The Healthcare & Wellness market is on the rise, fueled by a strong demand for new connected in-home health and patient-centered services. From automated drug delivery devices to heart rate monitors for fitness enthusiasts, remote patient monitoring systems have empowered patients, health professionals and consumers.
The global wearable medical device market is expected to reach $83.9 billion by 2026, growing at an exponential rate of 33.1% per year (2021-2026). Source: BusinessWire 2021
The health and wellness industry offers a wide range of connected devices. The industry is however highly fragmented, with many small and mid-size manufacturers using their own proprietary solution.
To avoid interoperability issues and help increase the quality of care, the ISO and NFC Forum standardization bodies provide a group of standards: ISO/IEEE11073 Personal Health Device (PHD) and Personal Health Device Communication (PHDC). With NFC, manufacturers can go a step further to create a more streamlined and unified experience.
When it comes to connected devices, quick interactions between the user and the interface are key. The Near-Field-Communication (NFC) allows for quick and easy access to health-related information and services. Users can control and interact with their health or wellness device in new ways.
Read our dedicated whitepaper to learn more about healtcare & wellness market trends and the possibilies offered by the NFC technology.
A large number of industries have already incorporated NFC in their products to facilitate interactions in our daily lives—mobile payments, access control, etc. As more and more smartphones come equipped with NFC (>70% in 2026), designers can confidently integrate NFC tags in their healthcare & wellness solutions. A simple tap is all it takes to give patients, healthcare professionals and fitness enthusiasts access to their data.
NFC is a wireless technology enabling contactless communication between a reader and a tag.
The dynamic NFC tag is a passive (and battery less) electronic component that can be embedded in many types of devices including blood glucose meters, smart skin patches, heart rate monitors, etc. It provides a bidirectional and wireless communication channel between the microcontroller in the health device and an NFC reader.
An NFC reader powers the tag via a radio frequency link and retrieves the data stored within the tag. The reader can be any NFC-enabled smartphone (fully supported by both Android and iOS) or a professional NFC reader used for maintenance purposes.
Intuitive and convenient, the NFC technology has a lot to bring to medical applications. NFC is based on a single chip that can support multiple use cases for compact and cost-effective end applications.
Here are two prime examples:
Remote biometric monitoring solutions provide valuable insights into a person's health condition. Health monitoring systems record and store patient’s vital health parameters and transfer data for analysis and/or treatment.
NFC products help simplify and elevate the overall experience between patients and medical devices. A simple tap from a smartphone is all it takes to make life easier for patients and health care providers.
Standardized by the NFC Forum, the NFC wireless charging feature can be used to power small battery-operated devices up to 1 W, such as hearing aids or smart rings.
Read our dedicated whitepaper to learn more about healtcare & wellness market trends and the possibilies offered by the NFC technology.
