Issues in wearable computing for medical monitoring applications: a case study of a wearable ECG monitoring device

Author(s):  
T. Martin ◽  
E. Jovanov ◽  
D. Raskovic
Proceedings ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bleda ◽  
Maestre ◽  
Corral ◽  
Ruiz

During recent decades, the elderly population has grown rapidly, and the number of patients with chronic heart-related diseases has exploded. Many of them (e.g., congestive heart failure, some types of arrhythmia) require close medical supervision, imposing a major burden on healthcare resources in most western economies. Telemedicine is clearly emerging as a viable solution for health care to become sustainable by enabling medical monitoring at home without direct professional help, which would greatly reduce assistance costs. Specifically, continuous or frequent arterial blood pressure (ABP) and electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring are important tools in the follow-up of many of these patients. A multipurpose (e.g. ABP and ECG) monitoring device that requires no medical assistance is highly desirable and would be of great value to patients. One such solution is presented and validated in this work. This paper presents the details of the proposed remote heart self-monitoring system, the testing procedure, and test results.


2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (Supplement_2) ◽  
Author(s):  
J Cai ◽  
K.K Yeo ◽  
P Wong ◽  
C.K Ching

Abstract Background Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common arrhythmia with significant morbidity due to an increased risk of ischemic stroke. Outpatient electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring is an integral part of the diagnosis of AF. Conventional 24 hour Holter monitoring can be cumbersome and often fails to diagnose patients with paroxysmal AF. Spyder ECG is a non-invasive ECG monitoring device that allows wireless transmission of ECG information for analysis. It is small and comfortable, allowing for easy application for the screening and detection of AF over a mid-term duration. Purpose This study aims to evaluate the incidence of AF in patients with no prior AF and CHADsVASC score of at least 1 with the use of the Spyder ECG mid-term ECG monitoring device. Methods Patients aged 21 to 85 years old with no prior history of AF and CHADsVASC score of at least 1 were recruited from outpatient clinics of 3 large tertiary hospitals in Singapore from December 2016 to April 2019. Patients wore the Spyder ECG device for up to 2 weeks, during which continuous ECG information was uploaded onto a central cloud database and analysed. Results There were 363 patients recruited. The mean age was 61±10.0 years and 65.1% were male. There were 80.3% Chinese, 11.6% Malay, 7.5% Indian and 20.6% of other races. 68.3% of the patients were non-smokers and 74.0% of them were non-alcohol drinkers. The mean BMI of 25.5±4.7 kg/m2. The patient population had significant co-morbidities. 76.3% of the patients had hypertension, 69.4% of them had hyperlipidemia and 40.5% of them had diabetes mellitus. 10.0% of them had congestive cardiac failure and 56.7% had ischaemic heart disease. 11.3% of patients had a previous stroke and 20.4% had a prior myocardial infarction. 7.8% of the patients had asthma, 5.8% of them had thyroid disease and 9.9% of them had chronic kidney disease. They were monitored for a mean of 5.4±2.9 days each. There were 15 (4.1%) patients in whom AF was detected. The patients with AF wore the device for a mean of 5.7±2.0 SD days. The mean burden of AF was 9.0% of monitored time. 46.7% of the patients with AF had detection of AF on the first day, 26.7% on the second day, 13.3% on the third day and 13.3% on the seventh day. The mean duration of the first episode of AF was 251±325 minutes. 7 out of 15 (46.7%) of patients had first episodes of AF lasting less than 10 minutes. Conclusion Continuous mid-term ECG monitoring was able to detect AF in 15 (4.1%) of a population of 363 patients with no prior AF and CHADsVASC score of at least one, monitored for a mean of 5.4 days. Most episodes (53.3%) of AF were detected after the first day of ECG monitoring. Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding source: Public Institution(s). Main funding source(s): Duke-NUS Medical School Singapore


2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 116-119
Author(s):  
Makoto Oe ◽  
Kahori Tsuruoka ◽  
Yumiko Ohashi ◽  
Kimie Takehara ◽  
Hiroshi Noguchi ◽  
...  

Objective: Early identification of pre-ulcerative pathology is important to preventing diabetic foot ulcers (DFU), but signs of inflammation are difficult to detect on the feet of patients with diabetic neuropathy due to decreased sensation. However, infrared thermography can objectively identify inflammation. Therefore, a device that allows patients to visualise thermograms of their feet might be an effective way to prevent DFU. We aimed to determine the effects of a novel self-monitoring device to prevent DFU using a thermograph attached to a smartphone. Method: A self-monitoring device comprising a mobile thermograph attached to a smartphone on a selfie stick was created, and its effects in two patients with diabetic neuropathy and foot calluses assessed. Results: For one patient, he understood that walking too much increased the temperature in the skin of his feet (a sign of inflammation). The other patient could not detect high-risk findings, because the temperature of his skin did not increase during the study period. Conclusion: This device might provide self-care incentives to prevent DFU, although some issues, such as the automatic detection of high-risk thermographic changes, need to be improved.


Sensors ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (20) ◽  
pp. 4458
Author(s):  
Zhu ◽  
Pan ◽  
Wu ◽  
Huan

Body surface potential mapping (BSPM) is a valuable tool for research regarding electrocardiograms (ECG). However, the BSPM system is limited by its large number of electrodes and wires, long installation time, and high computational complexity. In this paper, we designed a wearable four-electrode electrocardiogram-sensor (WFEES) module that measures six-channel ECGs simultaneously for ECG investigation. To reduce the testing lead number and the measurement complexity, we further proposed a method, the layered (A, N) square-based (LANS) method, to optimize the ECG acquisition and analysis process using WFEES modules for different applications. Moreover, we presented a case study of electrode location optimization for wearable single-lead ECG monitoring devices using WFEES modules with the LANS method. In this study, 102 sets of single-lead ECG data from 19 healthy subjects were analyzed. The signal-to-noise ratio of ECG, as well as the mean and coefficient of variation of QRS amplitude, was derived among different channels to determine the optimal electrode locations. The results showed that a single-lead electrode pair should be placed on the left chest above the electrode location of standard precordial leads V1 to V4. Additionally, the best orientation was the principal diagonal as the direction of the heart’s electrical axis.


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