Monitoring and diagnostic devices are projected to drive the global wearable medical devices market at a 21.3 percent annual growth rate through 2020.
The wearables market is expanding rapidly through the proliferation of smart devices and apps, but monitoring and diagnostic devices are still the vast majority of sales — 78 percent in 2014, according to a market research survey by IndustryARC. These devices cater to three main sectors in the market: home health, remote patient monitoring and fitness. Home health constituted the largest portion of the market with 68 percent of the revenue, which will likely continue because of an aging population that wants to live at home, according to a news release.
Sports and fitness is a rapidly growing sector and is expected to grow at a rate of 22.2 percent from 2015 to 2020. The rise in health consciousness and emphasis on preventative medicine is driving the growth, according to the news release.
However, the high costs for wearables currently constrain the market from mass adoption. Strong government regulations also limit widespread use, according to the news release.