Medical Wearables Market Size, Share and Global Trend by Product (Diagnostics, Therapeutics), By Site (Wrist, Head, Feet), By Distribution Channel (Hospital & clinics pharmacies, Retail pharmacies, Online pharmacies), and Regional Forecast, 2024-2032

Wearable medical devices are electronic devices majorly comprising of one or more sensors that have computational capabilities. They are devices that can be attached to the body parts like waist, wrists, arms, feet or head. Medical wearables are handheld tools predominately used for the monitoring of diseases. These devices help patients and the general population to keep a track on their health and for timely intervention and efficient management of diseases. Scientists from Tufts University, Medford have developed a tiny sensor that is attached to a patient’s teeth and monitors the diet and health in real time.

This sensor can communicate wirelessly with a mobile device and then can transmit information on glucose, alcohol and salt intake. Smartwatches and wristbands are one of the majorly adopted medical wearable devices as they monitor many factors like steps taken per day, calories burnt per day, blood sugar and glucose levels and among others. 

The global medical wearable devices market is expected to grow rapidly during the forecast period, owing to the increasing incidence and prevalence of chronic diseases leading to rising in demand for continuous monitoring of patient’s health. Also rising adoption of wearable and portable medical devices, and increasing awareness towards health monitoring among patients are some of the major factors that are anticipated to drive the growth of the global medical wearables market. 

The factors that are expected to inhibit the growth of the market are data security, data privacy and lack of flexible reimbursement policies. Additionally, using wearable medical devices with Bluetooth and cloud connectivity, hospitals and clinics generate a pool of patient’s vital statistics. Rising cybercrimes and hacking incidences pose a major restraint to the medical wearables market in terms of providing secure and confidential platforms to patients. The complexity involved in the development and designing process, along with a lack of efficiency in monitoring data in real time is some of the major factors projected to harm the growth of the medical wearables market. 

Key Players Covered 

Some of the major companies that are present in the global Medical Wearables Market are Fitbit, Inc., LifeWatch, Omron Healthcare, Inc., Drägerwerk AG & Co., Nokia Technologies, Activinsights Ltd., VitalConnect, Xiaomi, Misfit, Monica Healthcare Inc., and other players. 

 SEGMENTATION

At present, among the segmentation of site, wrist site is expected to account for the highest share in the global medical wearables market owing to the more preference given by the patient towards the wrist bands and its ease of use.

Key Insights 

• Introduction of new products (by major players)
• Technological advances in medical wearables
• Growth strategies by key market players
• Key Industrial developments: mergers and acquisitions 

Regional Analysis

The global medical wearables market has been segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. North America followed by Europe are anticipated to be the two largest markets for medical wearables at present and they are expected to account for a large proportion of the market in the forecast period as well. North America is projected to account for the largest share in the global market in 2018 owing to the increasing adoption of wearable devices, the rising prevalence of lifestyle diseases and the increasing emphasis on healthcare fitness among the general population. In the emerging countries of the Asia Pacific, the global medical wearables market is the expected to grow at a faster rate due to the high prevalence of chronic diseases like diabetes and hypertension combined with the increasing per capita healthcare expenditure.

Key Industry Developments

• In February 2019, DowDuPont launched a new soft skin adhesive named DOW CORNING MG 7-1020 that is based on advanced silicone technology and can be used for a prolonged period of time while upholding strong adhesion.
• In February 2019, VivaLnk, Inc., launched IoT-enabled medical wearable sensor platform for continuous patient monitoring of human biometrics and vitals, and conveys data from the patient to cloud, as well as to the edge computing devices, for analysis and application integration.
• In October 2018, Arcadia Group Limited and Amazon.com, Inc., collaborated to launch “Choice brand” product to develop a wearable device for diabetes and cardiovascular disease management.