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Declaration of sponsorship CSL Behring

How could technology transform patient care?

Declaration of sponsorship CSL Behring
Read time: 10 mins
Last updated:13th Aug 2024
Published:5th May 2020

As smart devices increasingly become a part of life, clinicians and researchers are beginning to leverage the advantages of these technologies in healthcare. The ability to both passively and unobtrusively collect patient data is opening up countless new opportunities for the management and treatment of various conditions such as atrial fibrillation (AF)1.

Here’s a quick rundown of some of the technological advancements currently being researched that could transform the treatment of patients needing anticoagulation therapy.

In This Section

Mobile Health

Currently, mobile health (mHealth) tools are being researched for their utility in a huge range of areas, such as telemonitoring-based feedback and improving adherence23.

A huge area of interest is the application of mobile and wearable technology for the treatment and management of AF. A recent study evaluated the efficacy of an mHealth platform in reducing AF-related adverse events3. The platform provided various support tools including: regular bleeding risk assessments and international normalized ratio (INR) measurements.

These tools have the potential to help clinicians offer integrated care throughout the trial and facilitate guideline-based treatment recommendations. In patients taking oral anticoagulants, the bleeding risks associated with anticoagulant therapy make diagnostic testing essential.

The researchers randomised 3,324 AF patients into two groups using either the mHealth platform or receiving standard care. Upon completion, they observed lower occurrences of adverse events and rehospitalisation in the mHealth intervention group compared to standard care (1.9% vs. 6.0%, respectively; p < 0.001)3.

The results of this study reveal the huge potential of technology to transform the detection and treatment of AF. But if blood clots begin to form in patients with AF, could it be possible to detect them directly?

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References

  1. Bussooa A, Neale S, Mercer JR. Future of smart cardiovascular implants. Sensors (Switzerland). 2018;18(7). doi:10.3390/s18072008.
  2. Ahmed I, Ahmad NS, Ali S, Ali S, George A, Danish HS, et al. Medication adherence apps: Review and content analysis. JMIR mHealth uHealth. 2018;6(3):e62.
  3. Guo Y, Lane DA, Wang L, Zhang H, Wang H, Zhang W, et al. Mobile Health Technology to Improve Care for Patients With Atrial Fibrillation. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2020;75(13):1523–1534.
  4. Zeballos-Palacios CL, Hargraves IG, Noseworthy PA, Branda ME, Kunneman M, Burnett B, et al. Developing a Conversation Aid to Support Shared Decision Making: Reflections on Designing Anticoagulation Choice. Mayo Clin Proc. 2019;94(4):686–696.
  5. Kunneman M, Branda ME, Hargraves IG, Sivly AL, Lee AT, Gorr H, et al. Assessment of Shared Decision-making for Stroke Prevention in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Intern Med. 2020. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2020.2908.
  6. Fomundam L, Lin J. Design of miniaturized high frequency printed coils for wireless power transfer to biomedical implants. In: Mediterranean Microwave Symposium. 2016. IEEE Computer Society doi:10.1109/MMS.2016.7803814.
  7. Ferguson JE, Redish AD. Wireless communication with implanted medical devices using the conductive properties of the body. Expert Rev Med Devices. 2011;8(4):427–433.
  8. Bhatnagar V, Owende P. Energy harvesting for assistive and mobile applications. Energy Sci Eng. 2015;3(3):153–173.
  9. Li J, Long Y, Yang F, Wei H, Zhang Z, Wang Y, et al. Multifunctional Artificial Artery from Direct 3D Printing with Built‐In Ferroelectricity and Tissue‐Matching Modulus for Real‐Time Sensing and Occlusion Monitoring. Adv Funct Mater. 2020;2002868.
  10. Lunenfeld B, Stratton P. The clinical consequences of an ageing world and preventive strategies. Best Pract Res Clin Obstet Gynaecol. 2013;27(5):643–659.
  11. Stasiak JR, Serrani M, Biral E, Taylor J V., Zaman AG, Jones S, et al.  Design, development, testing at ISO standards and in vivo feasibility study of a novel polymeric heart valve prosthesis . Biomater Sci. 2020;8(16):4467.