Medical wearable sensor market grows 37%

According to ABI's survey data, about 30 million wireless wearable health sensors were used in medical electronics in 2012, an increase of 37% from 2011.

Jonathan Collins, the main analyst of the study, told MobiHealthNews that the report focuses on devices that can be worn (not included in the skin), can be wirelessly connected, and in some way detect the health of the wearer.

ABI predicts that the market for wearable sensors will increase at an annual rate of 41% between 2011 and 2017. In 2017, the number of wearable sensors will reach 169 million. The figure of 20770 million in 2011 to 30 million in 2012 is only slightly lower than the ABI February forecast.

Now, it is predicted that the annual growth rate will be below 40%. In 2017, the number of wearable sensors will reach 160 million. Collins said that this slight adjustment is not due to a decrease in the market for wearable sensors applied to health. On the contrary, the market for health is still increasing. The decrease in quantity is due to the fact that medical applications are actually less than expected.

According to the ABI forecast, in 2017, 60% of these devices sold were for fitness monitoring, 23% for elderly health monitoring devices, 7% for remote patient monitoring, and 7% for medical care monitoring.

Collins said the trend for wireless wearable sensors this year is to be able to connect via Bluetooth. Earlier this year, Juniper Research predicted that the market value of wearable sensors in 2014 will reach 150 million US dollars, and IMS forecasts that the market value of 2016 will reach 600 million. Collins called many creative ideas to participate in this market. He predicts that with the development of the market, there will be more sensors of mixed social media, there will be more companies investing in tracking employee health, and the professional medical market will also grow further.