Karunanithi Mohanraj
e-Health Research Centre, CSIRO ICT Centre, Adelaide Street, Brisbane, QLD 4000, Australia.
Expert Rev Med Devices. 2007 Mar;4(2):267-77. doi: 10.1586/17434440.4.2.267.
In view of the current demographic change in the aging population and its impact on changing the health system towards community care, this review focuses on monitoring technology for elderly patients. In particular, the focus is on wearable monitoring technology and its integration into telehealth systems. In review of the available commercial wearable monitoring technologies, their form factor, sensing methods and application for the purpose of monitoring elderly patients for ongoing care are discussed. At the same time, advances in research regarding how to overcome the limitations of commercial wearable monitoring devices are reviewed. Issues of usability, functionality, human interaction and social factors, and ethical considerations in the application of wearable monitoring and telehealth technologies for elderly patients are outlined. Some of the initiatives taken to address these issues are also discussed and some suggestions are made. Finally, the review looks at the anticipated benefits of the application of wearable monitoring and telehealth technologies from an elderly patient, clinician or carer and healthcare system point of view. Expert opinion of what strategies need to be used to enhance the use and uptake of these technologies and what future directions are anticipated are expressed. In conclusion, available wearable monitoring technologies and its integration into teleheath systems are currently limited for application on elderly patients. There are many issues of standardization, design and ethical considerations that need to be addressed before advances can be made with these technologies so that these patients can be remotely monitored and provided with a better quality of care.
鉴于当前人口老龄化的人口结构变化及其对卫生系统向社区护理转变的影响，本综述聚焦于老年患者的监测技术。特别是，重点关注可穿戴监测技术及其与远程医疗系统的整合。在回顾现有的商用可穿戴监测技术时，讨论了它们的外形、传感方法以及用于持续护理老年患者监测目的的应用。同时，回顾了关于如何克服商用可穿戴监测设备局限性的研究进展。概述了可穿戴监测和远程医疗技术在老年患者应用中的可用性、功能、人际互动和社会因素以及伦理考量等问题。还讨论了为解决这些问题所采取的一些举措并提出了一些建议。最后，本综述从老年患者、临床医生或护理人员以及医疗保健系统的角度审视了可穿戴监测和远程医疗技术应用的预期益处。表达了关于需要采用何种策略来加强这些技术的使用和推广以及预期未来发展方向的专家意见。总之，现有的可穿戴监测技术及其与远程医疗系统的整合目前在老年患者中的应用有限。在这些技术取得进展之前，有许多标准化、设计和伦理考量问题需要解决，以便能够对这些患者进行远程监测并提供更高质量的护理。
