A new telemonitoring system intended for chronic heart failure patients using mobile telephone technology - Feasibility study

Background: Remote monitoring is one modality of structured care in chronic heart failure. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of a new wireless telemonitoring system via a mobile phone network. Methods: Portable home devices for electrocardiogram, blood pressure, body weight and self-assessment measurements were connected (via Bluetooth®) to a personal digital assistant (PDA) that performs automated encrypted transmission via mobile phone. Two telemedical centres were set-up. Results: 30 healthy volunteers were enrolled and followed for 26 days. A total of 4002 single measurements were taken, 133 ± 37 per person. No data was lost or incorrectly allocated. 880 of 937 (94%) of the ECG recordings had sufficient diagnostic quality for rhythm analysis and single beat measurements. 50 continuous ECG-streams (312 min) without disruption were performed. Total system availability was 96.6%, including that of the mobile phone network. Conclusions: Mobile phone technology is suitable for continuous and secure medical data transmission. To evaluate the clinical use in chronic heart failure patients, a large multicentre randomized controlled trial (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00543881) was started.