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Internet of Things for Current COVID-19 and Future Pandemics: An Exploratory Study

Mohammad Nasajpour, Seyedamin Pouriyeh, Reza M. Parizi, Mohsen Dorodchi, Maria Valero, Hamid R. Arabnia

arXiv:2007.11147v2cs.CY

TL;DR

The pandemic created a need for global monitoring of symptomatic and asymptomatic infections. This survey reviews IoT technologies across diagnosis, quarantine, and post-recovery, finding encouraging results in all three phases.

  • Problem

    Limited treatment and control results created a need for global monitoring of symptomatic and asymptomatic COVID-19 infections.

  • Method

    The paper surveys IoT devices, architectures, platforms, applications, and industrial solutions across early diagnosis, quarantine, and after recovery.

  • Results

    IoT technologies showed promising results for early detection, quarantine, and post-recovery efforts against COVID-19.

  • Takeaways & Limitations

    IoT-based technologies offer a broad set of surveyed tools for supporting healthcare workers and authorities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Abstract

from arXiv · show

In recent years, the Internet of Things (IoT) has drawn convincing research ground as a new research topic in a wide variety of academic and industrial disciplines, especially in healthcare. The IoT revolution is reshaping modern healthcare systems by incorporating technological, economic, and social prospects. It is evolving healthcare systems from conventional to more personalized healthcare systems through which patients can be diagnosed, treated, and monitored more easily. The current global challenge of the pandemic caused by the novel severe contagious respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 presents the greatest global public health crisis since the pandemic influenza outbreak of 1918. At the time this paper was written, the number of diagnosed COVID-19 cases around the world had reached more than 31 million. Since the pandemic started, there has been a rapid effort in different research communities to exploit a wide variety of technologies to combat this worldwide threat, and IoT technology is one of the pioneers in this area. In the context of COVID-19, IoT enabled /linked devices/applications are utilized to lower the possible spread of COVID-19 to others by early diagnosis, monitoring patients, and practicing defined protocols after patient recovery. This paper surveys the role of IoT-based technologies in COVID-19 and reviews the state-of-the-art architectures, platforms, applications, and industrial IoT-based solutions combating COVID-19 in three main phases, including early diagnosis, quarantine time, and after recovery.

I. INTRODUCTION · II. IMPORTANT ROLE OF IOT IN COVID-19

The paper frames IoT as a networked technology reshaping healthcare toward more personalized diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring, and examines its role in COVID-19 response. It organizes IoT applications across early diagnosis, quarantine time, and after recovery.

  • I. INTRODUCTION: IoT links smart objects within a network, enabling internet-connected devices to support monitoring and data transfer without human interaction.The term was coined in a presentation on RFID implementation for supply chain management.
  • I. INTRODUCTION: IoT is reshaping healthcare by incorporating technological, economic, and social prospects and enabling more personalized diagnosis, treatment, and patient monitoring.The paper describes IoT as an increasingly important healthcare technology.
  • I. INTRODUCTION: USD 72 billion in 2020 to USD 188 billion in 2025 is the projected growth of IoT in healthcare, supported by tracking, identification, authentication, and data collection capabilities.The paper also associates IoT with lower expenses, better service quality, and improved user experiences.
  • I. INTRODUCTION: More than 31 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and approximately 960,000 deaths were reported worldwide as of September 2020.The pandemic is characterized as the greatest global public health crisis since the 1918 pandemic influenza outbreak.
  • I. INTRODUCTION: The study reviews IoT architectures, platforms, applications, and industrial solutions for COVID-19 across early diagnosis, quarantine time, and after recovery.Its stated goal is to determine the role of IoT-based technologies in COVID-19.
  • II. IMPORTANT ROLE OF IOT IN COVID-19: IoT is needed for proactive physician connection and monitoring of symptomatic and asymptomatic patients because efforts to control COVID-19 and develop treatments had not produced acceptable results.The paper identifies high demand for global patient monitoring during the pandemic.
  • II. IMPORTANT ROLE OF IOT IN COVID-19: During early diagnosis, IoT devices can capture patient information to speed detection, enabling earlier treatment and better control of viral spread.Faster diagnosis is especially important because COVID-19 is highly contagious and asymptomatic patients can spread the virus.
  • II. IMPORTANT ROLE OF IOT IN COVID-19: During quarantine time, IoT devices can remotely monitor treatment and stay-at-home compliance and clean areas without human interaction, using wearable tracking bands and disinfecting devices.The paper describes quarantine as the isolation period after diagnosis during treatment.

