A new API solution that could be a step change for how patients and healthcare professionals manage long-term and critical health conditions is entering its final stages of development at Cambridge-based healthtech company electronRx.
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The API solution integrates with sensors in the patient's smartphone to analyse key health metrics, including temperature, heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen saturation, and respiration. Using this data, a series of AI algorithms integrated into technology, and delivered via an application, will provide essential information for the patient to help manage conditions such as atrial fibrillation, asthma, and COPD, providing multiple universal applications for a wide selection of stakeholders.
With the surge in digital health apps offering differing functionality, many rely on external Bluetooth or Wi-Fi-enabled third-party technologies to monitor the patient's lifestyle and symptoms. This new API solution removes the cost of purchasing additional technology, whilst recording the data in real-time, which is then stored in the cloud. By democratising the data, it can also be used in a variety of sectors and in more than one organisation. It can be easily installed into existing smartphones and will enhance the functionality of future manufactured mobile technologies on which it is installed.
Dr Bipin Patel, CEO at electronRx, who led the development, said: "Our vision for developing this new technology was to improve efficiency in healthcare settings whilst empowering the patient to manage their life-long or critical condition. By using sensor technology already integrated into mobile devices, we address issues faced with current applications, such as reducing the need for costly third-party monitors, the accuracy of data recording, and the provision of tailored advice for the patient and real-time accessible data for healthcare professionals. But the technology is suitable for a variety of sectors, for research and insight by providing democratised health metric data."
The technology has been trialled in a variety of settings to prove its efficacy.
Dr David Buckley, from Trinity Court Surgery who participated in the trials, added: “With more patients widely expected to use home monitoring, any app that is available at minimal cost that can help monitor a number of vital signs will help improve both diagnosis and monitoring of patients. We already have a number of these separate devices, but they are expensive and therefore not widely applicable except for a few. This app has been shown to be potentially accessible to a much wider group through a mobile phone, and can detect reliably vital measurements, giving direct feedback to the patient and clinician. This can improve the early detection of asymptomatic conditions as well as detection of deterioration in clinical conditions.”
