Isansys Lifecare Ltd, the provider of complete real-time physiological patient data services and systems, announces the results of a pilot collaborative study, with UCL Hepatology and supported by UCL-Business, based on its Lifetouch device, a new-generation wireless vital signs 'smart bandage' cardiac monitor.
The pilot study at the Royal Free Hospital in London, demonstrated the use of the Lifetouch to assess heart rate variability (HRV) remotely on patients admitted to hospital suffering with an acute deterioration of advanced cirrhosis. Doctors from The Institute for Liver and Digestive Health (University College London) then correlated the data with the severity of the disease and inflammation.
The study, presented in a paper at the International Liver Congress 2014, supported the hypothesis of the UCL team, that reduced HRV monitored remotely with the Lifetouch, could identify patients with increased inflammation and more advanced disease, and those likely to present with acute decompensation of the liver.
The proof of concept study carried out by Mr Devnandan Chatterjee, Dr Raj Mookerjee and Professor Rajiv Jalan highlighted that hospital readmission from inter-current illness is common in advanced cirrhosis. It concluded that community monitoring of these patients could facilitate early problem recognition and subsequent early intervention.
Dr Mookerjee, Clinical Senior Lecturer in the Institute for the Liver and Digestive Health at University College London leading this research project, said: "HRV, deemed a gold standard tool to characterise autonomic dysfunction, is widely reported in cirrhosis and correlates with prognosis. Currently, early warning indicators of change in liver clinical status are lacking, and intervention is only enacted when the patient presents to hospital with advanced disease, and inevitably poor outcome. This study has shown that continuous monitoring of patients with simple information-based technology could facilitate early problem recognition and intervention.
"Continuous remote monitoring of patients with advanced liver disease in the community could help reduce the number of hospital readmissions for these patients and deaths from the disease."
Keith Errey, Isansys CEO said "We are pleased to have been able to contribute to this important and ground-breaking work at the Royal Free Hospital. The Lifetouch is a key component in Isansys' continuous wireless multiple vital sign data acquisition and analysis platform, the Patient Status Engine in use in several NHS hospitals. The Patient Status Engine is currently being upgraded and extended to provide for greater mobility and community based early interventions that will effectively allow critical care pathways to be extended beyond the hospital walls. We look forward to continuing the work with the UCL team on the next full-scale demonstrator phase of this vital project."