What is wearable technology in veterinary medicine? Perhaps you are not yet familiar with this, but it is gradually gaining importance in veterinary clinics. A wearable is an electronic device that the patient can wear, and that measures some of their vital signs.
You may be familiar with some wearables for humans, such as smartwatches, activity bracelets, or smart glasses. Nowadays, this technology is also available for your furry companions, and can be used in many different ways – even to improve veterinary diagnostics!
Uses of Wearables in Veterinary Medicine
One of the pioneering wearables in veterinary medicine is the multi-parametric harness, which allows different parameters of the dog’s health (such as respiratory or heart rate) to be monitored continuously.
This type of wearable can be very useful in various day-to-day situations in the clinic. For example:
- To improve the monitoring of hospitalised patients: it’s now possible to assess the animal’s condition from a mobile phone, without having to do regular physical examinations. This is especially useful when treating more aggressive or frightened patients.
- To encourage telemedicine: for less seriously ill or injured patients, it’s possible to monitor their health from their home.
- To improve the client’s experience: with a wearable, it’s not necessary for the client to write down their pet’s activity on a tracking form, since the vet will already have this information.
The Benefits of Using Wearables in Your Veterinary Practice
The use of these devices has many advantages for all parties involved (client, patient, and clinic). Let’s see what they are in more detail.
- Monitor your patients for several hours. Thanks to these devices, you can have information on their vitals for several hours, including at times of rest or high activity. This way, you may be able to detect an indicator that can help you prevent diseases.
- Remote diagnosis. Thanks to Bluetooth technology, it’s possible to capture data to make a diagnosis, even without the animal having to go to the clinic in person. This way, the animal will be less stressed, which in turn will improve its welfare.
- Save time on routine check-ups. As vets, you need to make sure that the heart and respiratory rate looks good during routine check-ups. Thanks to wearables, you can capture this information while the pet is in the waiting room. This way, the check-up will be much quicker!
- Convenience for the animal. Since there are no wires, a wearable is much more comfortable for the pet when compared to having to be immobile and surrounded by wires.
- Real-time alarms. Some wearables, such as Dinbeat Uno, allow you to set alarms based on the parameters you customise, so you can instantly know when action is needed.
- Easy data sharing with other professionals. Sometimes it’s necessary to collaborate with a specialist to analyse data, like a cardiogram. Thanks to wearables, the information is directly recorded digitally so that it can be sent to the specialist.
- No sedation. No wires, nothing to bite! So you don’t need to sedate your patients to monitor their vital signs in detail.
Examples of Wearable Technology for Animals
Collar
Options such as Voyce allow you to measure heart rate, respiration, calories burned, and rest. There are also collars that allow you to track your pet’s GPS location. For example, with Whistle, Tracer, or Tagg.
Multi-Parametric Harness
This is a device that allows you to wirelessly monitor different vital signs, and even combine the results to detect correlations. Dinbeat Uno is one that is already available on the market.
Wearable technology in veterinary medicine is already a reality, and it continues to evolve year after year. In fact, it’s very likely that in the future there will be new products to improve the wellbeing of your patients through interconnected devices.
Smart drinkers? Cameras so our furry friends feel less alone? Telemedicine and home automation are also on the way, and the veterinary sector is looking forward to a very technological future.
