Wearable devices are starting to be employed for a wide range of healthcare-related applications including treatment of chronic disease, remote patient monitoring, eldercare, and wellness programs, to name a few. The types of wearables being utilized include well-known devices such as fitness trackers and smart watches, but also emerging categories such as connected wearable patches, pain management devices, wrist devices, and posture monitors, among many others.

According to a new report from Tractica, worldwide shipments for healthcare wearables will increase from 2.5 million in 2016 to 97.6 million units annually by 2021. By the end of that period, the research firm forecasts that the global healthcare wearables market will account for $17.8 billion in yearly revenue.

“The market for healthcare wearables is very much in its infancy, though there is a considerable amount of activity across the healthcare value chain,” Tractica’s research director Aditya Kaul said in a statement. “Wearables are being seen as an extension of the digital transformation of healthcare, helping pharmaceutical companies to expand clinical trials, enabling insurance companies to engage with customers by incentivizing healthier living, helping healthcare providers to improve the delivery of healthcare, and empowering patients by providing them access to their own health data.”

Kaul, however, noted that the market still faces a number of challenges related to sensor accuracy, consumer confidence, user experience optimization, customer education, and regulatory hurdles.

Recently, Tractica released forecasts for overall wearable device shipments, which are expected to hit 559.6 million units annually by 2021. Another report, by Juniper Research, predicts that adoption of health monitoring devices will hit 70 million by 2020.