Security and Privacy in the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT)

Introduction

The introduction of the IoMT has improved remote patient monitoring. By linking patients to respective doctors and permitting the sharing of clinical information through a secure network, it decreases needless hospitalization and the pressure on health care systems (Adhikary et al., 2019). Health practitioners may monitor critical attributes of patients in real time, access healthcare data in remote places, and take account of any possible concerns that may arise, assisting in the prevention of future troubles. By the use of technologies, IoMT offers the potential to provide more efficient treatment, fewer errors, and reduced healthcare costs by allowing individuals to communicate healthcare information to clinicians (Algarni, 2019). Presently, this is totally vital since the worldwide pandemic, COVID-19, is limiting in-person medical check - ups, that inhibits the spreading.

IoMT has improved Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM), that also aids in the observation of patients' physiological parameters such as heart rate and sugar levels; physicians are then immediately informed when this occurs (Williams & McCauley, 2016). IoMT can indeed aid in the activation of emergency services and the dealing with chronic disorders. Wearable technologies can assist in monitoring pulse rate and sugar levels. People located in remote places can utilize smart devices to exchange health tracking data with remote medical professional and receive a medically educated advice (Ayala, 2016). IoMT has transformed the functioning of the healthcare industries. IoMT enables insurance industry to examine patient information more rapidly and resolve settlements more swiftly and accurately. In reality, all participants, especially pharma as well as insurance agencies, gain immensely from IoMT owing to enhanced quality of nursing care (Gope & Hwang, 2016a).

Figure 1.

Typical IoMT system components and stakeholders

Figure 1 shows the typical IoMT system components and stakeholders. IoMT is a subsection of the IoT that equipped with smart devices, like wearables and healthcare or crucial sensors, that are designed to track patient's health (Al-Ani & Rajab, 2013). A few of these wearables are smart devices which can track and communicate real time physiological indicators such as pulse oximetry, sugar levels, pulse rate, electrocardiogram (ECG) patterns, the electrical impulses of a pulse generator, and so on (Sun & Lo, 2018). This can be connected to the body, at residence, or in social, clinics, or healthcare facilities. In the IoMT, “Things” can cover a wide range of equipment like as implantable devices and cardiac monitoring devices which are used to provide a pre-programmed volume of medicines into a patient. Other medical equipment includes insulin injections, hearing impairment, and implantable cardiac (Yeh, 2016).

These gadgets capture and transfer information to clinical staff over the Online platform. It allows healthcare practitioners to remotely track a patient's condition (Anderson et al., 2016). It also involves responding to problems as they arise, instead of relying on patients to seek medical care in reality. For example, someone wearing a smart-watch that monitors their pulse rate and sleep pattern; the tracking system utilizes Bluetooth technology to accurately record the findings on a smartphone and then shares that information with a doctor through Wi-Fi connection to offer guidance. IoMT also includes the linking of computer applications that gather healthcare information and transfer it to medical IT platforms over internet (Ankaralı et al., 2015; Piret & Quisquater, 2003).