By Ajay Singh Chauhan
Cardiac care has witnessed a paradigm shift due to the pandemic. COVID-19 has reinforced the vulnerability of patients with cardiovascular conditions – including lesser interface with physicians. And that hasn’t helped the cause of patients. What once seemed elective, is becoming a necessity. What this means is that if people do not get the help they need in time, it could be detrimental for health. For people with complex heart conditions, the latest innovations in technology, emerging trends, and digitalization are paving the way for remote patient monitoring systems (RPMs) in cardiac care.
Cardiac homecare is now a possibility as implantable medical devices are being used amongst more patients. This is important as we consider that 17.7 million deaths in India, also involving a significant young population, are attributed to cardiovascular disease.
Understanding Remote Care Monitoring and how it functions
Remote monitoring is an effective and accurate tool for monitoring patients’ heart health with disease conditions such as arrhythmias (also known as abnormal heartbeats) and heart failure. The technology can be used by patients who have undergone device implantation, such as an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD), Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy Defibrillator (CRT-D) or pacemaker. Remote monitoring makes it possible for the information to be transmitted from the patient’s implantable device directly to the doctor.
An ICD is a small battery-powered device placed in your chest to monitor your heart rhythm and detect irregular heartbeats. It delivers electric shocks via wires connected to the heart to fix abnormalities in the heart rhythm. The new generation of ICDs combine smartphone-enabled remote monitoring with patient-focused enhancements to help deliver accurate and optimized care. It can monitor the heart constantly and deliver therapy in the form of a shock when it senses an abnormal heart rhythm.
CRT-D devices are used to treat slow heart rhythm. They are small, battery-powered computers that are usually implanted just underneath the skin in the chest area. While maintaining heart rhythm, the device stores information of your heart. This information can be retrieved by a cardiologist, who can program the device to provide the best therapy for the condition at routine visits and monitor remotely, using remote technology. These are just some examples.
How this technology benefits patients
The most significant benefit that remote monitoring offers is the flexibility for both the patient and the cardiologist to seek and provide medical consultation from anywhere during any time of the day. In addition, it equips cardiologists with the tools to collect, analyse and transmit accurate health data for correct diagnosis and treatment while reducing the amount of time taken to diagnose irregularities in the heart’s rhythm. For patients, the technology provides them with the safety of communicating critical information about their medical condition directly to the cardiologist at any time within the comfort of their home, digitally. As cardiac activity changes so too can personalized care plans.
What Does the Back-end Entail?
There is so much more to connected technologies than what meets the eye. The hardware is just the front end of the entire system that supports the infrastructure needed to implement these devices. Both software and security play a very crucial role in these monitoring components.
Since the back-end entails using mobile, embedded, and web-based software, these devices can receive constant upgrades through updates just like your smartphone. Although this makes it all the more feasible to bring about changes in the implanted devices quickly, internal testing and threat modelling are used to detect any flaws in security if they persist.
Benefits of Using Connected Health Technologies
There are numerous benefits of connected technologies like remote monitoring for both the medical practitioner and the patient. It equips and enables doctors with quicker and more accurate decision-making on the need for critical care and prioritizing in-person visits. Personalized treatment plans are also easier to curate, as these remote systems constantly monitor health on a real-time basis and assist cardiologists in assessing risk management. With implanted devices tracking and sending data to the patient’s smartphone, this technology truly integrates various aspects of a person’s life. This becomes even more relevant in the current times when some patients are avoiding hospital visits, which is why getting a virtual consultation with the help of real-time data can be beneficial and provide patients with more control from the comfort their homes.
Cardiac care with assisted technology can help improve lives. The future of healthcare is digital, but it’s also personal. It helps physicians to listen more to their patients and give them the help they need – quickly and effectively.
(The author is General Manager – India, SEA, HK, Taiwan and Korea, Cardiac Rhythm Management, Abbott. The article is for informational purposes only. Please consult health experts and medical professionals before starting any therapy or medication. Views expressed are personal and do not reflect the official position or policy of the Financial Express Online.)
