Just like the markets for skilled nursing and assisted living, demand for sensors in home care is expected to jump in the next five years.
The market for sensors for home care applications is expected to grow from $559 million in 2013 to $1.2 billion by 2018, according to a recent Research and Markets report from Yole Development, “Sensors for Home Healthcare Applications: Market & Technology Analysis.”
Researchers looked at products such as humidity sensors, IR temperature sensors, pressure sensors and photodetectors. Companies mentioned in the report include Boehringer Ingelheim, LG, Panasonic, Philips Healthcare, ResMed, QualComm and Wellsense. Yole provides market data and unit/value forecast for each sensor.
Home care technology can be used for smarter drug delivery, to increase patient safety, to monitor patients, for patient comfort and to provide diagnostics, the authors said.
However, “due to the entire system’s immaturity, the supply chain for sensors in home care applications is still under construction. Sensor players are prepared to supply qualified MEMS sensors, but integrators, ICT players and home implementation players still face many difficulties,” the report states.
The report also provides a section on Information and Communication Technologies challenges, and a case study looking at how ICT is used in home healthcare in Japan.
Embedded sensors were on display at the International Consumer and Electronics Show in January. They included Kolibree, a toothbrush that records when and how a user is brushing.
In other sensor company news, Missouri-based SmartCare Consultants received further investment in January. The company has designed a series of monitors with non-obtrusive sensors meant to track activities of daily living in a senior’s room.
From the March 01, 2014 Issue of McKnight's Long-Term Care News
