actual performance and the influence that the feedback has on their pursuit of their fitness goals. These results provide theoretical and practical contributions to advance our understanding of wearable technologies

Monitoring female fertility through ‘Femtech’:The need for a whole-system approach to regulation

Concurrent with the rise of digital health and personal health tracking technologies, a market has also emerged of products targeted specifically at women: ‘femtech’. This article is motivated by the concern that insufficient regulatory attention has been devoted to this growing market, and that extant ambiguity in the regulation of femtech leaves its users at risk of relying on technologies of as-yet unproven worth. It is posited that femtech profoundly disrupts well-established regulatory mechanisms of protection in ways that mean that these silos of protection will not be adequate. This is because regulation, as it is currently constructed, is insufficiently sensitive to feminist perspectives regarding what these technologies mean for women. As a result, the regulatory sphere in which femtech operates fundamentally fails to ensure that the health and safety of femtech users are protected as this market continues to expand. To counteract this, the argument is made that an appropriate regulatory response to femtech must respond to the distinctive unmet need in the regulation of this technological realm and the acute risk that femtech poses. This must include a multidimensional whole-system approach grounded in feminist perspectives on health, fertility, and technology