IoT healthcare technology standardization is underway, centered on OCF.
Technology growth stages in the healthcare sector in Japan, the US, and Korea

A meeting to discuss smart healthcare was held at the Science and Technology Hall on the 18th.

At the event 'Healthcare IoT Technology for the 4th Industrial Revolution,' hosted by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and organized by the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute, discussions were held on △cloud for healthcare IoT application development △healthcare IoT device development processes and Web RTC technology for remote healthcare services △OCF standards △healthcare patent trends and the status of demonstration projects.
Jeon Jong-hong, a researcher at ETRI who presented on the OCF IoT technology standard for healthcare and fitness, technically divided healthcare into four major fields: medical data monitoring, healthcare monitors, smartwatches that receive notifications, and wearable controls. Mentioning the advantages of OCF in ensuring connectivity, he stated, “For IoT to be realized in healthcare, easy and fast connectivity is crucial,” adding, “I cannot be certain about standardization, but there will likely be advantages to the technology.”

Researcher Jeon further stated that ETRI is currently conducting Open Connectivity Foundation (OCF) standardization work in cooperation with international organizations (PCH, IEEE) and has consolidated about 40 healthcare devices into about 20. In addition, since existing healthcare devices are connected via Bluetooth, standardization was difficult; therefore, the process was carried out by creating a bridging server to establish the connection. Patent Attorney Oh Su-hwan of Frontier International Patent Law Firm introduced patent trends in healthcare IoT based on the 2016 Healthcare IoT Patent Trends Report. As of 2016, 4,666 IoT healthcare patents were registered internationally, with the number of registrations surging twice in 2000 and 2011.

The patents are diverse, ranging from devices that transmit eye drops according to a patient's condition to machines that measure body weight while sitting on a toilet and check health based on stool consistency, and platforms that remotely provide medical information via wireless communication.

As of 2016, there were 4,666 internationally registered IoT healthcare patents.

Compared to other fields, research and development in the healthcare sector was being conducted simultaneously across various countries. While patent registrations surged in 2000, centered on Japan, they occurred simultaneously worldwide in 2011.

In addition, the number of patent applications ranked by company included Siemens, Toshiba, Panasonic, Hitachi, Samsung Electronics, Philips, GE, NEC, ETRI, etc. It is worth noting that the increase in applications over the past five years was active at IBM, FITBIT, SK, and others outside the top 10.

Patent Attorney Oh Su-hwan stated that unlike overseas markets centered on corporations, the domestic market “is characterized by prominent patent applications from research institutes and universities. This needs improvement.” He added, “Since 2013, data management security regarding the period before and after diagnosis and treatment has not been implemented. If we target these untapped areas, the Korean market could also gain an advantage.”