Session S24.3

A New Simple Multimodal Platform for Home Monitoring of Cardiac Patients through Textile Technology

P Meriggi*, F Rizzo, A Faini, F Chiarugi, I Karatzanis,
G Zacharioudakis, M Valentini, G Parati, P Castiglioni, M Di Rienzo

Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi
Milano, Italy

One of the causes slowing the diffusion of home healthcare services is the complexity of available hardware and software solutions. In this paper we explored the usability of a new simplified multimodal platform for home monitoring of cardiac patients. The study has been performed in cooperation with the Heartfaid Project (FP6-IST-2004-027107) funded by the European Union. The platform includes the MagIC system (a smart garment that acquires ECG and respiratory frequency via textile sensors and transmits data via Bluetooth) and a touch-screen computer. The computer, once switched on, automatically starts a procedure that, via text and voice messages 1) prompts the patient to wear the smart garment, 2) collects data from the garment for three minutes and, 3) sends an email with plots of the recorded signals to one or more caregivers through a UMTS link. Then, a second procedure is activated (the Nurse@Home software, developed in the frame of the Heartfaid project) to collect numerical data manually entered by the patient (systolic, and diastolic blood pressure and body weight), and send them to the Heartfaid server. Finally the computer is automatically switched off. Three patients, suffering from heart failure and recently discharged from hospital, participated in the validation of the platform. After a two-hours training, they used the system daily for 30 days from their home. Through the emails automatically sent by the platform, the caregivers could remotely check the patients’ conditions every day. All patients positively complied with the protocol. The system behaved correctly in 85 out of 90 sessions (94%), while in 5 cases a second session was required due to UMTS traffic congestion. In only three sessions, caregivers asked the patient to repeat the acquisition, because of movement artifacts. All patients found the smart garment comfortable, and the platform easy to use. They also reported to feel themselves "safely supervised" and asked to continue the monitoring for a longer period. Although validated on a small number of patients, our solution seems to represent a good approach for prolonged home monitoring of cardiac patients.

(Abstract Control Number: 248)