Internet of Things
Submitted by Josh Reese, Software Engineer
A person arrives home late at night and as their car approaches the house their garage door opens, without the push of a single button. The lights turn on and the thermostat adjusts the temperature. Their smartwatch shows elevated heartrate all day, so their speakers turn on and play soothing music. When they get inside and go for a glass of water their refrigerator lets them know they were low on milk. More will be delivered tomorrow.
While many of these examples may seem frivolous, this is the Internet of Things (IoT). Devices, or “things”, which are connected to the internet. There are countless benefits to this technology, beyond sprinklers which can sense the amount of water a lawn needs. Here at MediGO, we’re using the Internet of Things to help save lives.
Why does it matter?
Imagine you order a package from Amazon and they tell you it will be delivered today between 8:00 AM and 10:00AM. It’s 9:30 and you’re starting to get a little worried. You need this item today, so you wait until 10:00 before you call and try to find out where it is. The first place you call tells you to call a second place, the second place tells you to call a third, the third place doesn’t know who you should call.
Now it’s noon and you’ve finally found your item! But it got put in the wrong truck and isn’t even in the right state. While this might seem like a contrived example, it is the current state of many biologic transportation logistics. MediGO helps customer strack vital shipments when logistics mean saving lives.
How do we use IoT?
At MediGO, we are using smart devices to help solve medical logistics challenges. Instead of making phone calls to find where an organ is, an organization can access the MediGO platform and see, in real time, where their organ is on map. They can see the location of all the individuals involved in the shipment of this organ, chat with them, even see the weather and traffic conditions along the way.
Perhaps most important though, we can see when the organ will arrive at its destination. This lets the team of doctors and surgeons prepare for the procedure without the stress, anxiety, and uncertainty of just not knowing where this organ is. ETAs will help all parties devise the best-case scenario and communicate effectively.