A home remote mobile monitoring system for long-term oxygen therapy for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease management

Clinicians lack in robust continuous measurements on important aspects of prescribed home long-term oxygen therapy (LTOT) for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) such as the usage and the wellbeing of the patient whilst using the machine. Consequently, it is challenging to objectively determine if LTOT is beneficial for the patient but also to recognize whether a hospital readmission is likely attributable to physical or psychological changes. This paper presents a solution to this unmet need by designing and conceptually creating a remote system prototype that continuously records the oxygen flow rate, oxygen saturations, physical activity, sleep quality, the risk of a pulmonary exacerbation and the level of anxiety and depression to a secured database that can be accessed remotely from a smartphone. The importance of the proposed system is to further understand the effect of LTOT in the patient's routine but also to lay the foundation for personalized LTOT.