Emerging Issues in Healthcare - Developing Biomedical Devices: Design, Innovation and Protection - page 10

Fig. 2.10 3-dimensional
kinematic reconstruction of
the rib cage compartments
for the implementation
of the optoelectronic
plethysmography technique
health aspects. Moreover, being health a primary need, the scenario of the devices
and the so-called “Apps” related to the health and well-being of the person repre-
sents a market of exponential growth in the short term. Mobile Health has actually
been identified in the USA as one of the main trends in health for the year 2010
[ 4 ]. Most citizens of Western countries own and use a cell phone, and today many
people use mobile systems to access services or medical information online [ 4 ].
According to Allied Health World there are currently more than 40,000 medi-
cal apps available for smartphone and tablet use and there have been 247 million
downloads of health apps in 2012, which is twice the number of the previous year
(124 million in 2011). According to the same source, 62 % of mobile users have
used their phones to research health information. Of those, 29 % are in the 18-29
age group and 18 % in the 30-49 age group, which (no surprise) shows that the
younger generations are more comfortable with and reliant on the online experi-
ence. Furthermore, it is estimated that 20 % of the online health population has
posted a health-related comment or content (which is in line with the Pareto prin-
ciple: 80 % listening—20 % talking) but, according to the same source, mobile
web access increases participation in the conversation. It becomes apparent that
the mobile (as part of the online) experience is becoming ubiquitous.
Furthermore, healthcare providers benefit as much as patients from using
mobile apps: physicians are able to service patients without physically meeting