A novel device for self-acquisition of ECG signal in telemedicine systems for chronic patients

The increasing diffusion of chronic diseases represents a challenge for the health systems that have to deal with rising costs caused by the large number of patients. The ICT-enabled telemedicine systems represent a promising solution to provide effective treatments, to reduce hospitalizations and related costs and to improve the patients' quality of life. These systems allow to monitor the clinical status of the patients through self-measured vital signs. The electrocardiogram (ECG) represents one of the most practiced clinical exams in the treatment of chronic patients, but ECG devices currently known for medical purpose are difficult to be used by non-skilled persons, and they are definitively not suitable for such telemedicine systems. This paper introduces a user-friendly and ergonomic device conceived to be used autonomously by the patient to record high quality ECGs. The device acquires the first lead of the ECG from the patient's hands exploiting dry metal electrodes. The device requires few basic actions to be operated and can transmit collected data via Bluetooth connectivity. The developed dedicated API makes also possible an easy integration of the device into telemedicine systems.