Mobile healthcare monitoring system for sudden cardiac death

摘要

Sudden death accounts for more than a quarter of the global human natural deaths. Due to the pressure of living with an aging population, the global number of sudden deaths is increasing year by year and patient age is becoming younger. According to statistics, the incidence rate is about one-two per thousand people for sudden cardiac death in the U.S., 30-50 thousand people/year in Taiwan, and more than 1000 people/day in mainland China. In general, patients with sudden death can be successfully recovered about 90% of the time if the rescue occurs within a minute. But it could result in death if patients are comatose more than 6 minutes. It would be very useful to lifesaving to use mHealth technology to assist the early detection and real-time message notification for patients suffering from sudden cardiac death. In this study, a prototype of a mobile healthcare system is developed for monitoring the old people suffering from sudden cardiac death (SCD) from indoor and outdoor environments. This system uses a wireless chest-belt Electrocardiogram (ECG) sensor worn by the patient, analyses the user's vital signals by using a smartphone and uploads vital data to the cloud server over wireless networks. When abnormal patterns of vital signals are identified, the patient's smartphone performs immediately transmits information to the caregiver's smartphone or tablet computer, and provides monitor alerts, message notification, patient's location. CPR teaching, and the nearest AED locations.