Development of an online database system for remote monitoring of artificial heart patient

An online database system for remote monitoring of artificial heart patient has been developed. It is important for the patient with artificial heart implant to be discharged from the hospital after proper stabilization period for better and fast recovery and quality of life. The patients with artificial heart or mechanical circulatory support device are currently discharged after 1-2 months of hospitalization period. But, reliable and practical continuous remote monitoring systems for this kind of patients with life support device are still under study. The authors have developed a database system for this purpose that consists of a portable monitoring terminal, a database for continuous recording of patient and device status, and a web-based data access system with which the clinicians can access the real-time registering of patient data and past history data as well. The system has been tested with data generation emulators installed on remote sites for simulation study and in 2 cases of actual animal experiment conducted at remote facilities. The system showed acceptable functionality and reliability. The results are expected to be a good base for practical use of the system. A machine intelligence based automatic data analysis module is to be included for better practicality.