[Paper Review] Industry 4.0 in Health care: A systematic review

Md Manjurul Ahsan, Zahed Siddique|arXiv (Cornell University)|Jan 13, 2022

COVID-19 diagnosis using AI5 citations

TL;DR

This systematic review analyzes the integration of Industry 4.0 technologies—such as IoT, blockchain, big data, and AI—into healthcare systems, using bibliometric and qualitative analysis of 346 articles and in-depth review of 32 key studies. It reveals that Industry 4.0 significantly enhanced pandemic response, especially during COVID-19, by enabling remote monitoring, secure data sharing, and digital supply chain resilience, though challenges in security, interoperability, and ethical data use remain.

ABSTRACT

Industry 4.0 in health care has evolved drastically over the past century. In fact, it is evolving every day, with new tools and strategies being developed by physicians and researchers alike. Health care and technology have been intertwined together with the advancement of cloud computing and big data. This study aims to analyze the impact of industry 4.0 in health care systems. To do so, a systematic literature review was carried out considering peer-reviewed articles extracted from the two popular databases: Scopus and Web of Science (WoS). PRISMA statement 2015 was used to include and exclude that data. At first, a bibliometric analysis was carried out using 346 articles considering the following factors: publication by year, journal, authors, countries, institutions, authors' keywords, and citations. Finally, qualitative analysis was carried out based on selected 32 articles considering the following factors: a conceptual framework, schedule problems, security, COVID-19, digital supply chain, and blockchain technology. Study finding suggests that during the onset of COVID-19, health care and industry 4.0 has been merged and evolved jointly, considering various crisis such as data security, resource allocation, and data transparency. Industry 4.0 enables many technologies such as the internet of things (IoT), blockchain, big data, cloud computing, machine learning, deep learning, information, and communication technologies (ICT) to track patients' records and helps reduce social transmission COVID-19 and so on. The study findings will give future researchers and practitioners some insights regarding the integration of health care and Industry 4.0.

Motivation & Objective

• To examine the current state and trends of Industry 4.0 integration in healthcare through a comprehensive literature review.
• To identify key technologies, applications, and challenges in healthcare systems driven by Industry 4.0.
• To analyze the role of Industry 4.0 in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in remote care and supply chain management.
• To assess the contributions of leading countries, institutions, and authors in advancing Industry 4.0 in healthcare research.
• To provide actionable insights for future research and practice in secure, scalable, and patient-centric digital health systems.

Proposed method

• Conducted a systematic literature review using PRISMA 2015 guidelines to ensure transparency and reproducibility.
• Searched Scopus and Web of Science databases using Boolean operators with keywords 'health care' and 'Industry 4.0'.
• Performed bibliometric analysis on 346 peer-reviewed articles to map publication trends, key authors, institutions, and countries.
• Selected 32 high-impact articles for qualitative analysis based on inclusion criteria to explore core themes: conceptual frameworks, scheduling, security, digital supply chains, and blockchain.
• Used thematic synthesis to extract insights on applications, challenges, and future directions in Industry 4.0 in healthcare.
• Evaluated technological contributions such as blockchain-based medical records, IoT-enabled remote monitoring, and AI-driven resource allocation.

Experimental results

Research questions

• RQ1 What are the most prominent technologies and applications of Industry 4.0 in healthcare systems?
• RQ2 How has Industry 4.0 contributed to healthcare system resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic?
• RQ3 What are the key challenges in implementing Industry 4.0 in healthcare, particularly regarding data security and interoperability?
• RQ4 Which countries, institutions, and authors are leading in research on Industry 4.0 in healthcare?
• RQ5 What are the future research and practice opportunities in secure, scalable, and patient-centered digital health systems?

Key findings

• Italy leads in research output on Industry 4.0 in healthcare, followed by the UK and China, based on publication volume.
• IEEE Access, Sensors, and Sustainability are the top three journals publishing on Industry 4.0 in healthcare, reflecting broad interdisciplinary interest.
• Kumar Satish is the most prolific author, with Technical University of Kosice being the most productive institution.
• Industry 4.0 technologies significantly improved pandemic response by enabling telemedicine, remote monitoring, and real-time data sharing.
• Blockchain technology shows strong potential for secure, transparent, and decentralized medical record management, though integration with existing e-health systems remains a challenge.
• Persistent issues include data security, identity authentication, carbon footprint reduction, and long-term supply chain resilience in healthcare systems.