Application of Industry 4.0 Concept to Health Care

Abstract

The paper describes the concept of the Industry 4.0 and its reflection in health care. Industry 4.0 connects intelligent production concepts with external factors, including those linked with the production and those linked more with human, as for example intelligent homes or social web systems. Communication, data and information play an important role in the whole system. After explaining basic characteristics of the Industry 4.0 concept and its main parts, we show how they can be utilized in the health care sector and what their advantages are. Key technologies and techniques include Internet of Things, big data, artificial intelligence, data integration, robotization, virtual reality, and 3D printing. Finally, we identify the main challenges and research directions. Among the most important ones are interoperability, standardization, reliability, security and privacy, ethical and legal issues.