Abstract
Direct home BP telemonitoring can eliminate the not always reliable BP values reported by the patient due to intentional or unintentional transcription errors. The presented telemedicine system transfers data directly, without any patient interaction, from a BP measuring device (BPMD) via a Bluetooth interface and sends them to a telemedicine server.
Measurements can be sent either directly using a Intel Compute Stick mini-PC or indirectly via a mobile phone application that uses Apple HealthKit as an intermediate storage. The web logbook is based on ESH standardised logbook transferred to Excel.
This enables an easy calculation of the average BP across several days. A chart and table with a daytime BP profile partially mimics 24-h ambulatory BP monitoring (ABPM).
The patient's logbook is accessible to both the patient and the physician via a web application. It can be also generated as a pdf and sent to the physician by email, alternatively it can be printed.
Moreover, the proposed system offers direct information about the detection of an irregular heartbeat rhythm during a BP measurement that can be easily distinguished in the logbook. Using the latest HL7 standard, the FHIR, the measurements can be directlysent to a hospital information system.
This may help in the early detection of asymptomatic atrial fibrillation and in the prevention of its serious complications.