By Connected World Staff| 11/30/2016

Empowering the IoT

One of the areas that has benefitted immensely from the IoT (Internet of Things) is healthcare, because the technology has revolutionized the way patients are monitored and taken care of by doctors. Considering the huge strides already taken, Professor Govind Rao wants to take it even further by ensuring patients aren’t just given the right medicine or treatment, but are left with a feeling of empowerment.

Govind Rao professor of Chemical, Biochemical and Environmental Engineering at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County

As part of Rao’s career that has spanned 35 years and 35 patents in manufacturing and environmental solutions, the past eight years have been dedicated to positively disrupting the personal healthcare space. As a professor of biochemistry and engineering at theUniversity of Maryland, Baltimore County, Rao’s research is aimed at giving patients better control over their personal health and enabling solutions that are specific to patients’ needs.

Normally when patients are evaluated on things like blood pressure or heart rate, these results are typically compared to the average mean statistic of the population. Since the individual profile and body type of the patient may differ than the average person, the aforementioned technique does not always accurately demonstrate where a patient needs to be in terms of his or her results. To accommodate for this, Gao and his research team have developed next-generation sensors that assess oxygen, pH, and pCO2, as well as glucose and glutamine to get better readings that will allow for more personalized treatments.

Rao is also working to ensure the latest solutions in healthcare reach the widest population possible, rather than being restricted to those who have the means to afford them. His work in non-invasive sensor technology for neonatal monitoring and the CAST initiative to deliver devices that operate in low-resource settings saves patients in rural areas time and money when getting the healthcare they need. In addition, Rao does not shy away from challenging the industry to address privacy and confidentiality problems that hinder patient empowerment.

“Much of the information tends to be firewalled, so there needs to be a way where you can access big data after stripping off personal identifies, as that will allow better decisionmaking to take place,” says Rao. “There has to be a balance; it’s great to encourage connectivity and this amazing interconnected cloud-to-reality space, but if it’s not done with security in mind, then potentially every note becomes a weak link.”

Though he has been part of the system for many years, Rao also challenges the paradigm of education. He makes it his job to encourage students to be flexible and to familiarize themselves with other industries, as they may never know where their research will be needed in the future. By exposing his students to research and development, Rao allows them to get the experience they need, while also supporting future innovation.

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