There is growing interest in using the Internet of Things
(IoT) in medical devices. The data gathered with IoT-enabled medical devices—the
so-called Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) devices—can be used to remotely
monitor and fix devices. The use of IoT brings numerous benefits. Medical
device manufacturers can incorporate data collected from their fleet of
products in the field into product design considerations. They can also
leverage the data to offer innovative services that differentiate them from the
competition.
To get a better understanding of how advanced technologies like IoT are being used to connect medical devices remotely, we recently sat down with Rene Zoelfl, Business Development Director, PTC.
We explored the role of IoT in medical devices for remote
management, how the technology is being used, how the technology can support
new business models, and then covered some real-world examples of the IoMT in
action.
What are
the key technologies?
RTInsights: How can manufacturers, healthcare
facilities, and patients best benefit from remote monitoring?
Zoelfl: I would say remote monitoring gives two main
benefits. One is remote monitoring lets device manufacturers optimize their
processes, and the other benefit is that they can optimize the relationship
with their customers, clients, and patients. These things can help transform
the way they are doing business.
What are the key advanced technologies that are enabling
innovations in the design and use of remote devices? On one hand, we have IoT technologies
that enable connectivity, advanced analytics or artificial intelligence, and
the ability to automate decisions and processes to a higher level. The other
key element, the other key technology, I’d like to highlight is augmented
reality, which gives us a different way, a different capability, to interact
with equipment in the context of its use and in the context of the location
where it is used.
How are
these technologies used?
RTInsights: How can companies use these technologies
in the product life cycle?
Zoelfl: There are multiple ways. Where to begin?
A manufacturer can use IoT technologies internally. They can
make sure that when teams are working together on the design of new products,
they can more easily communicate and get access to the generated data. Then they
also could have the same capabilities or the same technologies to use when it
comes to handing over that information into manufacturing.
For instance, when a manufacturer thinks about
non-conformances that might occur in the manufacturing process, because of
maybe some difficult designs, or maybe some materials that they have selected, they
can feed that information back into the development and engineering
organizations. They can react much faster before the product might have left
the company and not when it is at the patient or the caregiving facility.
They also could use it in sales processes. For example, they
could use augmented reality to demonstrate a certain asset’s capabilities in
the context of where it should be used and without actually having a physical
product there. So, they use the product data like CAD data that has been
generated. For instance, they can use it and see what kind of planning is
needed for that asset to fit in the facility that has been designated to house that
equipment. They could also demonstrate what the performance would be, how the
device is used, how it can be operated without having a physical asset.
And then, of course, when it comes to optimizing the service
processes, I would say this is the biggest benefit for the manufacturer. The
device manufacturer can base service on the technology using the connection to
the device once it is in the field. They can use that information to optimize their
service processes. For example, medical device manufacturers could use IoT
technology to observe the devices in the field and do reporting. These
processes can automate based on the data that the device is giving us.
The manufacturer also could ensure, for instance, that the
service technician dispatched to maintain, update, or fix a device has the right
spare part or at least the right information of what should be fixed. Even
better, a manufacturer can use the technology to resolve some of the issues
remotely without even sending a high-paid service technician to the asset in a hospital.
Then they also can use data to optimize the product itself. For instance, a
manufacturer could see if the assumptions made when designing the product are
still valid. Or is the device, is the asset used as they thought it would be
used?
Other issues also can be addressed using remotely collected
data about the device. Is it reliable enough from a design perspective? A
manufacturer might find that the overall lifetime of the product is much lower
than the reliability designed into that product. They can use the data to shift
the business models and argue, “Instead of selling the asset to your hospital
or your patient, you can pay per use, per treatment, or per image.”
Hospitals and laboratories also benefit from these
technologies because the technicians in the hospitals can be enabled to do some
tasks by themselves. For example, the manufacturer could enhance self-service
capabilities, which increases customer satisfaction with the device. And in the
end, the hospital or lab benefits from a higher uptime of the asset. They do
not need to adjust their plans or schedules. They can use the device when
needed instead of running the risk of the device not being available.
What
enhanced services are possible?
RTInsights: What are some of the add-on services
companies might offer using the technologies you’ve talked about?
Zoelfl: We have one customer that sells in vitro
diagnostic analyzers and equipment. They have shifted to a more data-based
business model.
To start, they are charging the lab by the number of tests
the lab run. They also are taking insights they have gathered from the devices
they have sold in the past to the customers. With this information, they can help
to optimize the workflow in the lab for the benefit of the customer. Such
advice is possible because they could identify inefficiencies that maybe the
lab manager or the lab operator doesn’t recognize. That’s a huge benefit
because the lab operator, or even a hospital, has limited data available and
data that their facility is generating. The benefit for the manufacturer of the
assets is that they have the whole fleet of devices that are in the field
available as data sets. And with that, they have a much broader view, much
better capabilities to derive the right conclusions out of the data.
