Healthcare Home Monitoring Technology

Abstract

Remote patient monitoring devices have become more convenient and effective in administering health care in the US. The technique is of great value for the patients and the healthcare practitioners as it appears to focus majorly on reducing healthcare costs by use of technology. However, one of the challenges with the current Remote Patient Monitoring technology is the unapproved accuracy of the devices used. Recently, at least five Remote patient monitoring devices have been launched to improve home-based patient outcomes. Some of the devices include Continuous Glucose Monitoring Device, Mitra® Micro sampling Device, Affordable surgical robots, AI-powered wearables, and Remote heart monitoring device. At the conclusion, there is a recommendation that organizational and clinician competency should be evaluated and enhanced to guarantee quality care, organizational change, and integration of missions.

Introduction

To experience improved patient outcomes and a significantly reduced cost in healthcare, most US healthcare systems adopt remote patient monitoring (RPM) technology. Through the use of the technique, many caregivers and physicians can improve their relationship with the patients to provide real-time health services. Currently, RPM devices have become more convenient and effective in administering health care in the US. Moreover, through RPM, clinical officers can monitor patients in a non-traditional healthcare setting. For instance, RPM has facilitated digital technologies to gather health information from patients’ homes and transfer the data to healthcare practitioners from different analyses and assessments (Joury et al., 2021).

Besides, the most common patient monitoring devices currently contain voice apps that can regularly remind diabetic clients to take their dosage while equally enabling healthcare providers to monitor and manage the disease and blood pressure. Contrary to most telehealth delivery techniques, remote patient monitoring devices do not need video audio, neither must patients be remotely located. The services need appropriate technology to gather and analyze the physiologic information. Some of the technologies currently used to remotely manage patients to improve outcome include the followings:

1. Continuous Glucose Monitoring Device

Dexcom company first developed this technology, where the Dexcom G6 annulled finger pricking during glucose testing; Thus, introducing an under-skin sensor that enables the patients to directly monitor blood sugar level throughout, whether night or daytime. Subsequently, Apple partnered with the San-Diego-based company, linking the CGM sensor with the Apple watch to produce the most advanced version with upgraded features. Due to the continuous monitoring of blood glucose, the patient can observe the blood sugar level at any particular time, enabling the patient to evaluate the trend over a particular period. This can also prompt the patient to balance food intake, medicines, and physical activities (Hilty et al., 2021).

On the other hand, Continuous Glucose Monitoring operates through a minute sensor that is usually immersed under the skin layer of the arm or belly. The interstitial glucose level is then gauged by the sensor, while a wireless transmitter would relay the data to the monitor. The monitor can either be an alternative device or can as well be part of the insulin pump, which the patient can carry along in the pocket. Also, some Continuous Glucose Monitoring relays data to the tablet or smartphone directly. Equally, the Continuous Glucose Monitoring device has special features to enable it to work effectively. For instance, the Continuous Glucose Monitoring device can record blood glucose levels whether the patient is sleeping, exercising, showering, or working. Additionally, some unique features like a notifying alarm sound when the blood sugar goes too low or too high, a patient can observe the glucose trend by downloading the data, also, the patient can manage the exercise, meals, and medicine in respective to glucose level (Joury et al. 2021).

Moreover, some Continuous Glucose Monitoring models can directly share the information with the second party by relaying the same information into their smartphones. For example, whenever the blood sugar level drastically drops overnight, the mother or caretaker in the next room could be woken up by the Continuous Glucose Monitoring device. Currently, the Dexcom G5 Mobile has been approved to make treatment changes, enabling the patients to implement changes on their diabetic care plans based on CGM results, minus having to confirm the examining with a finger-stick blood glucose test before ingesting insulin (El-Rashidy et al. 221).

Accordingly, the outcome of the CGM is majorly based on the improved quality of life; for example, the use of a CGM device enables the patients to manage their blood sugar effectively, significantly lowering emergencies of low blood glucose and finger sticks. Also, the CGM graph helps the patients observe when the blood glucose level is rising or lowering, thus informing the appropriate corrective measures. Subsequently, CGM guarantees good glucose management helping diabetic patients live healthily. However, most CGM models do not provide precise accuracy, forcing patients to have at least two finger-stick glucose tests a day to measure accuracy. Also, patients cannot rely on most CGM models alone to make treatment decisions; for example, a patient cannot change insulin dose before confirming CGM readings by carrying out a finger-stick glucose test. While using the CGM system is also more expensive than the standard glucose meter (Hilty et al. 2021).

