Times are changing and so are medical devices. Today, medical devices are not restricted to clinics and hospitals. They are also getting into homes, schools, office spaces, Disneyland and aircrafts to ensure earlier diagnosis, better monitoring and faster treatment. With patient data collection and consolidation becoming extremely important, medical devices have started incorporating machine-to-machine (M2M) communication. M2M communication refers to devices talking or communicating to computers, smart sensors and mobile devices with limited intervention. The machine has the connectivity to interact with other machines or information systems and intelligence to analyze the data and take corrective actions as required.

Ericsson has estimated that by the end of 2020, more than 50 billion machines will ‘talking’ (or connected) all over the world. There is a huge opportunity to develop new services and business models in all verticals, including medical equipment.

In this article, we will focus on the eight key factors to evaluate when designing medical devices with M2M communications capabilities.