September 2, 2014
Corresponding author Geoff Appelboom1 ga@neuro-digital.com
Neurodigital Initiative, Columbia University, Department of Neurological Surgery, 630 West 168th Street, New York, NY 10032, USA
Archives of Public Health 2014, 72:28 doi:10.1186/2049-3258-72-28
Background
Innovations in mobile and electronic healthcare are revolutionizing the involvement of both doctors and patients in the modern healthcare system by extending the capabilities of physiological monitoring devices [1,2]. Expansion of health information technology and consumer e-health tools and services, such as telemonitoring platform and mobile health applications [3], have created new opportunities for individuals to participate actively in their healthcare, and provides the opportunity for remote monitoring of clinically relevant variables in non-clinical settings [4]. These devices can be integrated into routine care of acute and chronic diseases and provides essential information for management to both the healthcare providers and patients [5]. Studies show that a well-informed patient improves quality of life and patient outcome because they are more likely to participate in healthy behavioral changes [6,7]. Furthermore, the United States spends approximately 75% of their $2 trillion budget on chronic diseases per year, which make up 7 out of 10 deaths annually [8]. Chronic diseases also have debilitating effects, which lead the nation in causes of major disabilities and preventable illnesses [8].
The concept of remotely monitoring patients is not new but recently a lot of attention has been placed on smart wearable body sensors (SWS) [4,9]. Whereas other articles have focused primarily on devices which have been used for research or have needed a physician’s prescription, this article expands upon the opportunities and studies with devices that are available to all consumers. There is now more evidence to support the reliability of these devices and the technology is more easily accessed. These devices contain an assortment of different sensors which can be used to monitor variables and transmit data either to a personal device or to an online storage site. The variety of the sensors can be attributed to the types of stimuli that they respond to (e.g. physiological vital signs, body movements, and organic substances) and their placements (clothing, subcutaneous implant, body part accessory, etc.) These devices have the opportunity to meet the patients’ needs by administering information in real-time to the patient’s smartphone, computer or other wireless devices and has the potential to influence their behaviors [5,6]. Sensors allow patients to self-monitor, track, and assess human physiological data, while also providing interfaces and a dashboard for healthcare providers [7]. These sensors are easily managed and are becoming increasingly accurate and reliable for patient care [5,10,11]. The SWS’s can also be utilized as a diagnostic tool to aid in identifying and managing a myriad of diseases [7]. Current sensor technology for vital-sign monitoring promises great benefits for prevention, prediction, and management of diseases. Despite significant progress within the monitoring device industry, the widespread integration of this technology into medical practice remains limited.
The purpose of this manuscript was to evaluate existing wearable sensors and describe their current medical applications.
We therefore used general search engines such as Pubmed, Science Direct, and Google Scholar to extensively search for “wearable sensor”, “mHealth”, “eHealth”, “medical sensor”, “Personal Area Network”, “Body Area Network”, “Body Sensor Networks”, “Tracker”, “Monitoring”, “Self Tracking” and combination of these terms. The search was performed using pertinent Medical Subject Heading terms. We reviewed these studies in order to present clinical utility.
The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at: http://www.archpublichealth.com/content/72/1/28/abstract#
image source: http://www.nature.com/news/electronic-skin-equipped-with-memory-1.14952
