510(k) Medical Device for Continuous COPD Monitoring

Continuous Remote Patient Monitoring Revolutionizes the Care of COPD Patients

Remote monitoring of COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) patients presents new opportunities for caregivers and medical professionals to deliver the best in healthcare. Due to the nature of COPD symptoms, responsiveness is crucial for addressing complications as they develop in real time. Shortness of breath due to hypoxia, elevated blood pressure spikes, and irregular sleep patterns are all complications of COPD and need to be addressed immediately to prolong a patient’s life and well-being.

Unfortunately, the limitations and risks of periodic (traditional) patient monitoring may not address these symptoms and can potentially exacerbate them. Thanks to modern technology, however, continuous remote patient monitoring (CRPM) has set new standards and created opportunities for better care for high-risk COPD patients.

In this article, we look at the limitations of traditional remote monitoring of COPD and how CPRM integrates modern technology to revolutionize healthcare for high-risk COPD patients.

The Problems with Traditional Remote Monitoring for COPD Patients

Traditional remote patient monitoring (RPM) was initially developed as part of integrating emerging technology into the medical field to augment the capabilities of “telemedicine” (also known as “telehealth”). Physicians can collect data from patients through at-home testing devices or wearable devices, enhancing the previous methods of measuring vital signs and symptoms of COPD.

However, RPM’s benefits are outweighed by significant drawbacks that may exacerbate high-risk COPD patient quality of life and the level of care that physicians can provide. A 2017 study cited the dangers of traditional remote monitoring, outlining the reasons that traditional RPM could negatively impact COPD patients, including the following:

• There could be compatibility issues between available technology at outpatient and hospitals, leading to delays in data retrieval and/or a lack of continuity among recorded data.
• There is anxiety, stress, and panic induced from over-monitoring a patient’s health through self-diagnosis. This could lead to more expensive manual follow-ups (i.e., costly ER visits and hospitalizations), as well as overburdened healthcare providers.
• There is a lack of continuous data over a patient’s long-term health timeline and consistent monitoring. With COPD, symptoms can develop and worsen in a matter of minutes, potentially leaving patients susceptible to exacerbated conditions and even death.
• There could be compliance issues resulting from discomfort, lifestyle disruption, and negligence.

How CRPM Replaces Traditional Remote Patient Monitoring

Early prediction and detection of complications for COPD patients can lead to better outcomes, empowering caregivers and patients to get ahead of complications to save lives.

CRPM fills in the gaps of traditional RPM due to leveraging the latest technology integration and design features. The benefits of CRPM set it apart from other types of telemedicine, making it a more efficient tool for the remote monitoring of COPD patients and overall health management.

CPRM addresses the limitations of traditional remote monitoring in the following ways:

• Instantaneous data access and alerts: When it comes to COPD, every second counts. Patients need a prompt response to emergencies. CRPM wearable devices, like the Oxitone 1000M, provide one-click data access and a five-level alert system that responds in real time to inform patients of developing symptoms of life-threatening conditions.
• Better patient engagement: CRPM wearables enable passive monitoring around the clock while offering easy access to patient data. This feature helps negate and identify patient compliance issues. Similarly, physicians can have accurate data that develops over a verifiable timeline, leading to better strategies for event-based decision making, including exercise, poor air quality environments, and other behaviors.
• Facilitated seamless long-term care: Physicians need an easy and timely follow-up with patients. With physicians prescribing wearable CRPM devices, there are no interruptions and gaps in data during usage.
• Cost-effectiveness: Patients who purchase CRPM devices can help lower admissions into hospitals and outpatient facilities by catching trends before they become complications, which reduces overall healthcare costs from hospitalizations, unnecessary treatments, etc.
• Peace of mind: CRPM devices generate medical-grade physiological data that patients can use for clinical decisions and overall peace of mind. With informed patients actively engaged in their healthcare through continuous monitoring, patients can monitor their overall activity and events for better health outcomes.

Oxitone Delivers the Best in Modern Continuous Remote Patient Monitoring for COPD

If you or a loved one suffers from COPD and want to take advantage of the latest advances in telemedicine, the Oxitone 1000M enables the best remote monitoring of COPD patients.

• Early detection: The Oxitone 1000M has continuous monitoring specifically designed for the prediction and early detection of complications for COPD patients.
• FDA-cleared medical device: As the first device of its kind, the Oxitone 1000M is officially approved by the Food and Drug Administration as a wearable CRPM device designed for accurate usage for high-risk COPD patients.
• Comfort and wearability: Oxitone 1000M is a wearable medical device first and foremost, differentiating its purpose from general-usage wearables, like the Apple Watch, Garmin, and others. Its elastic FlexSense™ optical aperture embraces the ulna bone and doesn’t affect a local blood flow for high medical-grade accuracy. This enhanced usability and reliability provides superior comfort and monitoring continuity for better patient compliance.
• Compatibility: Recognizing new technological trends in medical applications, patients who need to transfer data to analysis platforms can choose two methods:
  • Enable API/ Bluetooth integration.
    • Directly integrate the Oxitone 1000M device into their platform via BLE.
  • Integrate Oxitone cloud platform into their platform via secure API.
• Ease of data access: One-click real-time clinical continuous data access removes data and monitoring access complications that are present in other COPD-detection devices available on the market today.
• Intuitive alerts: The 1000M generates smart notifications that have five levels of verification before initiating an alert. It never disturbs with false or random notifications.
• Capabilities: It continuously measures:
  • SpO2
  • Pulse rate
  • Heart rate variability (physiological stress)
  • Activity
  • Skin temperature
  • Sleep apnea and disorders
  • Respiratory rate
  • Fall detection
  • Hypoxia index
  • Sleep data
  • Physiological stress
  • Behavior data
  • Clinical reports
  • Occupational health
  • Activity and stress
  • General baseline

For more information about the Oxitone 1000M, visit Oxitone’s homepage to learn more about its role in treating COPD for at-risk patients today.

Here at Oxitone, we boost value-based healthcare by delivering extraordinary patient, clinical, and economical outcomes at reduced medical utilization and cost. Patients need a prompt response to emergencies. Physicians need an easy and timely follow-up with patients. Our mission is to transform chronic disease management and help save lives worldwide.

Let’s save lives together! To see how we help remote patient monitoring companies and physicians improve the management and care of high-risk patients, contact us today!