case study
ECG
on your mobile
Country: India and the United Kingdom Application Area: Remote Monitoring Sponsoring Organisation and Partners: The UK – India Education and Research Initiative (UKIERI), Loughborough University, Indian Institute of Technology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Aligarh Muslim University and London’s Kingston University Probably the first prototype of a mobile phone that can transmit ECG images was made as early as 2005. In a university lab, engineers used a mobile phone that can easily receive, collate and send a person’s ECG and other vital signs to clinicians, eliminating the need for large, fixed home-based tele-health systems. This application could be used for a number of medical purposes, such as remote routine check-ups, as well as in emergency and rescue situations. Long considered a ‘rich country disease,’ diabetes is spreading rapidly in the developing world as affluence changes traditional dietary habits. Engineers from the UK-based Loughborough University entered into a partnership with experts from India to develop a unique mobile phone health monitoring system. The system, unveiled in 2005, uses a mobile phone to transmit a person’s vital signs, including the complex electrocardiogram (ECG) heart signal, to a hospital or clinic
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november / 2011 www.ehealthonline.org
anywhere in the world. Presently the system can transfer the signals pertaining to the ECG, blood pressure, oxygen saturation and blood glucose level. Created by Professor Bryan Woodward and Dr Fadlee Rasid from the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, the system allows doctors to use mobile phone networks to monitor up to four key medical signals (electrocardiogram heart signal, blood pressure, levels of blood glucose, and oxygen saturation levels) from patients who are on the move. Engineers and technicians from the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT Delhi), the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Aligarh Muslim University and London’s Kingston University are working to miniaturise the system so that sensors are small enough to be carried by patients while procuring the necessary biomedical data. The network of sensors would be linked through a modem to mobile networks and the Internet, and to a hospital computer. Doctors could then use this device to remotely monitor patients suffering from chronic diseases such as heart disease and diabetes, which plague millions across the world. In the United Kingdom, the solution will be used to improve healthcare delivery, while in India it will connect Centers of Excellence to hospitals and clinics in more remote areas. Over the coming years, clinical trials will be conducted in both the United Kingdom and India. The idea behind using mobile phone technology for healthcare is that a doctor can monitor a patient who can be anytime anywhere. The most important aspect of the system is the integrity of the signal. The only limitations appear to be the temporary loss of mobile phone signal when going through a tunnel or other areas not covered by a mobile network. The next step for the researchers will be to develop a credit-card sized device that can do the same thing, which will be easier to carry for everyone.