SMCa: a mobile cardiac monitoring system

Abstract

Cardiovascular illnesses continue to be one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Numerous prevention campaigns have been developed, especially those focusing on a healthy diet, a comfortable environment, and frequent physical activity, as recommended by the World Health Organization in its March 2013 report. Thus, a large share of the responsibility falls under the aegis of self-care. Colombia, from the year 2008 in particular, has used visual, written, and multimedia platforms to spread information about this public health problem. The telemedicine research group of the Universidad Militar Nueva Granada is developing applications which promote the use of information and communication technology for health self-care. This article considers an application, named SMCa, for the mobile device So Adroid v.4, which permits the user to measure, record, and communicate heart rate measurements. The study looked at three groups of five volunteers each. One group had a normal BMI of under 25, the second group had an overweight BMI from 25.1 to 30, and the third group had a BMI of over 30, indicating obesity. The experiment protocol took place in three one-hour stages: in a gym, in a classroom, and at home. The results obtained validate two important aspects of the use of information and communication technology in healthcare: first, the support for the results from an experimental database through a high data correlation (at the gym r=0.91 (p<0.05), in class r=0.95 (p<0.05) and r=0.92 (p<0.05), and second, the system's acceptability to the users, who found it to be both comfortable and easy to use.