A. Wearables … III. PHASE I: EARLY DIAGNOSIS

The paper surveys IoT device categories used in healthcare and COVID-19 response, then frames early diagnosis as a key phase supported by symptom detection and sensor-based data analysis.

  • A. Wearables: Wearables combine electronics with items worn on or attached to the body, including bands, glasses, and watches, for healthcare, fitness, and lifestyle purposes.They are described as app-enabled computing technologies that receive and process input while worn or attached to the body.
  • B. Drones: IoT-enabled drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles, use sensors, GPS, and communication services and include disinfectant, medical, surveillance, announcement, and multipurpose types.These drone types are discussed specifically in relation to healthcare and combating COVID-19.
  • C. Robots: Networked robots implemented through the Internet of Robot Things are categorized as autonomous, tele-, collaborative, and social robots for pandemic-related tasks.The paper presents networked robots as machines capable of moving independently and performing tasks intended to make life easier.
  • D. IoT Buttons: IoT buttons are small programmable devices connected to the cloud that perform coded repetitive tasks when pressed, including reporting hospital-restroom cleaning needs.The paper notes that Table V presents two implementations during COVID-19 phases.
  • E. Smartphone Applications: With 3.5 billion active smartphones in 2020, IoT-based smartphone applications offer broad potential across domains, including healthcare responses to COVID-19.The paper identifies smartphone applications as software designed for limited tasks within mobile devices and refers to several healthcare applications.
  • III. PHASE I: EARLY DIAGNOSIS: Early diagnosis is presented as essential for limiting COVID-19 spread, while IoT devices accelerate detection by sensing and analyzing symptoms such as temperatures above 38 Degrees Celsius.The paper states that early diagnosis can support treatment planning, save lives, and reduce contamination and infections; high body temperature is identified as a common symptom.

A. Wearables … 3) Smart Glasses:

The paper presents wearable IoT devices as tools for early diagnosis, continuous temperature monitoring, and reduced-contact detection during COVID-19. It reviews smart thermometers, smart helmets, and smart glasses for identifying suspicious cases and supporting follow-up actions.

  • A. Wearables: Wearable IoT devices can detect abnormal respiratory signs, helping people notice health changes and seek medical appointments before other symptoms appear.
  • 1) Smart Thermometers:: Smart thermometers provide constant body-temperature measurements through low-cost, accurate, and easy-to-use devices worn or attached under clothing.They are available as touch, patch, and radiometric devices.
  • 1) Smart Thermometers:: Kinsa thermometers use recorded temperatures to predict the most suspicious COVID-19-contaminated areas in each U.S. state.
  • 1) Smart Thermometers:: Tempdrop, Ran’s Night, iFever, and iSense can report body temperature to a smartphone at any time, improving opportunities to diagnose new patients.
  • 2) Smart Helmet:: Wearable smart helmets with thermal cameras reduce human interactions compared with infrared thermometer guns, supporting safer temperature screening during COVID-19.
  • 2) Smart Helmet:: 96 percent accuracy was reported for high body temperature detection by China’s KC N901 smart helmet.
  • 3) Smart Glasses:: IoT smart glasses use optical and thermal cameras to monitor crowds with fewer human interactions than thermometer guns.
  • 3) Smart Glasses:: Face detection in smart glasses simplifies tracking suspicious cases, while Google Location History records places visited by people with high temperatures.

B. Drones · C. Robots · D. IoT Buttons

The section surveys IoT-enabled drones, robots, and buttons as tools for COVID-19 diagnosis, reduced human interaction, patient support, and sanitation alerts. These devices operate across early diagnosis and broader pandemic-response activities.

  • B. Drones: IoT-based drones can accelerate finding infected people and contaminated zones during the pandemic.They can reduce human interactions and reach hard-to-access locations.
  • B. Drones: Thermal Imaging Drones capture crowd temperatures for early COVID-19 diagnosis.They can combine with Virtual Reality as a wearable device to identify people with fevers.
  • C. Robots: IoT-linked robots assist healthcare workers by processing treatments and lowering work stress across COVID-19 phases.Autonomous operation reduces the need for human interaction.
  • C. Robots: Autonomous robots can collect throat-swab samples during diagnosis while preventing close contact between patients and at-risk medical staff.This supports diagnosis without direct human interaction.
  • C. Robots: 10 seconds is the Intelligent Care Robot’s COVID-19 symptom-detection time using touchless quick scanning.The device was developed through a partnership between Vayyar Imaging and Meditemi.
  • D. IoT Buttons: IoT buttons are programmable devices for repetitive pandemic-response tasks, including alerting authorities or patients’ families about contaminated areas or emergencies.Their general function is to provide alerts through a programmable interface.
  • D. IoT Buttons: Wanda QuickTouch IoT buttons were deployed in hospitals as cleaning alert systems for sanitation-related concerns.The device was produced by Visionstate.

