*4.4. Applications of Telehealth and Wearable Technology in the Daily Management of Diabetes*

In today's day and age, telehealth and wearable technology is catching up and may soon be one of the revolutionary tools used in clinical healthcare. The benefits of such technology are not only convenience, but it also allows the patients to take up more responsibility for their own healthcare. Some of the applications include monitoring of the patient's vitals through wearable technology such as a watch. In the future, it is possible for AI to be introduced to analyze biological information such as ultrasound scans or electrocardiography (ECG) obtained via the patient's phone, and provide real-time analysis for the patient. These results can also be shared with the primary doctor or a hospital for further evaluation and action.

A mobile application for managing diabetic patients' nutrition is currently being developed with the help of AI. This application combines AI techniques with a knowledge base constructed from the guidelines of the American Diabetes Association. This application recommends snacks based on the patient's favorites as well as current diabetic condition, which may help to improve glycemic control and prevent episodes of hypoglycemia [21].

Promoting beneficial behavior change in people with or at risk of diabetes is also a promising area of application for AI [22]. Studies have shown that the use of fitness tracking applications in smartphones and/or wearable health devices such as smart watch have been found to be associated with increased physical activities and fitness level in diabetic patients [22,23]. The incorporation of behavior change strategies, for instance environmental restructuring, attitude adjusting, or identifying barriers to changes that are specific to each individual, which, argued Sullivan and Lachman to be possibly the most change influencing factors, but have had limited appearance in fitness and health applications [24], yet application in fitness/health applications would supposedly be easy and effective, given the power of AI to record and process a large amount information.
