What's the future of remote patient monitoring?
Ask the doctor
Q.
I use a home blood pressure machine, and my doctor says it helps her take better care of me. Are there other home machines, measuring other aspects of my health, that also could help her, and me?
A. There's a growing number of devices that monitor your body throughout the day, and many more are coming in the future. Nearly 50 million people in the United States currently use such "remote patient monitoring" devices. Home blood pressure machines were among the first. Most of them require that you put a cuff around your arm; then, you tap a button, the cuff starts to tighten, and after 30 seconds or so, the cuff relaxes and the machine shows your blood pressure on a little screen. That's neat, but the machine only measures your blood pressure when you remember to do so. And it typically doesn't send the results automatically to your doctor. Also, it's not with you all the time, like when someone says or does something that would raise anyone's blood pressure.
The miniaturization of electronics is leading to the development of next-generation devices. For example, a 2022 report in the journal Nature Nanotechnology described an experimental device — a thin strip of material that you paste onto your skin, just above your wrist. Like a sticky note, it stays securely on your skin, but you can easily remove it. Inside the strip are tiny sensors that painlessly and automatically measure the blood pressure in the artery that delivers blood to your hand. You go about your day normally, not even thinking about it. You can even exercise, including doing push-ups: the tiny sensors above your wrist just keep checking your pressure. Then, using your smartphone or smart watch, and with your permission, the strip can automatically send the readings over the Internet to your doctor's office. The office can spot worrisome trends immediately — trends you may be unaware of.
As for the present, people today are using various devices (typically smart watches) to measure their heart rate, the regularity of their heart rhythm, the quality of their sleep, their body temperature, and the levels of oxygen and sugar in their blood. People with diabetes no longer need to stick their fingers to determine if their blood sugar is under control; they can just stick their smartphone next to a little device pasted to their skin.
As for the future, scientists are working on devices that measure other blood chemicals besides oxygen and sugar, and that constantly monitor the function of organs inside us. Remote patient monitoring is still in its infancy, but I think it will be an increasingly important part of our future.
Image: © Black Lollipop/Getty Images
About the Author
Anthony L. Komaroff, MD, Editor in Chief, Harvard Health Letter; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing
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