RAPIDLY EVOLVING DEVICE DEVELOPMENTS
Thanks to flexible electronics, medical monitoring devices have gotten much smaller and less cumbersome. In many instances, they are now wireless as well and can communicate directly to a smart phone app. In fact, medical researchers are using streamed data to remotely track a variety of vital signs in their subjects through the use of wireless monitoring devices. This shrinking in size has also led to the development of personal monitoring devices, such as step-counters and tracking bracelets, which allow consumers to self-monitor activity, heart rate and sleep cycles with an eye toward meeting their own wellness goals. Here again, wearing the device as instructed is essential to effectiveness.