Wireless home monitoring and health care activity management through the Internet in patients with chronic diseases

Abstract

A project was developed for the creation of an Internet-based network aimed at improved management of home care activities in brain-injured children. At the patient's side, a home care unit was provided, made of a portable medical device, and a tablet PC. Measured clinical data were blood oxygen saturation, heart rate, breath rate and quantity of movement. Thanks to device portability, the patient was free to move while measurements were taken. At prescribed time intervals, measured data were automatically transmitted to the tablet PC via Bluetooth. From the tablet PC, data were transmitted remotely to a Service Centre (via ADSL or GPRS) and made available for consultation by health care professionals through the project Web portal. At the portal, other functionalities were also available, both for patients and families, and for professionals (such as weekly planning agenda, access to relevant information resources, communication tools). Information was delivered for the right participant through a workflow engine. A first trial involving nine patients was performed for two months. At the end, although some improvements were suggested, good acceptance was detected, and 78% of patients and families claimed to be interested in further use of the platform.

Health Information Technology to Facilitate Communication Involving Health Care Providers, Caregivers, and Pediatric Patients: A Scoping Review

“…Similar coordinated communication among multiple health care providers and caregivers was also achieved in a Swedish study in which modes of communication included Internet, email, and SMS [51]. One Italian study featured a portable device for monitoring physiological status and physical activities [53,54]. …”

Towards pervasive computing in health care – A literature review

“…Stationary devices are used equally often (51%), in many cases in a comprehensive, integrated application of systems, such as information exchange systems in hospitals or for monitoring in care facilities. A considerable fraction use wearables (42%) including wrist-worn units [ 31 , 41 - 45 ], an electronic vest [ 46 ], an electronic glove [ 38 ] as well as mobile medical devices, such as a blood glucose meter [ 22 ], blood pressure meter [ 47 ], spirometer [ 48 ], asthma peak flow meter [ 49 ], electrocardiogram (ECG) or heart rate monitors [ 24 , 28 , 50 ], or multi-purpose meters [ 30 , 51 , 52 ]. Also electronic person tags or badges [ 21 , 23 , 39 , 53 , 54 ], electronic object tags [ 21 , 38 , 55 , 56 ] or a customizable modular system [ 57 ] belong to this component type.…”

“…For physiological data or vital signs, respectively, systems range from measuring a single physiological parameter, i.e. ECG [ 24 , 50 , 60 ], lung function (asthma) [ 48 , 49 ], haemodynamic trends [ 59 ], blood glucose (diabetes) [ 22 , 57 ], heart rhythm [ 58 ], blood pressure [ 47 ], or weight [ 26 ], to simultaneously gathering multiple physiological data [ 28 - 31 , 42 , 45 , 46 , 51 , 52 , 61 - 64 ].…”

Disease Management Information System

“…• Importance of information in determining further action to be taken (Pomazan et al, 2009;Dai et al, 2008;Tong, 2006;Paganelli and Giuli, 2007;LeRouge et al, 2010;Tura et al, 2005) • Distance as an obstacle in obtaining patient data (Dai et al, 2008;Tong, 2006;Paganelli and Giuli, 2007;LeRouge et al, 2010) • Automatic measurement in reducing data inaccuracies (Tong, 2006;Paganelli and Giuli, 2007;LeRouge et al, 2010;Tura et al, 2005) • Expert systems in assisting physicians during patient diagnosis (Pomazan et al, 2009;Dai et al, 2008) hypertension, diabetes and/or tuberculosis • DisMan staff creates a medical care plan to be followed by patients for a certain period of time before the next visit. The medical care plan contains targets that must be achieved by the patient (blood pressure, blood glucose, medication, nutrition and exercise) • DisMan staff creates notifications in accordance with the requirements of each patient • System sends notifications to patient to undertake measurements of blood glucose and blood pressure.…”