Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 19, 2026
A Novel Digital Platform for a Monitored Home-based Cardiac Rehabilitation Program
Published on: April 19, 2019
Enabling Heart Self-Monitoring for All and for AAL-Portable Device within a Complete Telemedicine System
Andrés-Lorenzo Bleda1, Francisco-Manuel Melgarejo-Meseguer2,3,4, Francisco-Javier Gimeno-Blanes5
1CETEM-Technologic Centre of Furniture and Wood of Region de Murcia, 30510 Yecla, Spain. al.bleda@cetem.es.
Insights
This study introduces a new self-monitoring system for remote arterial blood pressure (ABP) and electrocardiogram (ECG) tracking. It enables early detection of heart rhythm issues like atrial fibrillation in elderly patients.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Cardiology
- Gerontology
Background:
- Increasing elderly population and prevalence of chronic heart diseases necessitate continuous patient monitoring.
- Arterial Blood Pressure (ABP) and Electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring are crucial for managing conditions like heart failure and arrhythmias.
- High healthcare costs associated with chronic heart conditions underscore the need for efficient remote monitoring solutions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and validate a novel remote, non-ambulatory heart self-monitoring system for simultaneous ABP and ECG measurement.
- To enable early detection of clinically relevant arrhythmias, including atrial fibrillation, in elderly patients.
- To create a user-friendly, adaptable system for elderly individuals within an Active Assisted Living (AAL) framework.
Main Methods:
- Integration of digital transmission for ECG and tensiometer measurements into a comfortable, rechargeable patient support.
- Development of multi-functional software tailored for elderly users.
- Implementation of advanced signal processing techniques for heart rhythm analysis, including pause detection and rhythm alteration identification.
- Clinical validation through in-lab hardware testing and ambulatory scenario assessments.
Main Results:
- Simultaneous ambulatory measurement of ABP and ECG, a novel feature in the clinical market.
- Successful identification of clinically relevant arrhythmias, demonstrating the system's efficacy.
- Achieved clinical quality in both laboratory and real-world ambulatory validation settings.
- The system was tested end-to-end by a clinical team, confirming its reliability and usability.
Conclusions:
- The developed AAL sensor-based system offers a clinically validated solution for remote heart self-monitoring.
- Simultaneous ambulatory ABP and ECG monitoring facilitates early detection and management of cardiac arrhythmias.
- The system's design prioritizes elderly user comfort and ease of use, addressing a critical need in geriatric care.
Abstract:
During the last decades there has been a rapidly growing elderly population and the number of patients with chronic heart-related diseases has exploded. Many of them (such as those with congestive heart failure or some types of arrhythmias) require close medical supervision, thus imposing a big burden on healthcare costs in most western economies. Specifically, continuous or frequent Arterial Blood Pressure (ABP) and electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring are important tools in the follow-up of many of these patients. In this work, we present a novel remote non-ambulatory and clinically validated heart self-monitoring system, which allows ABP and ECG monitoring to effectively identify clinically relevant arrhythmias. The system integrates digital transmission of the ECG and tensiometer measurements, within a patient-comfortable support, easy to recharge and with a multi-function software, all of them aiming to adapt for elderly people. The main novelty is that both physiological variables (ABP and ECG) are simultaneously measured in an ambulatory environment, which to our best knowledge is not readily available in the clinical market. Different processing techniques were implemented to analyze the heart rhythm, including pause detection, rhythm alterations and atrial fibrillation, hence allowing early detection of these diseases. Our results achieved clinical quality both for in-lab hardware testing and for ambulatory scenario validations. The proposed active assisted living (AAL) Sensor-based system is an end-to-end multidisciplinary system, fully connected to a platform and tested by the clinical team from beginning to end.
Related Concept Videos
01:30Pulse rhythm
Conversely, an irregular pulse pattern is termed dysrhythmia, stemming from disruptions in cardiac...
01:23Holter Monitor: 24-Hour Monitoring
01:30Equipments Used To Measure Blood Pressure
This invasive approach involves cannulating a peripheral artery. During each cardiac contraction, pressure generates mechanical motion within the catheter, transmitted through rigid, fluid-filled tubing to a transducer. This transducer converts mechanical motion into electrical signals displayed as waveforms on a monitor. An automatic flushing system prevents blood backflow. Due to the potential risk of unexpected arterial blood loss, this method is primarily used in intensive...
01:19Guidelines For Measuring Vital Signs
Before taking a patient's vital signs, a nurse would consider and assess the patient's comfort level and ensure appropriate equipment is available.
01:11Pulse Assessment Sites