Airmed-cardio: a GSM and Internet services-based system for out-of-hospital follow-up of cardiac patients

Abstract

A platform built around three information entities (patient, health-care_agent, and central_station) was designed to enable patients with chronic heart disease (in stable condition; emergency situations were excluded deliberately) to complete specifically defined protocols for out-of-hospital follow-up and monitoring. The patients belonged to one of four specific risk groups: arterial hypertension, malignant arrhythmias, heart failure, and postinfarction rehabilitation. They were provided with portable recording equipment and a cellular phone that supported data transmission [electrocardiogram (ECG)] and wireless application protocol (WAP) (remaining parameters and ad hoc questionnaires). The central station was an automatized platform, with no human operator. The information received was organized chronologically in patient folders. The health-care_agents had continuous and secure access to the patient folders, through tools based on the world wide web and WAP, and to short messages sent by their patients. A pilot project was conducted with 89 patients (mean length of participation: 50.1 days). A total of 2168 ECGs (mean duration transmission = 2 min/30 s; network errors < 0.1%) and 4011 short messages (none lost, in 95% of cases 30 s < delay < 1 min) were transmitted; 6083 WAP sessions (mean duration = 3 min 11 s; network failures < 0.1%) were The functionality of the platform was also evaluated, analyzing the subjective component of usability, showing the evolution of patient acceptance over time.

Prevalence and characteristics of home Internet access in patients with cardiovascular disease from diverse geographical locations

“…While government-led telehealth initiatives tend to focus on video conferencing, a number of small studies and pilot projects delivering health services via the Internet have been reported in patients with breast cancer (21,22), asthma (23), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (24,25), diabetes (26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32), lung transplantation (33), overweight (34)(35)(36)(37)(38)(39)(40), smokers (41), chronic heart failure (25,(42)(43)(44) and CVD (45)(46)(47)(48). These studies demonstrated that patients were willing to enter self-measured data online and communicate with health care providers via e-mail and/or chat/video conferencing.…”

A review of smart homes in healthcare

“…The same platform could be applied to SH in healthcare. Airmed-cardio [100] is an MTS based monitoring system for cardiac patients follow-up in their home. Each patient has a portable monitoring equipment and cellular phone that supports data transmission.…”

Metodología de introducción de servicios e-salud para el seguimiento y control de pacientes crónicos

“…Como soporte tecnológico de los proyectos piloto y ensayos clínicos ha sido diseña-da, puesta en funcionamiento y mantenida por un equipo de tres ingenieros, una plataforma denominada Airmed 18 , la cual se compone de cinco componentes (figura 3), cuyos principales requerimientos funcionales son:…”