Muhammad Hassan's Preliminary Exam
PhD student Muhammad Hassan will present his dissertation proposal, "From Smart Homes to Smart Healthcare: Opportunities and Challenges of Adapting the Matter Standard for IoMT." His preliminary examination committee includes Professor Masooda Bashir, Chair; Professor Carl Gunter; Professor Susan Landau; Professor Michael Twidale.
Abstract
The increasing adoption of Internet of Things (IoT) devices in healthcare offers new opportunities for real-time monitoring, accessibility, and patient autonomy, yet also introduces challenges of interoperability, safety, and data privacy. The Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) faces persistent fragmentation, as devices from different manufacturers often rely on incompatible and varying standards and ecosystems. The recently developed Matter protocol, an open, industry backed IoT standard, seeks to unify device communication through a common, secure, and interoperable framework. However, its feasibility for healthcare and regulated medical applications remains unexplored.
This dissertation proposes a multi-layered investigation of Matter’s potential extension into IoMT contexts. By combining user-centered inquiry, developer ecosystem analysis, and system-level experimentation, the research addresses the socio-technical landscape of IoMT innovation. The three components work together to reveal not only how users perceive and trust IoMT systems, but also how developers experience the technical and organizational challenges of building them, and how the technology performs under realistic deployment conditions. Together, these studies aim to provide an evidence-based understanding of Matter’s technical, social, and regulatory suitability for healthcare use. The results aim inform the design of safer, more inclusive, and interoperable connected health systems while guiding standardization efforts bridging consumer IoT and medical device domains.
Questions? Contact Muhammad Hassan.