JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the changes of daily practice in medical care worldwide. Telemedicine is one of the most stimulated field of this changes even in the cardiovascular disease care. In the past decade, remote monitoring has become important tools that provides valuable clinical information with respiratory assist devices as well as with implantable pacemakers from patients at home.

Objective:

To investigate whether these remote monitoring approaches could expand broader spectrum of cardiac disease patients with the development of non-invasive monitoring device.

Methods:

Several pilot studies of telemedicine-based monitoring system using commercially available digital device were conducted in the Infectious Disease Wards as well as other clinical setting during the COVID-19 pandemic. We evaluated the effectiveness of a remote heart monitoring system which provides real-time ECG and other vital signs in cardiovascular disease patients. Newly developed remote cardiac rehabilitation system is also evaluated.

Results:

We found that current remote monitoring technology could provide a sufficient vital sign that suggested a potential to predict a worsening of heart failure in advance. Remote cardiac rehabilitation could be effectively as well as safely provided in low to middle risk patients.

Conclusions:

Telemedicine and remote cardiac rehabilitation possess a great potential in the cardiovascular disease practice post COVID-19 era, however, there are several unsolved issues regarding their implementation into the real world clinical practice.