Author: Zhang Xueqi
Abstract: With the continuous development of technology, intelligent sensing technology has moved from basic research to a wide range of application stages. Especially in the fields of life sciences and health management, the potential of intelligent sensing technology is particularly prominent. This article reviews the development history of intelligent sensing technology and explores its application prospects in the Internet of Life, particularly in areas such as intelligent diagnosis, health management, personalized medicine, and smart wearable devices. The combination of intelligent sensing technology with cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, and the Internet of Things is bringing unprecedented breakthroughs to life sciences and promoting the rapid development of digital life and the metaverse.
1. Applications of Intelligent Sensing Technology in the Internet of Life
Intelligent biosensing technology is gradually showing enormous application potential in the fields of medical diagnosis, health monitoring, and disease prevention. With the continuous development and innovation of sensor technology, intelligent sensors can efficiently perceive and collect environmental and biological signals, and through artificial intelligence and big data analysis technologies, achieve self-learning, judgment, repair, and decision-making, thereby promoting the intelligent upgrade of the diagnosis and treatment system. Currently, intelligent biosensing technology is widely applied in various fields, including cancer early screening, intelligent nano diagnosis and treatment, and wearable health monitoring systems, becoming an important means of achieving personalized medicine and remote health management.
(1) The Combination of Intelligent Sensors and Artificial Intelligence
The combination of intelligent sensing technology and artificial intelligence technology is accelerating disruptive changes in the field of life sciences. Artificial intelligence can not only assist in analyzing the vast amounts of data collected by intelligent sensors but also achieve intelligent diagnosis and treatment through deep learning and other techniques. Through machine learning and big data analysis, intelligent sensors can deeply mine physiological data, identify potential health risks, and provide data support for personalized medicine.
The combination of intelligent sensors and artificial intelligence, especially in the medical field, demonstrates enormous potential and application value. Through real-time monitoring and data analysis, intelligent sensors can effectively enhance patient treatment outcomes. Research shows that the application of intelligent sensing technology can increase patient recovery rates by 30%–40% while reducing treatment costs by 50%. This research indicates that the integration of intelligent sensors and artificial intelligence can not only improve the quality of medical services but also significantly reduce medical costs, offering extensive social and economic benefits.
For example, AI algorithms can predict the probability of disease occurrence by analyzing patients’ health data, helping doctors formulate more precise treatment plans. In health management, artificial intelligence can also assist intelligent sensors in self-regulation, adjusting monitoring parameters based on real-time data changes to ensure optimal diagnosis and treatment outcomes.
(2) Intelligent Diagnosis and Early Disease Warning
Currently, cancer has become one of the significant public health challenges globally. In China, despite cancer incidence rates being comparable to those in Europe and the United States, the five-year survival rate remains low due to relatively insufficient early screening, diagnosis, and treatment methods. Therefore, improving the effectiveness of early cancer screening and intervention has become an urgent issue for the medical community. Intelligent biosensing technology plays a key role in this field, providing new solutions through more precise nucleic acid analysis combined with intelligent sensing interfaces.
For example, through intelligent nano-motor technology, nanoparticles can be precisely targeted to blood vessels after specific processing, completing disease diagnosis and treatment. This integrated technology of intelligent nano diagnosis and treatment provides more precise targeted therapies for cancer treatment, helping to detect cancer lesions at early stages and conduct corresponding treatments based on specific conditions, thereby improving the survival rates of cancer patients.
(3) Smart Wearable Devices and Health Monitoring
Another significant application of intelligent biosensing technology is in wearable devices. With the integration of life sciences and information technology, intelligent sensors can provide continuous and accurate health data by real-time monitoring of physiological parameters of the human body. By continuously optimizing sensor designs, intelligent sensors can not only monitor biological signals within the body but also process data using intelligent algorithms, achieving health management and early warning functions.
For example, smart rings, as an innovative wearable device, can monitor users’ sleep quality, blood oxygen levels, heart rate, and other physiological parameters in real-time, and may even monitor blood glucose levels in the future. The real-time feedback of this data can provide health monitoring for individuals and offer important clinical data for doctors, assisting in the early detection and treatment of diseases. Additionally, by integrating wearable biosensors with Internet of Things technology, a “Life Internet of Things” system is expected to be formed, enabling comprehensive monitoring and intelligent management of human health conditions, such as blood glucose monitoring and blood pressure measurement, further enhancing the multifunctionality of the devices.
Currently, the development trend of intelligent biosensing is moving towards non-invasive, lightweight, intelligent, integrated, and personalized directions. In the future, an intelligent biosensing network will form a life Internet of Things, connecting human health information with other systems to create a new sensing ecosystem. This system combines cutting-edge technologies such as materials science, big data, and cloud computing, and establishes a vast sensing network covering various industries through integration with technologies like fingerprint recognition, iris recognition, facial recognition, and posture recognition.