E. Smartphone Applications … 3) Stop Corona:

IoT-enabled smartphone applications support COVID-19 tracking, early detection, home treatment, and health-authority monitoring. The reviewed applications include nCapp, MobileDetect, and Stop Corona, addressing diagnosis, testing, and disease-spread surveillance.

  • E. Smartphone Applications: GPS- and GIS-enabled smartphone applications were widely used for COVID-19 tracking to increase the chance of detecting infected people.IoMT applications also support home treatment and enable healthcare workers and authorities to monitor patients and disease spread.
  • E. Smartphone Applications: Patients can upload health information to an IoT cloud and receive health advice from hospitals online.This platform is intended to help patients while they remain at home.
  • 1) nCapp:: nCapp was developed in China as a cloud-based Internet of Medical Things cellphone program for COVID-19 diagnosis and treatment assistance.The passage identifies nCapp as an intelligent diagnosis and treatment assistant program.
  • 1) nCapp:: nCapp provides eight user-selectable functions and automatically generates diagnosis reports from patient data and questionnaires.Diagnoses are categorized as confirmed, suspected, or suspicious; confirmed cases are classified as mild, moderate, severe, or critical by a physician.
  • 2) MobileDetect:: MobileDetect is a smartphone-compatible application that lets users take a nasal-swab COVID-19 test at home.Test results appear in the application within 10-30 minutes to determine the user’s health situation.
  • 3) Stop Corona:: Stop Corona collects users’ daily health status, contacts, symptoms, and locations to generate reports and predictive disease-spot heatmaps.Generated reports are accessible only to health authorities.
  • 3) Stop Corona:: Stop Corona represents a database-based approach for early case detection using captured daily health reports.The reports document contact with others, symptoms, and locations.

IV. PHASE II: QUARANTINE TIME … 2) Medical/Delivery Drone:

During quarantine, IoT supports isolation and monitoring of confirmed or suspected cases while reducing transmission risks through wearables, disinfectant drones, and medical-delivery drones. These technologies monitor health, sanitize contaminated areas, and transport tests, supplies, and treatments with less human interaction.

  • IV. PHASE II: QUARANTINE TIME: Quarantine applies to confirmed and suspected patients and potentially entire areas to prevent transmission from asymptomatic cases or affected locations.Patients may be isolated and monitored in hospitals or at home.
  • IV. PHASE II: QUARANTINE TIME: IoT devices monitor respiratory signs, heart rate, blood pressure, and other health indicators during quarantine.The technology helps healthcare workers monitor patients efficiently and address transmission-related challenges.
  • A. Wearables: Wearable bands help prevent patients from leaving quarantine areas and provide a cost-effective tracking solution.The bands connect to patients’ smartphone applications through Bluetooth, enabling authorities to monitor cases every two minutes.
  • B. Drones: Drones reduce healthcare workers’ interaction with patients and contaminated areas by disinfecting locations and delivering medical treatments.Their use during quarantine can help decrease COVID-19 cases.
  • 1) Disinfectant Drone:: Disinfectant drones reduce virus contamination and protect healthcare workers from infection during quarantine-area sanitation.DJI produced a drone capable of disinfecting one hundred meters in one hour, and the technology was used in Spain.
  • 2) Medical/Delivery Drone:: Medical drones transfer COVID-19 test kits, samples, and medical supplies between laboratories and medical centers, reducing human interactions and hospital visits.They also rapidly deliver medical treatments and increase access to medical care.
  • 2) Medical/Delivery Drone:: Delivery drones can transport COVID-related goods, including test kits and swab tests, and provide postal and grocery services for isolated households.Delivery Drone Canada Inc. produced a drone for moving COVID-related goods.

C. Robots … 4) Social Robots:

During quarantine, IoT-enabled robots can reduce healthcare workers’ exposure to isolated patients by supporting monitoring, treatment, food delivery, sterilization, and patient assistance. The surveyed robot types include telerobots, collaborative robots, autonomous robots, and social robots addressing physical and mental effects of isolation.

