Portable Digital Monitoring System for Sarcopenia Screening and Diagnosis

Abstract

Sarcopenia is a well-known highly prevalent muscle disease that severely impairs overall physical performance in elders, inducing a massive health-related economic burden. The widespread screening, diagnosis and treatment of sarcopenia are pivotal to restrain the disease progression and constrain its societal impact. Simple-to-use, portable, and reliable methods to evaluate sarcopenia are scarce, and sarcopenia-related assessments are typically done in several time-consuming stages. This study presents a portable digital system that enables a simple and intuitive method to evaluate sarcopenia—based on the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People 2 (EWGSOP2) algorithm—including the four Find-Assess-Confirm-Severity (FACS) steps. The system comprises a mobile application (app); two wireless devices: a dynamometer (Gripwise) and a skinfold caliper (Lipowise); and a back-end website. To find cases, the SARC-F questionnaire is applied. To assess sarcopenia, the handgrip strength and the sit-to-stand tests are performed with the Gripwise and an application-embedded stopwatch, respectively. To confirm cases, anthropometric measures are performed, and muscle quantity is estimated with Lipowise. Finally, to assess severity, the app stopwatch grants the gait speed test application, evaluating physical performance. This step-by-step sarcopenia assessment results in a final grading according to the cut-off points of the EWGSOP2 criteria. All data is automatically encrypted and exported into a GDPR-compliant cloud platform, in which healthcare professionals can access and monitor their patients through the internet.

System for Tracking and Evaluating Performance (Step-App®): validation and clinical application of a mobile telemonitoring system in patients with knee and hip total arthroplasty. A prospective cohort study

“… 51 - 53 On the other hand, the currently available applications were not wearable, required different instruments, 53 or were validated for a single or five repetitions. 51 , 52 Thus, to our knowledge, this is the first mobile application for the assessment of the 30STS test.…”

Shining a spotlight on sarcopenia and myosteatosis in liver disease and liver transplantation

“…Teixeira et al. developed a portable digital monitoring system for sarcopenia screening based on the EWGSOP2 algorithm using clinical parameters provided by the patients in an app 126 . A Chinese group by Tian et al.…”

“…This might facilitate the inclusion of these risk factors into models which are used in allograft allocation and risk prediction.Digitalization and telemedicine are emerging fields and hold promise to improve access to high-level care around the globe despite the increasing scarcity of skilled human resources. Teixeira et al developed a portable digital monitoring system for sarcopenia screening based on the EWGSOP2 algorithm using clinical parameters provided by the patients in an app 126. A Chinese group by Tian et al introduced follow-up management by telemedicine for…”

Metaheuristic-Based Feature Selection Methods for Diagnosing Sarcopenia with Machine Learning Algorithms

“…Researchers additionally explore cutting-edge technologies such as MRI and CT imaging, deep learning, or reinforcement learning techniques for sarcopenia diagnosis. Innovative systems that integrate cloud computing have also been investigated [3,14,15]. However, limitations for traditional studies, particularly in machine learning methodologies, are being debated.…”