Another customer of ours is using augmented reality whenever
it ships a diagnostic device. An augmented reality experience on a tablet guides
technicians, either clinical or lab or company technician through some of the
tasks. What is the benefit? The benefit is that the lab or the hospital doesn’t
have to call a service technician from the manufacturer, but instead, they can
do some of the routine tasks by themselves. Additionally, the manufacturer saves
money since its technicians do not have to travel to perform routine tasks or
the tasks performed at the customer are more efficient.
What are
some use cases?
RTInsights: Can you give us some use case examples of
these technologies in action?
Zoelfl: We have multiple customers that are really
relying on the capabilities of the technology we are providing.
One is Elekta. Elekta is a
manufacturer of expensive radiation equipment. They are using the information they
can gather from their assets to guarantee uptime for the hospital. Using our
solutions, they have greatly increased the number of remotely resolved service
issues. They also reduced the mean time to resolution of issues by up to 30
percent. Part of that success is attributed to the fact that 50 percent of issues
could be resolved remotely. They also run approximately 600 preventive actions
per year because of the data that they are gathering. And with that, they
positively impact more than 14,000 patients because the devices were up and
running when the patient needed the treatment. So, the patient doesn’t need to
be sent home to come back later because a device was not working.
An additional benefit of having machine data for its
lifetime is that service employees are better prepared. Without data, they had
limited insight into the equipment performance and the status and the
conditions of the equipment. The usual scenario was the device was down, or the
equipment was down. The hospital called Elekta, and Elekta sent a service
technician to fix the device. Key indicators, like the mean time to repair or
first-time fix rate, were very low. Using a device’s data, the company can take
a more proactive service approach.
Another example is Illumina.
Illumina provides genome sequencing technologies and services for life science
research, translational and consumer genomics, and molecular diagnostics. Its
solutions are used in a broad range of areas, from cancer research to agriculture.
Its challenge was that the downtime of the scientific and research equipment it
sold reduced a lab or hospital’s productivity and throughput. And in some
cases, the consequences can be more severe. They implemented a solution based
on our technology and where they were now able to get a 360-degree view on the
asset through IoT monitoring. They also made the operational data available to
the persons that need it inside and outside of Illumina. And they also
integrated that with other existing systems, like, for instance, their
salesforce.com implementation.
They also could have the operational data now available on demand.
So, whenever they walk into a facility, they had the operational information. They
also have real-time insights and historical trends, which they can also deliver
direct to the customer. Using the information could help optimize workflows and
decrease their labor hours by 10 percent. They also decreased preventable
failures by 5 percent. And the first-time fixed rate was increased by 9 percent.
Another example is Varian, which
is a manufacturer of radiotherapy or radiosurgery, proton therapy devices. It
is one of the leaders in oncology treatment. Varian had the challenge that
system and equipment problems typically required one or more service
technicians to diagnose and resolve issues in the hospital. Problem resolution
can be complicated in case incorrect or incomplete information has been
provided. In typical treatment environments, the loss of one day of treatment
time means up to 35 patients miss their treatments.
They implemented ThingWorx to
launch their SmartConnect solution. The solution helps Varian to manage
approximately 28,000 devices and 90,000 alarms per month. They also integrated
the data with Salesforce. So, the data that the device or the equipment
generates doesn’t need to be entered manually into Salesforce because now, the
data can be transferred to Salesforce automatically. They also see the
information, gathered from the devices based on the ThingWorx measurements,
embedded into the Salesforce user interface.
Varian has had huge success with its SmartConnect solutions.
The number of customers using SmartConnect has quadrupled in the last year. They
now have SmartConnect-enabled systems deployed in more than one and a half
thousand treatment centers. There’s an average use of this equipment of 4,000
hours per month. They have shortened their response time to repair and remotely
diagnose problems, in many cases resolving the issues without the need for a
site visit. The average response time of four hours has been reduced to two
hours based on the SmartConnect-enabled systems. That reduction can save a
hospital more than $2,000 per unit.
Final
thoughts
RTInsights: Any final thoughts?
Zoelfl: I think some might argue that there isn’t a
big difference between IoT and IoMT. I would argue that there are some
differences because of the data, the handling of the data, and criticality of
the product. So, some different capabilities need to be considered. For
instance, you must ensure that equipment is in a safe state before you perform
a remote software update or remotely try to solve an issue with the device.
With medical equipment, there is great interest in using IoT
to support expensive equipment. But smaller medical devices can sometimes
benefit from the IoT in even more ways than expected. In general, I would say this
is an inspiring time for the IoMT to really show its worth in the industry, and
we at PTC are excited to take our great experience we have with remote
monitoring devices and equipment to support even more customers across a wider
reach.
Learn more about remote monitoring for healthcare organizations on July 30th when Salvatore Salamone, Editor-in-Chief, RTInsights hosts an interactive discussion with Dr. Joerg Traub, CEO of Forum MedTech Pharma, and Rene Zoelfl, Chairman of the PTC Healthcare Executive Advisory Council. Register for the webinar now.
