The applications of internet of things in smart healthcare sectors: a bibliometric and deep study

The recent attention garnered by Internet of Things (IoT) technology for its potential to alleviate challenges faced by healthcare systems, such as those resulting from an aging population and the rise in chronic illnesses, has underscored the significance of smart healthcare. Surprisingly, no bibliometric study has been conducted on this subject to date. Consequently, this investigation aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the longitudinal state and knowledge structure of IoT in smart healthcare. To achieve this, a content analysis tool is employed for academic research, facilitating the identification of key study themes, the growth trajectory of the research topic, the top journal sources, and the distribution of nations based on subject areas. The bibliometric evaluation encompasses 614 publications published in 14 journals spanning the period from 2016 to 2022. Employing bibliographic coupling analysis, the latest developments in IoT have been uncovered within the domain of smart healthcare. The findings reveal 11 primary research topic areas that have been the focus of scholarly discourse during this period. This study highlights that the computing paradigm and network connectivity emerge as the most prominent topics within this research domain. Blockchain-based security in healthcare closely follows as the second-largest topic discussed by scholars. Additionally, the analysis indicates a significant increase in total publications for the most popular topic, peaking around 2018.