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Review
. 2020 Nov;43(11):1232-1239.
doi: 10.1002/clc.23469. Epub 2020 Oct 8.

On-demand mobile health infrastructures to allow comprehensive remote atrial fibrillation and risk factor management through teleconsultation

Astrid N L Hermans, Rachel M J van der Velden, Monika Gawalko  1 , Dominique V M Verhaert  1   2 , Lien Desteghe  3   4   5 , David Duncker  6 , Martin Manninger  7 , Hein Heidbuchel  5 , Ron Pisters  8 , Martin Hemels  2   8 , Laurent Pison  9 , Afzal Sohaib  10   11 , Arian Sultan  12 , Daniel Steven  12 , Petra Wijtvliet  13 , Robert Tieleman  13 , Dhiraj Gupta  14 , Dobromir Dobrev  15 , Emma Svennberg  16 , Harry J G M Crijns  1 , Nikki A H A Pluymaekers  1 , Jeroen M Hendriks  17   18 , Dominik Linz  1   2   17   19 ; TeleCheck-AF investigators
Affiliations
Review

On-demand mobile health infrastructures to allow comprehensive remote atrial fibrillation and risk factor management through teleconsultation

Astrid N L Hermans et al. Clin Cardiol. 2020 Nov.

Abstract

Background: Although novel teleconsultation solutions can deliver remote situations that are relatively similar to face-to-face interaction, remote assessment of heart rate and rhythm as well as risk factors remains challenging in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF).

Hypothesis: Mobile health (mHealth) solutions can support remote AF management.

Methods: Herein, we discuss available mHealth tools and strategies on how to incorporate the remote assessment of heart rate, rhythm and risk factors to allow comprehensive AF management through teleconsultation.

Results: Particularly, in the light of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, there is decreased capacity to see patients in the outpatient clinic and mHealth has become an important component of many AF outpatient clinics. Several validated mHealth solutions are available for remote heart rate and rhythm monitoring as well as for risk factor assessment. mHealth technologies can be used for (semi-)continuous longitudinal monitoring or for short-term on-demand monitoring, dependent on the respective requirements and clinical scenarios. As a possible solution to improve remote AF care through teleconsultation, we introduce the on-demand TeleCheck-AF mHealth approach that allows remote app-based assessment of heart rate and rhythm around teleconsultations, which has been developed and implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe.

Conclusion: Large scale international mHealth projects, such as TeleCheck-AF, will provide insight into the additional value and potential limitations of mHealth strategies to remotely manage AF patients. Such mHealth infrastructures may be well suited within an integrated AF-clinic, which may require redesign of practice and reform of health care systems.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that there is no conflicts of interests.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Remote heart rate and rhythm monitoring: (semi‐)continuous longitudinal vs on‐demand
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Different mobile health devices
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Intermittent short‐term monitoring for longitudinal risk factor assessment. The blue boxes indicate periods of intermittent short‐term monitoring before scheduled teleconsultations
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Remote heart rate, rhythm and risk factor assessment by the use of mobile health solutions through teleconsultation
FIGURE 5
FIGURE 5
The TeleCheck‐AF project
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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