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Technology has always managed to find a way to influence industries. processes, techniques, and applications, and the Internet of Things (IoT) is no exception. While it's still a concept that has yet to be recognized by the mainstream consumer market, it is a key technology that will serve as a foundation for next-generation technologies.
The Internet of Things refers to a system of interconnected computing devices that are capable of sharing data and commands that enable users to operate devices on a common network. The Internet of Things is mostly dependent on connectivity and communication protocols, but can also be deployed to work in unison with artificial intelligence and machine learning to further improve processes.
In the field of medicine, some examples of these technologies are remote-controlled surgical bots, long-distance patient monitors, ingestible sensors, and smart contact lenses.
IoT technology is likely going to have the same effect on the field of veterinary medicine. Until now, veterinary diagnostics were mostly used as a means to detect illnesses that have already begun to manifest symptoms. There was no way to implement preemptive treatment because there aren't many early detection instruments and methods available in the field.
Technology has always involved breaking barriers, and the same rings true in veterinary medicine. The primary barrier that makes veterinary medicine difficult is that veterinarians tend to have limited data on the patient.
This makes it difficult to come up with a precise diagnosis. Veterinarians have to rely on pet owners to describe what exactly happened that led to the condition. The key to determining an effective treatment lies in being able to accurately diagnose a patient. Here are some solutions that IoT makes possible.
A common trend among pet owners is that it's difficult to foresee the development of disease until symptoms manifest. This leaves few options for early treatment.
Pet wearables can be fine-tuned to monitor key health metrics of pets, along with their behavioral patterns. Stress levels, heart rate, and blood pressure are all basic metrics that can be used to determine the current health status of a pet. These are also metrics that can provide historical medical data on a pet's long-term health. They can also be used to trigger alarms if a particular health metric reaches critical levels, and they can even be used to determine when a preventive treatment because necessary.
Digital litter boxes are currently used to monitor the frequency and duration of a cat's visit to the litter box. These patterns can be used as accurate indicators of diseases. For example, when a cat uses the litter box too frequently, this could be a sign of UTI or constipation. If a cat spends too much time in the litter box, this could also be an early indication of urethral obstruction.
Both of these conditions are life-threatening to cats and they can only be averted through early treatment.
Another challenge in veterinary medicine comes in the form of patient non-adherence. Small lapses such as this could put pet lives in danger. This will also help veterinarians keep track of the medication that has been given to the patient. This solution can even be used to remind pet owners to administer treatment to their pets.
In conjunctive use with pet wearables, med monitors can even potentially eliminate the need to visit the veterinary clinic regularly. Veterinarians can simply update the prescription through the med monitors to reflect the next doses of medicine the patient needs. This also helps minimize the risk of exposing patients and owners to sick animals that are kept in the clinic for observation while also expediting consultations and treatments.
An accumulation of data will allow technologies like artificial intelligence to minimize the margin of error during diagnosis by comparing the conditions of the current patient with those of patients that have had similar conditions and symptoms. The accuracy and effectiveness of AI-powered diagnostics will only improve as it is able to assimilate more information into its database.
A growing database will also provide pet food and pet accessory manufacturers with valuable data on how to further tweak their products. Pet food is expected to benefit from this greatly, as companies like Earthborn Holistic strive to create high-quality pet food.
The best part about all these advancements is the fact that the technology used to make all these things possible is constantly evolving. As more data is collected, more information will be used to tweak these services to provide better results. However, it's still important to understand the new risks involved with new technologies. A good reason why IoT solutions have not yet made their way into consumer markets is that it requires a robust security system to prevent malicious users from taking advantage of this technology.