2. Shenzhen’s Innovative Practices in Intelligent Sensing Technology
Intelligent sensing technology not only promotes innovation in fields such as the Internet of Things and semiconductors but also drives the intelligent and digital transformation of various industries. As a window city for China’s reform and opening up, Shenzhen has played an important leading role in the development of the intelligent sensing industry. Through policy guidance, resource investment, and industrial cluster layout, Shenzhen has achieved significant accomplishments in the field of intelligent sensing, becoming an innovative model for the development of intelligent sensing technology nationwide and even globally. The intelligent sensing industry in Shenzhen started relatively late, with an initial market size of only 5 billion yuan. However, through thirty years of policy support and continuous development, the scale of Shenzhen’s intelligent sensing industry has surpassed 30 billion yuan and rapidly developed into an important base for intelligent sensing technology globally.
The Shenzhen municipal government’s emphasis on the intelligent sensing industry is reflected in its strategic planning and resource allocation. Despite the limited land resources in Shenzhen, with an area of only over 1000 square kilometers, the municipal government has still planned 1.1 square kilometers of industrial clusters specifically for the research and industrialization of intelligent sensing technology. This planning not only provides strong support for the rapid development of intelligent sensing technology in Shenzhen but also creates conditions for enhancing Shenzhen’s position in the global high-tech industry.
Shenzhen’s success is also attributed to strong government support and deep cooperation with universities. The goal proposed by the Shenzhen municipal government to “recreate a Huawei” clearly defines the strategic positioning for the future global competitiveness of the intelligent sensing industry. To accelerate technological innovation and industrialization processes, Shenzhen has collaborated with top domestic universities such as Tsinghua University and Shenzhen University to establish the Intelligent Sensing Research Institute, providing solid research support for technological breakthroughs and industrial development. These collaborations not only promote the fundamental research of intelligent sensing technology but also drive the industrial application of research outcomes.
3. Future Outlook: Digital Immortality and Virtual Universe
With the rapid development of intelligent sensing technology, the concept of digital life and the virtual universe will gradually become a reality. The concept of “digital immortality” refers to the use of digital technology to record and preserve human vital signs, consciousness, and even emotions to achieve some form of “immortality.” By combining intelligent sensors with artificial intelligence technology, it is expected that comprehensive monitoring of the human body’s state will be realized in the future, supporting the realization of digital immortality.
The virtual universe, as a digital space constructed based on virtual reality, augmented reality, and digital technology, may become an important part of human life in the future. The combination of digital life and virtual universe technology will not only expand the definition of human life but also bring new ways of living and health management to humanity. Through this combination, human life experiences can transcend physical boundaries and continue in virtual spaces.
At the same time, the Life Internet of Things achieves real-time monitoring and management of various physiological indicators of the human body through intelligent sensors, Internet of Things technology, and cloud computing. The Life Internet of Things can dynamically monitor individual health conditions by connecting the human body to virtual systems, and conduct intelligent health management and disease prevention based on monitoring results. Its core advantage lies in the ability to continuously monitor health data and provide real-time feedback, supporting the formulation of personalized medical plans. As Internet of Things technology continues to develop, the Life Internet of Things will gradually permeate daily life, becoming a core tool for achieving digital health management.
Digital life refers to the creation of a digital model of human health through intelligent sensors and artificial intelligence technology, achieving long-term monitoring and regulation of life health. Digital life can help realize early disease screening and personalized treatment, and may provide new pathways for extending life. Through the combination of these technologies, digital life and the Life Internet of Things will jointly promote the comprehensive upgrade of health management and open up a brand new future for humanity.
The rapid development and widespread application of intelligent sensing technology are profoundly transforming the field of life sciences. From intelligent diagnosis to personalized medicine, and from digital life to the exploration of the virtual universe, intelligent sensing technology is becoming the core driving force of the Internet of Life. With the continuous advancement of artificial intelligence, big data, and Internet of Things technologies, the application prospects of intelligent sensing technology in life sciences will be even broader. Despite facing various challenges, including technological and social ethical issues, intelligent sensing technology will undoubtedly play an important role in future health management, disease prevention, and life extension.
This article is excerpted from the “New Economy Guide” 2024 Issue 11, “The Internet of Life Based on Intelligent Sensing—Endless Scientific Frontiers,” with some edits.
“New Economy Guide” is a national-level authoritative journal supervised by the Development Research Center of the State Council, aimed at understanding economic changes and innovation trends, focusing on new technologies, new industries, new business formats, new models, new scenarios, new management, and innovation entrepreneurship, transformation and upgrading, and other directions, concentrating on future industrial development. It is a statistical source journal of the Comprehensive Evaluation Database of Chinese Academic Journals, a source journal of the Scientific Citation Database (SCD), an extended journal of Human and Social Sciences A in China, and an online journal of CNKI China Knowledge Network.
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