Are Wearables Safe? We Carry Our Smart Devices with Us Everywhere--Even to Bed--But Have We Been Sleeping with the Enemy, or are Cautionary Tales Overinflated?

IEEE Pulse. 2016 Jan-Feb;7(1):39-43. doi: 10.1109/MPUL.2015.2498477.

Abstract

Sometime over the last few years, wearable electronics have become the norm. Whether it's a cell phone attached to a holster at the hip, a smart watch on the wrist, or sensors on and sometimes woven into clothing, these technologies are part of everyday life. Along with this trend, many of the devices are also now collecting and transmitting health information. That is certainly convenient, but the question with any kind of health care device, including wearable medical technology, has always been and continues to be: is it safe?

MeSH terms

  • Device Approval*
  • Equipment Design
  • Equipment Failure Analysis
  • Equipment Failure*
  • Equipment Safety / methods*
  • Evidence-Based Medicine
  • Monitoring, Ambulatory / instrumentation*
  • Patient Safety*
  • Product Surveillance, Postmarketing
  • Radiation Exposure / prevention & control*
  • Textiles
  • United States