IoT in healthcare: A scientometric analysis

This paper reviews scientific articles and patents about Internet of Things (IoT) in healthcare. The aim is to explore both the domain of research and the one of practice simultaneously. We compare the annual growth, the country production, and the trend topics of publications and patents, by focusing on the most relevant themes concerning the IoT in the healthcare industry. The analysis started with the selection of the publications and patents for the period 2015–2020. Since this comparative analysis between scientometric data in healthcare is new, the findings of this study can represent the basis for future studies to determine novel research opportunities on IoT. The study provides scholars with a better understanding of IoT research in healthcare and simultaneously extends knowledge of entrepreneurship in this field. Practitioners may benefit from this review to understand new and underexplored opportunities.