2. Mitra® Micro sampling Devices

The Mitra® Micro sampling Device is a handheld crafted to ease blood collection for home-based patients, thus, facilitating home-based blood sampling. Besides, the device is more cost-effective and reliable; hence, it can be used in low-income regions to collect the samples. Also, Mitra® Micro sampling is founded on the Volumetric Absorptive Micro sampling technology rendering the device elegant and simple attuned to fluid collection. Moreover, the device has unique features that enable high-throughput sample processing, the capacity to effectively collect micro samples, and draw fluids from the tubes or live hosts with no or minimal training or special lab equipment (Vegesna et al., 2017).

In addition, the Mitra® Micro sampling Device merges microsampling, dried blood spot, and wet sampling into one state-of-the-art collection device that is too easy to administer. Notably, when using the Mitra® Micro sampling Device, massive time and cost are saved. Furthermore, the volumetric hematocrit assay bias challenge usually found in dried blood spotting cards is eliminated by Mitra® Micro sampling Device, leading to reliable and accurate bioanalytical data. Again, the Mitra® Micro sampling Device continuously collects quality samples consistently due to its tendency to collecting fixed volumes every time (El-Rashidy et al. 221).

3. Affordable Surgical Robots

Robots have been designed to perform some complex operation procedures that need high skills and greater precision. For instance, the human wrist cannot rotate flexibly, hindering human access to certain parts during surgical procedures. However, the robotic designed surgical instruments can be controlled to have greater access to certain parts for better insight. Furthermore, the surgeon’s visualization of the surgical area would be significantly advanced through the robotic surgical instrument, providing a 3-dimensional view. The surgical robots, therefore, greatly enhance the performance of the surgeons. The earlier-produced high-priced surgical robotics has been the major hindrance faced by health institutions. However, several companies are currently developing affordable surgical robotic systems. For instance, the Japanese company known as Riverfield™ has recently launched a low-priced surgical robot. Nonetheless, Medtronic, intuitive surgical, and Stryker Inc are still the leading surgical robots in the market (Vegesna et al. 2017).

Consequently, automated robots are currently playing an essential role in surgical operation by assisting non-surgical roles like holding lights, cameras, and telescopes in the right during surgeries (El-Rashidy et al. 221).

4. Remote Heart Monitoring Devices

Artificial Intelligence’s launch has helped propel the health sector currently, with the diagnosis made faster through augmenting computer vision technology. Silicon Valley-based digital health company Eko has recently launched a service known as Eko home that promotes remote monitoring of the cardiac function precisely through electrocardiogram and patient’s heart sounds. Eko home assists in designing drug data combinations that manifest real-world efficacy for the pharma trials and allows clinicians to collect high-quality information even when out of the clinical environment (Joury et al., 2021).

Subsequently, the application of Eko Home has been put to practice in an active Mayo clinic study. The study’s purpose was to determine various strategies of cardiovascular therapy together with carvedilol targeting reducing cases of heart function declines and heart failure in patients at risk of breast cancer when under trastuzumab therapy. Furthermore, the device has enabled vital monitoring of the information gathering section for clinical studies leveraging machine learning to enhance clinical analysis. The technology has provided healthcare professionals and researchers trustable cardiac data to inform proper recommendations, adjustments, and judgments to improve remotely-based patients’ outcomes. Eko works through software and analysis logarithms for telemedicine, in-clinic screening of heart disease, and monitoring patients at home (Joury et al. 2021).

5. AI-Powered Wearables

The AI-powered wearables home patient monitoring aids in monitoring, engaging, and managing patients remotely to minimize risks, cost, and readmission. But with improved outcomes as well as revenue increment. Additionally, the devices provide unique wireless core critical monitoring through the most advanced available wearable continuously (Hilty et al., 2021). Hence, offering the opportunities to intervene as earlier as possible than any other RPM is currently available. On the other hand, a wearable armband with both the software and hardware to provide real-time insight into a patient’s health has been currently established by the Scottish. The device’s algorithms simultaneously analyze several critical signs like respiration rate, movement, pulse rate, oxygen saturation, and temperature on their own, while the platform can also collect additional metrics (Vegesna et al., 2017).