Healthcare, and especially cardiology, has been looking for good tools for digital telemonitoring for some time now: guiding patients remotely via digital devices. ‘A lot of monitoring, for example blood pressure measurement, is currently still done manually,’ says Dr Maarten Falter, cardiologist at the Jessa Hospital in Hasselt. ‘The digital is already starting to seep through to implanted devices such as defibrillators or pacemakers. They send data directly to the hospital. Because of their invasive nature, they can only be used to a limited extent.’
‘In addition, more and more practical devices are appearing that could be of interest to our sector. Just think of smart patches with sensors, apps and wearables such as the Apple Smartwatch or the Fitbit. But these are usually not medically validated solutions.’
Reducing the workload in the health sector
Medically validated, handy wearables that continuously transmit reliable medical data have not really made a breakthrough in healthcare yet. Nevertheless, they offer major advantages, says Dr Falter: ‘Digital telemonitoring could take over some of the routine tasks of care providers, leaving more time for conversations with the patient. Another not unimportant advantage is that patients can be followed up in a high-quality way in their familiar environment through the use of medical wearables.’
‘Digital telemonitoring can also offer a solution for screening or detecting A-Fib: a heart condition in which patients do not always show symptoms,’ says Sarah Perneel, responsible for Arseus Medical’s CardiacSense (a smart, medically validated wearable).
Moreover, health care is becoming more and more evidence based and doctors want a longitudinal view of the patient. For that you constantly need quality data, which you can acquire via digital telemonitoring’, adds Ingrid Maes, managing director and co-founder at Inovigate Belgium.
Supported by all interested parties
Before the medically validated wearables can really break through, there are still a number of hurdles to overcome. Sarah Perneel: ‘The data must be generated correctly. There should be no doubt about a particular value. How else are you going to draw up the right treatment plan?’
‘Analysing the data is also not easy’, adds Ingrid Maes. ‘In addition, there must be sufficient transparency: what is done with all that data? It is important that a framework is created that is supported by all interested parties: doctors, patients, health insurance funds and other stakeholders.’
Better quality of care
Are the doctors themselves currently open to digital telemonitoring? dr. Maarten Falter: Some embrace the new technology, others feel some resistance. In part rightly so: the data really must be accurate and medically validated.’
‘On the other hand, the question is not if, but when we will use medical wearables. Learning to interpret data becomes part of the exercise anyway. But in the end that will only benefit the quality of care.’
Smart, medically validated wearable for patient monitoring
One of the smart telemonitoring tools currently making waves is CardiacSense. The medically validated wearable may look like an ordinary light wristwatch, but it is an advanced all-in-one device that continuously records the patient’s vital values. 24 hours a day, for seven days, the medical device collects clinically relevant data about the patient, which can be read at any time. As a result, CardiacSense helps make a diagnosis. The wearable for ambulatory patient monitoring can also be used preventively and can thus save lives.
What does the CardiacSense measure?
- Electrocardiogram
- atrial fibrillation
- Heart rate & heart rate variability
- Respiratory Rate
- Cardiac arrhythmias
- Oxygen saturation
Come on here to know everything about this high-tech medical grade device.
Would you like to know more about telemonitoring? Look at here our full panel discussion with Ingrid Maes, Inovigate Belgium; Dr. Maarten Falter, cardiologist at the Jessa Hospital in Hasselt and Sarah Perneel, Arseus Medical.
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