The future of heart failure telemonitoring

We have developed a device with an optical sensor which automatically monitors heart patients in the home. Why is this useful?

After a heart failure admission, patients are typically discharged from hospital and, on returning home, are asked to monitor their symptoms, notably their weight, on a daily basis. Many of these patients are not able to keep up with this monitoring regime, and a great number of them end up back in hospital when, with more consistent monitoring, they could have remained comfortably in their homes.

As our device doesn't require any input from the patients, data can be collected consistently and more accurately than the current routine of patients weighing themselves. For the doctors, this consistent stream of good quality data means patients should be able to live longer, healthier lives, and avoid hospital re-admissions.

The device can be easily installed in the patient's home and will track the foot volume of the patient over time whenever the patient simply walks past the monitor. As leg oedema (foot swelling) is one of the main symptoms associated with the onset of a heart failure episode, it is one of the key indicators of heart health.

The data is transmitted from the device to the cloud for processing with the aim of flagging-up of significant changes in foot volume, which allows carers and medical professionals to take compensatory action. More often than not, this simply involves ensuring the correct medicines are both prescribed and taken.

For patients, our device brings a level of monitoring previously unavailable and offers the promise of avoiding unnecessary hospital re-admissions.

The Heartfelt device is being used in numerous locations around the world. If you have one installed in your home, it is important to realise that it is a medical monitoring tool, not a treatment, and it doesn't replace the care of a doctor or their medical team. Always follow your doctor's advice and report any concerns that you may have to them.

We always welcome comments from patients, their families and their healthcare professionals. If you would like to share any thoughts please write to us at [email protected]. Please note that this inbox is not monitored daily and therefore you should not use this to contact us about technical support or clinical support.

If you need an electronic copy of the instructions for use, you access it in the download section. If you require a printed copy of the instructions for use, please email [email protected] and include your device serial number (found on the back).