The Potential of Human Body Communication in mHealth

Use of wearable devices such as smart watches, wristbands, remote sensors, medical devices and the like makes it easier for individuals to track their health and fitness. Moreover, wearables can transmit data that provider organisations can use in monitoring patient conditions and adherence to medication. Since this kind of connectivity and data transmission is largely dependent on wireless signals, sensitive health data is vulnerable to security risks.

You might also like: The Trouble with mHealth…

What about using the human body itself to transfer and collect information? This area of research is known as human body communication (HBC). This method, as its name suggests, uses the human body to transmit power and data, very much like the Internet. Notably, HBC is a smaller and closed network, offering the benefit of being more secure and power efficient, according to a recent study published by a team of Japanese researchers. Dr. Dairoku Muramatsu of the Tokyo University of Science has been conducting research on this topic with Mr. Yoshifumi Nishida of the University of Tokyo. HealthManagement.org spoke with Dr. Murumatsu on the potential of HBC in the healthcare landscape.