Health technology assessment review: Remote monitoring of vital signs - current status and future challenges

Vishal Nangalia,David R Prytherch,Gary B Smith

doi:10.1186/cc9208

Abstract

Recent developments in communications technologies and associated computing and digital electronics now permit patient data, including routine vital signs, to be surveyed at a distance. Remote monitoring, or telemonitoring, can be regarded as a subdivision of telemedicine - the use of electronic and telecommunications technologies to provide and support health care when distance separates the participants. Depending on environment and purpose, the patient and the carer/system surveying, analysing or interpreting the data could be separated by as little as a few feet or be on different continents. Most telemonitoring systems will incorporate five components: data acquisition using an appropriate sensor; transmission of data from patient to clinician; integration of data with other data describing the state of the patient; synthesis of an appropriate action, or response or escalation in the care of the patient, and associated decision support; and storage of data. Telemonitoring is currently being used in community-based healthcare, at the scene of medical emergencies, by ambulance services and in hospitals. Current challenges in telemonitoring include: the lack of a full range of appropriate sensors, the bulk weight and size of the whole system or its components, battery life, available bandwidth, network coverage, and the costs of data transmission via public networks. Telemonitoring also has the ability to produce a mass of data - but this requires interpretation to be of clinical use and much necessary research work remains to be done.

Highlights

Remote monitoring, or telemonitoring, can be regarded as a subdivision of telemedicine - the use of electronic and telecommunications technologies to provide and support health care when distance separates the participants [1]
Telemonitoring involves the use of audio, video, and other telecommunications and electronic information processing technologies to monitor patient status at a distance
The patient and the carer/system surveying, analysing or interpreting the data could be a few feet apart, but more often they will be in different areas of the same building, different buildings or different towns

Summary

Introduction

Telemonitoring, can be regarded as a subdivision of telemedicine - the use of electronic and telecommunications technologies to provide and support health care when distance separates the participants [1]. Some obvious challenges Currently, the technology for telemonitoring is far from mature and there are still technological issues to be addressed These include: the lack of a full range of appropriate sensors; the bulk weight and size of the whole system or its components ( in relation to patient-worn systems); the identification of invalid data (for example, from sensors that become detached/ displaced); battery life; available bandwidth; network coverage; and the costs of data transmission via public networks. Author details 1Academic Clinical Fellow, Centre for Anaesthesia, University College London Hospital, Room 436, 4th floor, 74 Huntley St, London WC1E 6AU, UK. 2Clinical Scientist, Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust, TEAMS Centre, Queen Alexandra Hospital Portsmouth PO6 3LY, UK. 3Professor, Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust, TEAMS Centre, Queen Alexandra Hospital Portsmouth PO6 3LY. 4Professor, The School of Health & Social Care, Bournemouth University, Royal London House, Christchurch Road, Bournemouth, Dorset BH1 3LT, UK

Field MJ

58. Connecting for Health

Findings

62. Williams N