  • C. Robots: During quarantine, robots keep medical staff away from isolated patients while capturing respiratory signs and assisting with treatments or food.These functions support patient care without requiring continuous direct contact.
  • C. Robots: A medical drone is depicted transferring medical-related materials during the robot-based quarantine response.The supplied figure identifies the system as a medical drone.
  • 1) Telerobots:: Telerobots can prevent close contact between surgeons and patients during surgery.The Davinci telerobot is provided as an example.
  • 2) Collaborative Robots:: Cobots support human-performed operations, reduce healthcare workers’ fatigue during quarantine, and track their interactions with patients.Asimov Robotics helps isolated patients prepare food and receive medication.
  • 2) Collaborative Robots:: Human-operated collaborative robots can disinfect contaminated areas, as illustrated by XDBOT.The figure identifies XDBOT as operating by humans for disinfection.
  • 3) Autonomous Robots:: Autonomous robots sterilize contaminated hospital areas, carry patients’ treatments, and check respiratory signs with fewer or no human interactions.These uses decrease healthcare workers’ infection risk while patients remain isolated in their rooms.
  • 4) Social Robots:: Social robots communicate with quarantined patients to reduce mental fatigue and strain during isolation and physical distancing.Paro is presented as a stress-relief device for patients during isolation.

D. IoT Buttons … 3) Civitas:

The section describes IoT buttons and smartphone applications for monitoring people during COVID-19 quarantine. These systems support emergency notification, movement authorization, identity verification, facial or location-based tracking, and patient-health communication.

  • D. IoT Buttons: The Sefucy IoT button supports quarantine tracking and can alert healthcare providers or notify family members when an isolated patient’s condition worsens.The device was originally designed to track lost or missing children before being adapted for COVID-19 quarantine emergency notifications.
  • E. Smartphone Applications: Smartphone-based patient tracking is presented as a widely used approach for monitoring people during quarantine and mitigating virus spread.The passage identifies patient tracking as a critical quarantine requirement.
  • 1) Social Monitoring:: Russia’s Social Monitoring application enables authorities to track diagnosed COVID-19 patients required to isolate at home after installation on their smartphones.The application was developed as a mandatory government surveillance system.
  • 1) Social Monitoring:: Patients using Russia’s Social Monitoring system must request a QR code whenever leaving home or quarantine areas, allowing authorities to monitor them through identification.QR means Quick Response, and the code represents the patient’s identification to authorities.
  • 2) Selfie app:: Poland’s application combines geolocation and facial recognition to track people ordered to remain at home for 14 days, requiring randomly submitted daily selfies.Patients may reject installation but may then receive unexpected visits from authorities.
  • 3) Civitas:: Canada’s Civitas uses identification codes to request permits for leaving home, assists suspected cases obtaining essential goods, and lets physicians monitor patients securely.The application provides a secure communication channel between physicians and patients for health-status monitoring.

4) StayHomeSafe: … 2) Proximity Trace:

The paper presents IoT wearables and applications for safer quarantine and reopening after COVID-19 restrictions. StayHomeSafe uses geofencing for quarantine compliance, while EasyBand and Proximity Trace support social distancing and contact-awareness in public and workplace settings.

  • 4) StayHomeSafe:: StayHomeSafe combines a smartphone application with a wearable wristband to set and enforce quarantine locations through geofencing.In Hong Kong, airport arrivals receive a wristband paired with a smartphone.
  • V. PHASE III: AFTER RECOVERY: After lockdowns, societies reopening businesses, marketplaces, workplaces, schools, and services require continued caution, social distancing, and physical-service restrictions.The paper frames reopening as a phase requiring measures to prevent renewed virus spread.
  • A. Wearables: Contact tracing and social distancing are identified as key reopening protections, with wearables tracing close contacts and alerting users when distancing is not maintained.These techniques are intended to protect returning workers, students, and the reopening economy.
  • 1) EasyBand:: EasyBand is an IoMT-integrated wearable that senses nearby devices and operates within a specific radius to support social distancing.Its process includes capturing data from other devices and indicating potential risk with LED lights.
  • 1) EasyBand:: 4 meters triggers EasyBand to beep and alert both nearby users to maintain distance, without requiring mobile devices.The passage also describes the device as producing better results than smartphone apps and being cost-effective.
  • 2) Proximity Trace:: Proximity Trace attaches to a hard hat or body and emits a loud sound when industrial workers get too close to one another.The device is designed to help workers concentrate on their jobs without worrying about contamination.

B. Drones … C. Robots

During the after-recovery phase, drones support safer reopening by monitoring crowds and broadcasting public-health information, while autonomous robots can help control social-distancing practices. The surveyed drones include surveillance, announcement, and multipurpose designs, and the Spot robot supports remote monitoring through a web interface.

