Electronic Skin Patches Ensure Early Diagnosis through Remote Monitoring
An electronic skin patch is a wearable device which adheres to the skin. It is a stick-on patch which can be worn on the body and is capable of collecting, monitoring and transmitting various health metrics such as respiration, temperature, blood glucose, blood pressure, and heartbeat to a smartphone, wirelessly. At present there are three major types of skin patches available in the market, including transdermal patches (drug delivery through skin), remote monitoring (patient vitals and blood glucose), and bioelectric stimulation (chronic pain management).
The electronic component of the electronic skin patch includes the electronic functionality including actuators, processors, sensors, and communication, permitting the device to be linked with other devices.
The electronic skin patch is ultra-thin and flexible, and designed for next-generation information for communication with the help of microelectronics and sensors by revealing data about body temperature, UV radiation absorption, and blood oxygen levels. It is also used for drug delivery and therapeutic interventions. It can help in reducing the healthcare cost by decreasing hospital re-admission, reducing medication non-adherence, and increasing wellness management with connected smart devices and wearables to gather and evaluate medical data.
According to the market intelligence published by BIS Research, titled “Global Electronic Skin Patches Market — Analysis and Forecast, 2019–2024”, the electronic skin patches market generated a revenue of $3,899.1 million and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 17.22% during the forecast period from 2019 to 2024.
The growth of the market is driven by factors including the growing geriatric population that leads to a surge in exigency of electronic skin patches, increasing burden of chronic and lifestyle-associated diseases elevating the requirement of continuous monitoring and treatment of diseases, increasing inclination of people toward personal health and fitness, and growing prominence for point-of-care technologies, among others.
Electronic skin patches offer several benefits, including chronic disease management through initial intervention, promotion of a healthy lifestyle, early diagnosis through remote monitoring, enhanced transparency and patient independence, remote monitoring and self-managed care, and is an inexpensive and disposable technology.
The global electronic skin patches market entails several large-scale as well as small-scale manufacturers. Currently, the manufacturers in the market have ample opportunities to expand their services and to earn significant revenues. Some of the strategies followed by the manufacturers are product approvals, launches, joint ventures, agreements, collaborations, partnerships, mergers and acquisitions, and business expansions.
Some of these major players operating in the market include Abbott Laboratories, BioTelemetry, Inc., DexCom, Inc., General Electric Company, Insulet Corporation, iRhythm Technologies, Inc., Koninklijke Philips N.V., LifeSignals, Medtronic, Plc., MC10, Inc., Omron Corporation, VivaLNK, and VitalConnect.
