Mobile health in cardiology: a review of currently available medical apps and equipment for remote monitoring

Abstract

Introduction: Recent developments in implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) and smartphone technology have increased the possibilities for remote monitoring. It is the purpose of this review to give an overview of these new possibilities. Areas covered: Remote monitoring in ICD allows for early detection of lead fractures and remote follow-up of patients. Possible limitations are the lack of standardization and the possible unsafety of the data stored on the ICD. Secondly, remote monitoring of health parameters using smartphone compatible wearables and smartphone medical apps is addressed. Possible limitations include the fact that the majority of smartphone apps are unregulated by the regulatory authorities and privacy issues such as selling of appgenerated data to third parties. Lastly, clinical studies with smartphone apps are discussed. Expert commentary: New technologies in ICDs and smartphones have the potential to be used for remote monitoring. However, unreliability of smartphone technology, inadequate legislation and lack of reimbursement impede implementation. ARTICLE HISTORY

Developments in Privacy and Data Ownership in Mobile Health Technologies, 2016-2019

“…This has been found to be the case even among many apps certified by trusted bodies or widely used by the health care community. For example, of 79 apps certified as being clinically safe and trustworthy by the United Kingdom National Health Service, 89% were found to transfer information online, 66% of which was not encrypted 82 83 84 85 . WhatsApp, a popular instant messaging app that has gained popularity among clinical providers and in the global health space as being supposedly HIPAA-compliant did not have security measures such as end-to-end encryption for some time; now, even with additional security measures in place, concerns still exist around whether these are sufficient to meet HIPAA security standards 86 87 88 .…”

Innovation in Precision Cardio-Oncology During the Coronavirus Pandemic and Into a Post-pandemic World

“…Many of these technologies are also being explored for various scenarios in cardiology (44)(45)(46)(47)(48)(49)(50)(51), and have great clinical utility for cardio-oncology and COVID-19. Remote monitoring from wearable biosensors and mHealth is being investigated to improve outcomes in heart rhythm and heart failure and other cardiovascular conditions (44,(46)(47)(48)(49)(50), and may have utility for COVID-19 (19,(52)(53)(54)(55)(56)(57)(58) and Cardio-Oncology (59)(60)(61). Voice apps and voice analysis have shown promise in cardiology for heart failure, ischemic heart disease, pulmonary hypertension, and other forms of cardiovascular disease (45,(62)(63)(64), as well as cardio-oncology (65), and have been considered for COVID-19.…”

The Adoption, Issues, and Challenges of Wearable Healthcare Technology for the Elderly

“…They highlighted some of the key cardiac interventions where mobile health has been applied or studied in both acute and longer-term care settings. Treskes et al [24] discussed uses of mHealth for remote monitoring of cardiovascular patients, and the untrustworthiness of mobile technology, insufficient regulation, and poor compensation for mHealth implementation. Tundjungsari et al [25] compared several mHealth applications with the ability to calculate cardiovascular risk factors.…”