Remote Monitoring System

Cardiac Arrhythmia, which is an abnormal heart rhythm, has been known to the medical world for a long time. Normally, the heart beats 60-100 times per minute, but a faster heart rhythm can be triggered by exercise or emotion such as getting excited, frightened, etc. Symptoms of arrhythmia include palpitation, dizziness and fainting due to a fast or slow heart rate. Arrhythmia can occur in men and women of all ages. Example, if left untreated atrial fibrillation for a long time, it may lead to paralysis or heart failure which is life-threatening and difficult to treat, with patients unlikely to recover their full health and quality of life. These conditions may be caused by internal factors, such as age-related degeneration; mineral imbalances; structural heart disease (as congenital heart defects, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, acute myocardial infarction, etc.), Brugada syndrome; hypothyroidism; thyrotoxicosis; and genetic factors in some cases.

External factors include excessive stress, hard work, lack of sleep, and alcohol consumption. At present, a lot of people suffer from arrhythmia and chronic heart failure. In some cases, they require an implantable device, such as a pacemaker, automatic intracardiac defibrillator or cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillator. Patients with an implantable device are required to have it regularly checked every 3-6 months, depending on the type of device, to check whether it is still functioning properly. The devices have to be checked for malfunctions, such as frequent shocks or numerous false alarms.

In the past, when a patient had a problem, the doctor would not know what had happened until the patient arrived at the hospital. However, with the current Carelink Network, the patients receive remote monitoring services. The Carelink Network is a communication center for patients with implanted heart devices allowing doctors in-charge to provide monitoring via cellular signals. All data is stored securely in a database. At present, there are more than 100,000 patients using the remote monitoring services to communicate with their doctors. The data can be transmitted from home or anywhere at any time.

1. It reduces time burden for patients from hospital visits.
2. It is a convenient and cost-effective solution for data transmission.
3. It makes patients feel safe – like having specialists with him at all times.

From our experiences, it has been revealed that the remote monitoring systems notice us by sending a remote alarm to the doctor in-charge prior to a crisis developing. In one case, the implanted device sent a remote alarm to the doctor indicating a pulmonary edema when no warning symptoms were present. Upon receipt of the alarm, the doctor telephoned the patient to increase medication dosage so as to prevent the pulmonary edema and subsequent heart failure. This Carelink Network system reduced the time burden for this patient by decreased hospitalization due to heart failure.

Although some factors that influence the development of the arrhythmia cannot be controlled, exercise, a healthy diet, sufficient sleep, and a stress free life can prevent and reduce arrhythmia conditions.

Please take care of your heart because it works hard for you.