Heart Health at Your Fingertips: The Power of Remote Monitoring Technologies
In the age of digital health, Remote Monitoring Technologies (RMTs) are becoming increasingly important tools for tracking our health in real-time. These technologies, which can be worn on the body or used at home, allow for continuous and unobtrusive monitoring of the cardiovascular system. This study provides a comprehensive overview of RMTs that measure cardiovascular functions in adults living in the community.
The study is a systematic review of 272 articles, representing 322,886 individuals with an age range from 19.0 to 88.9 years. The researchers found that the most common technology used in RMTs was photoplethysmography, a non-invasive method that detects blood volume changes in the microvascular bed of tissue. The most frequently measured cardiovascular variable was heart rate, and the wrist was the most common location for wearing RMTs.
The study also examined the accuracy and precision of the RMTs. Nine devices were reported in more than three articles, all of which were found to be sufficiently accurate, six were sufficiently precise, and four were commercially available as of December 2022. With over 200 distinct RMTs reported, this review provides a valuable resource for healthcare professionals and researchers interested in monitoring the cardiovascular system.
