Table of content:

• What is telehealth?

• Telehealth services and their applications

• Telehealth clinical significance

• Wearables and sensors in healthcare

• Digestible sensors measure health

• Advantages and disadvantages of sensors

• Take-home points

• FAQ on Telehealth Sensors

What Is Telehealth?

Telehealth is the most advanced and fastest-growing healthcare sector with remarkable outcomes and flexible processes. 

Telehealth is a virtual platform to deliver healthcare services.

Telehealth includes:

•  Patient Education

• Medical care

• Health information services

• Prevention

Telehealth and telemedicine terms are more often used interchangeably; where telehealth is a much broader concept than telemedicine that includes remote healthcare activities and services while telemedicine is defined by oxford as the remote diagnosis and treatment of patients by means of telecommunications technology

Technology includes virtual devices like computers, smartphones, tablets and etc. It is one of the topics of concern in healthcare with its pros and cons; where the telehealth system is on its way to revolutionizing the healthcare system.

Telehealth monitoring gained massive popularity during the covid times when it served as the best source for monitoring and treatment.

In India telemedicine is growing slowly with steps taken by ISRO, the Department of Information Technology.

According to the data from US disease control and prevention, 95% of United States healthcare offered telehealth options which were 43% in 2019.

Aspects Of Telehealth Services:

With the advancement and technology, people want healthcare to be a part of the race at the same pace. Telehealth has proven its efficient and cost-effective system that offers convenience and supports sustainability.  Its applications are:

1. Addresses Primary care physician shortage/specialist

2. Education and training purpose

3. Patient engagement: there has been the positive outcome in diabetes patients’ glucose monitoring, weight loss.

4. Patients using wearable and monitoring systems to learn about their sleep patterns, vital organ activities and Immediate monitoring.

5. Research technology for biomarker detection.

6. Analysis of genetic disorders.

Telehealth Clinical Applications:

Almost 50% of United States hospitals provide telemedicine. That includes radiology and stroke care practice in the majority. 

In emergency departments, it provides care as-

• TeleTrauma- which provides remote trauma care.

• Telestroke-treating people had stroke using technology.

•  TeleBurns-provide care to burned patients in rural areas.

• TeleDermatology-dermatology service using technology.

• Tele ICU-exchange of data for ICU using technology. 

Telehealth has gained popularity in the research field with its advantages and cost-effective lightening point. 

Medical device innovations are expanding with it, patients with implantable devices like a subcutaneous implantable cardiac defibrillator, and pulmonary artery sensors, recently approved by FDA for remote monitoring of any cardiac emergencies.

Wearables And Sensors In Healthcare:

Some common examples of easily wearable devices.

1. SensoTRACK ear sensor

2. Google contact lens

3. Biopatch

4. Smart watch Basis PEAK

5. QardioCore

6. Vital jacket t-shirt

7. Moov (activity tracker)

These are artificially designed wearable devices, that can simply attach to your wrist, shoes, chest, gloves, and watches. These are quick smart and accurate with the data. Few of the following sensors are in their prototypes stages because of security, user acceptance and ethics concerns.

• AliveCor’s KardiaMobile 6L: portable EKG monitor is FDA approved that detects atrial fibrillation, 

• Wellue’sDuoEK:  can be won as a chest strap. It records EKG for straight 15 minutes.Easy early detection of signs of arrhythmia, tachycardia, and premature atrial contractions (PAC).

• Accelerometer on chairs and flooring for measuring falling conditions to assist Alzheimer’s or dementia patients.

• Accelerometer bracelet to detect a walking pattern, which could help in the detection of seizures.

• Omron Platinum: wireless upper arm blood pressure monitor with a record of 200 readings 

• FitBit charge 4: heart rate monitor

• EEG (electromyogram) for muscle activity measurement.

• Garmin vivosmart 4: fitness band monitors heart rate, stress tracking, and VO2 max readings.

• Smart telecom: device of 25 by 37mm size can sense vital organ signs. 

Wearable Biosensors:

These are still in their initial stages in respect to large-scale development and adoption, despite this fact these wearable sensors hold a strong potential to revolutionize the healthcare system with telehealth.  

These are portable devices in the form of gloves, bandages, implants, clothing, and bracelets. These sensors create a non-invasive diagnosis of disease. 

1. Philips Biosensors BX100: 

This wearable sensor is a multipurpose device that measures vital organ signs, posture, and body activities. 

This is a one-time-use wearable patch sensor. This device can be easily incorporated into existing clinical workflow, where it supports patients moving from the Intensive care unit (ICU) to the general care areas in the hospital. It received US Food and Drug Administration clearance in the year of 2020 helping the covid-19 suspects in hospitals.

2. BiovitalsHF and Biovitals Sentinel by Biofourmis:

This is a unique wearable armband sensor that collects data from a large population as a comparative ideal data with real-time patient physiological signals. The whole purpose of designing this sensor is to help healthcare providers predict the serious disease conditions that will be easy to prevent the disease progress. 

3. Phillips wearable biosensor: 

This is a self-adhesive biosensor that is helpful for both patients and doctors with the monitoring of heart rate, respiratory rate, skin temperature, single-lead ECG, R-R interval, fall detection, and step count.  

Digestible Sensors Measure Health:

Like the other wearable devices and with an amalgamation of new technology we have digestible sensors that help to measure disease conditions and related data. These devices transmit the patient’s information directly to the doctors. These are available as

• Sensor patches

• Smartphones

• A pill

These digestible devices are capable of embedded sensing in the gastrointestinal tract, and nearby organs, and hold a strong potential to detect disease which could not be able to detect in its early stages.

 These devices have the advantages of reduced labor and cost of procedures, they provide remarkable help in research related to biomarkers for pathological purposes. These advancements with digestible sensors create an impact on the treatment of a variety of diseases with ease and efficiency.

These sensors are made from edible material that will not be going to harm the inside of our body and just like a pill it gets activated by the bodily electrolytes inside the body. A few examples are:

1. Abilify mycite which is an aripiprazole tablet with a sensor; here mycite patch is US Food & Drug Administration-approved.

2. Proteus Digital healthcare company announced mobile technology approved by the US food & drug administration.

3. PillCam; it is a minimally invasive device that directly visualizes small bowel movements and related data with minor abnormalities.

America and Europe regions are leading the global digestive market with advanced technology and well-developed facilities.

Advantages Of Sensors:

Tele sensors are really effective with much less time.

1. Accelerate the process with accurate outcomes.

2. Collects the data in minimum time when compared with the time taken by humans

3. Increases the productivity of the entire process and reduces the overall cost of healthcare.

4. Provide wireless and continuous data collection.

5. Minimal energy consumption.

6. Easy to set up and precise tracking.

Disadvantages Of Sensors:

Telehealth sensors may not be the ideal option.

1. Sometimes the resolution of sensors depends on the intensity of light which could lead to various outcomes.

2. In cases of arrhythmia monitoring there may be difficulties with the characterization of arrhythmia events.

3. Physicians have very limited experience with telehealth sensors.

Take-Home Points:

• Telehealth is a large section of telemedicine where it provides effective, non-invasive techniques for quick and accurate outcomes.

• Patient’s recovery rate has increased with the addition of technology in healthcare where a patient could easily monitor the track of his health with just a click, this has revolutionized the healthcare system.

• Telehealth sensors are a new asset in the medical field for growth and development.

• The telehealth sensors are so easy to wear and understand that a patient can have a record of his progress and disease state, 

• These sensors are in use for the diagnosis of the deadliest disease which remarkably could reduce the mortality rate in the world with early detection and treatment.

• Wearable sensors are compatible and easy to use just like every other garment on our body.