Ethics for Digital Medicine: A Path for Ethical Emerging Medical IoT Design

TL;DR

This paper discusses the ethical challenges in digital medicine, emphasizing the importance of ethical design, regulatory oversight, and education to ensure safe and effective IoT-based medical devices.

Contribution

It proposes an ensemble approach combining education, programmable ethics, and analysis frameworks to address ethical issues in digital medicine device development.

Findings

Identifies ethical risks in digital medicine devices

Highlights the importance of regulatory and professional oversight

Suggests integrated strategies for ethical design and deployment

Abstract

The dawn of the digital medicine era, ushered in by increasingly powerful embedded systems and Internet of Things (IoT) computing devices, is creating new therapies and biomedical solutions that promise to positively transform our quality of life. However, the digital medicine revolution also creates unforeseen and complex ethical, regulatory, and societal issues. In this article, we reflect on the ethical challenges facing digital medicine. We discuss the perils of ethical oversights in medical devices, and the role of professional codes and regulatory oversight towards the ethical design, deployment, and operation of digital medicine devices that safely and effectively meet the needs of patients. We advocate for an ensemble approach of intensive education, programmable ethical behaviors, and ethical analysis frameworks, to prevent mishaps and sustain ethical innovation, design, and lifecycle management of emerging digital medicine devices.