LAS VEGAS, Nev. -- By Kim Yoon-mi, Korea Biomedical Review Correspondent - The Consumer Electronics Show 2022, the world’s most influential tech trade show, will be an opportunity to see how much digital healthcare has advanced in the past two years since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, organizers said.

Over 100 healthcare companies have signed up as exhibitors this year, breathing a new life to the CES that has been mostly centered on the IT and electronics industry.

Consumer Technology Association (CTA), representing the tech industry in North America, is holding CES 2022 at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, the U.S., from Wednesday to Friday this week despite the threats of the Omicron variant.

It is the first major in-person tech conference in the U.S. since 2020.

More than 2,200 companies, including 502 Korean firms, display their latest technologies and innovations.

Korea ranks second in terms of exhibitors, next to the U.S., with over 1,300 exhibitors.

CES used to have over 4,000 exhibitors, but the continued spread of Omicron reduced the number to around 2,200.

As CTA required a full vaccination for participants and recently announced that it would close one day earlier than scheduled, some exhibitors had last-minute withdrawals.

CTA, the event organizer, emphasized that Covid-19 accelerated innovation in the technology sector, particularly in digital healthcare.

According to CTA, despite the pandemic, the U.S. consumer tech industry is projected to grow 2.8 percent to $505 billion in 2022, compared to 9.6 percent growth in 2021.

Speaking on “CES 2022 Tech Trends to Watch” at a media event on Monday, Steve Koenig, vice president of research at CTA, said global consumer spending for premium brands increased 40 percent since the Covid-19 pandemic, and their desire to experience new technologies also expanded.

These trends led to a growth of funding for startups and healthcare companies.

Data from CB Insights, a global market researcher, showed that $97.1 billion funding and 5,210 deals occurred in the global healthcare industry as of the third quarter of 2021.

Koenig said tech advances were particularly noticeable in wearables, telehealth, remote monitoring, digital therapeutics, and home health.

In wearables, Withings will unveil an FDA-approved smartwatch that helps control diabetes at the CES, he said.

Koenig went on to say that AI was expanding to various sectors, including agriculture and that the metaverse was “the next-generation internet that will increase immersive digital experiences.”

CTA said it witnessed a bigger presence of digital healthcare at CES this year.

At a press conference on Monday, Gary Shapiro, CEO of CTA, said that there was a great advance in technologies in two areas -- mental health and telehealth -- in the past two years.

“There are so many different products and services and technologies making differences because the whole world focused on healthcare in the last 20 months,” he said.

Shapiro noted that Covid-19 forced many countries to move toward innovation in healthcare, saying healthcare was one of the most exciting areas he anticipates at the CES.

For the first time in CES history, Robert B. Ford, CEO of Abbott, a multinational healthcare company, will deliver a keynote on Thursday, he said.

Karen Chupka, executive vice president of CTA, said many doctors participated in the CES this year.

She added that CTA also built a partnership with the World Bank to help health tech products reach women in emerging markets.

CTA will announce winners of the Global Women’s HealthTech Awards on Wednesday to recognize innovations that leverage tech to improve women’s health in developing countries, she said.

CTA picked digital healthcare as one of CES keywords that include future mobility, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), food technology, space technology, and smart home.