NEW DELHI

AIIMS develops new app to monitor heart patients

aiims-delhi-suicide (File) AIIMS campus | Agencies

The app, developed by doctors at the cardiology department at AIIMS, works on any smartphone

To combat the rising rate of heart failure in India, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has developed a new smartphone application called Dhadkan. The app, developed by doctors at the cardiology department at AIIMS, works on any smartphone. It collects data on blood pressure, heart rate and weight, and transmits it to a registered nurse or doctor, once a week.

In an article published in the current issue of the Journal of the Practice of Cardiovascular Sciences, Dr Sandeep Seth, additional professor, Cardio-Thoracic Sciences Centre at AIIMS, states that all one needs to do is to download the free app from Google Play, and register. An authorized caregiver—a nurse or a doctor or a paramedic—will also have to register. "Once a week, the patient will enter the blood pressure, heart rate and weight. Once he or she saves the information, it is transmitted to the caregiver in the form of a simple SMS. If the patient does not carry a smartphone, we encourage children to help," says Dr Seth in his article.

The app is a significant development in field of cardiology as heart failure affects about 8-10 million people in India, according to estimates. 25 per cent of the world's coronary heart patients (with 16 per cent of the global population) are from India. Coronary heart disease is estimated to be the leading cause of mortality by 2020.

According to Dr Seth, a third of patients admitted for heart failure are likely to get re-admitted or pass away in the next three to six months. This app will allow doctors to "telemonitor" these patients after discharge, and be alerted to "blood pressure fluctuations, heart rate fluctuations, or an increase in weight". 

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Topics : #AIIMS

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