  • B. Drones: B. Drones: After-recovery drones help businesses continue operating safely by monitoring crowds and broadcasting information to increase social awareness.Their stated purpose is responding to reopening during the after-recovery phase.
  • 1) Surveillance Drone:: 1) Surveillance Drone: Surveillance drones monitor crowds when people fail to maintain social distancing.MicroMultiCopter from China and Cyient from India are identified examples; MicroMultiCopter also has speakers for authority announcements.
  • 2) Announcement Drone:: 2) Announcement Drone: Announcement drones broadcast social-distancing practices and other guidelines in areas with limited Internet accessibility.Authorities in Spain and other European countries used loudspeakers, while Kuwait used drones to broadcast “go home” messages to crowds.
  • 3) Multipurpose Drone:: 3) Multipurpose Drone: China implemented the Corona Combat drone by combining other drone types to address proposed goals across all three pandemic phases.The drone can be deployed during any COVID-19 phase and includes characteristics from the other drones.
  • 3) Multipurpose Drone:: 3) Multipurpose Drone: The surveyed drone configurations include surveillance, announcement, and multipurpose designs, illustrated by Figures 20, 21, and 22.These figures depict the surveillance drone, announcement drone, and multipurpose drone with all facilities at once.
  • C. Robots: C. Robots: Autonomous robots can be used after lockdown or recovery to control social-distancing practices as people return to schools, businesses, roads, and daily commutes.The Spot robot can be controlled remotely and transfer data to a web interface for further monitoring.

D. Smartphone Applications … 4) Coalition:

The section reviews smartphone applications developed to address pandemic challenges during reopening. It highlights contact tracing, privacy-preserving data handling, encrypted identifiers, and blockchain-supported security.

  • D. Smartphone Applications: IoT healthcare applications support cost-effective monitoring, appropriate treatment, fewer mistakes, and improved diagnosis while addressing pandemic-related reopening challenges.The section introduces smartphone applications developed specifically in response to challenges associated with reopening during pandemics.
  • 1) Aarogya Setu:: Aarogya Setu is a smartphone contact-tracing application that promotes virus awareness and communication between health service providers and users.Users report COVID-19 symptoms or recent international travel; the application analyzes these inputs with tracking information to notify users.
  • 2) TraceTogether:: TraceTogether uses encrypted IDs to capture close-contact data, including visit duration and social distance, for future tracing over 21 days.The captured data is not used until a close-contact identification is established.
  • 3) Hamagen:: Hamagen uses GPS technology to identify whether users were in close contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19.Private data remains on the smartphone unless the user agrees to share it.
  • 4) Coalition:: Coalition combines IoT technology and blockchain to provide a secure contact-tracing approach.The application assigns users random IDs to support contact tracing while avoiding direct identification in the supplied description.
  • 4) Coalition:: When new cases are detected, Coalition notifies users who were in close contact with those cases through their assigned random IDs.Random identifiers are used as part of the application’s contact-notification process.

5) BeAware Bahrain: … VII. CONCLUSION

The paper surveys IoT applications for COVID-19 response, including contact tracing, quarantine monitoring, infection notification, and remote healthcare support. It also identifies privacy protection, smart-city infrastructure, and further research as important considerations for current and future pandemics.

  • 5) BeAware Bahrain:: BeAware Bahrain alerts users near contaminated areas or after close contact with confirmed cases and monitors self-isolated cases for 14 days.Users may leave quarantine areas for testing appointments, making the application applicable during the pandemic’s second phase.
  • 6) eRouska:: eRouska captures close proximity between users and notifies contacts when a user tests positive for COVID-19.The notification enables potentially exposed users to take action regarding their health situation.
  • 7) Social Media - Whatsapp:: 3.8 billion social-media users as of April 2020 created an opportunity to provide telemedicine support during the pandemic.WhatsApp enables remote physician consultations through virtual meetings, potentially decreasing hospital visits and applying across pandemic phases.
  • VI. DISCUSSION AND FUTURE WORK:: COVID-19 is both a global health crisis and an international economic threat whose full health, social, and economic consequences remain to be fully recognized and quantified.Pandemic restrictions have affected businesses, marketplaces, economies, society, and everyday life, creating further research avenues.
  • VI. DISCUSSION AND FUTURE WORK:: Privacy is a major concern when IoT devices require patients to share information during different pandemic phases.Potential research directions include secure communication channels and encryption before private information is shared.
  • VI. DISCUSSION AND FUTURE WORK:: IoT-enabled smart cities can support current and future pandemic response through collaboration among medical centers, cities, and related systems.Smart-city infrastructure can help maintain social distancing through smart transportation systems, including crowd monitoring.
  • VII. CONCLUSION:: The paper surveys recently proposed IoT devices intended to assist healthcare workers and authorities during the COVID-19 pandemic.The conclusion characterizes IoT as widely used in healthcare and reports encouraging results in addressing COVID-19.
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