Brittany Harrison1, Lily Stern2, Philip Chung2, Mozziyar Etemadi2, Dillon Kwiat2, Shuvo Roy2, Michael R Harrison2, Marcelo Martinez-Ferro3. 1. University of California, San Francisco, 500 Parnassus Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94143, United States. Electronic address: Brittany.harrison@ucsf.edu. 2. University of California, San Francisco, 500 Parnassus Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94143, United States. 3. Hospital Privado de Niños Fundación Hospitalaria, Cramer 4601, Capital Federal (C1429AKK), Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Patient compliance is a crucial determinant of outcomes in treatments involving medical braces, such as dynamic compression therapy for pectus carinatum (PC). We performed a pilot study to assess a novel, wireless, real-time monitoring system (MyPectus) to address noncompliance. METHODS: Eight patients (10-16years old) with moderately severe PC deformities underwent bracing. Each patient received a data logger device inserted in the compression brace to sense temperature and pressure. The data were transmitted via Bluetooth 4.0 to an iOS smartphone app, then synced to cloud-based storage, and presented to the clinician on a web-based dashboard. Patients received points for brace usage on the app throughout the 4-week study, and completed a survey to capture patient-reported usage patterns. RESULTS: In all 8 patients, the data logger sensed and recorded data, which connected through all MyPectus system components. There were occasional lapses in data collection because of technical difficulties, such as limited storage capacity. Patients reported positive feedback regarding points. CONCLUSIONS: The components of the MyPectus system recorded, stored, and provided data to patients and clinicians. The MyPectus system will inform clinicians about issues related to noncompliance: discrepancy between patient-reported and sensor-reported data regarding brace usage; real-time, actionable information; and patient motivation.
BACKGROUND:Patient compliance is a crucial determinant of outcomes in treatments involving medical braces, such as dynamic compression therapy for pectus carinatum (PC). We performed a pilot study to assess a novel, wireless, real-time monitoring system (MyPectus) to address noncompliance. METHODS: Eight patients (10-16years old) with moderately severe PC deformities underwent bracing. Each patient received a data logger device inserted in the compression brace to sense temperature and pressure. The data were transmitted via Bluetooth 4.0 to an iOS smartphone app, then synced to cloud-based storage, and presented to the clinician on a web-based dashboard. Patients received points for brace usage on the app throughout the 4-week study, and completed a survey to capture patient-reported usage patterns. RESULTS: In all 8 patients, the data logger sensed and recorded data, which connected through all MyPectus system components. There were occasional lapses in data collection because of technical difficulties, such as limited storage capacity. Patients reported positive feedback regarding points. CONCLUSIONS: The components of the MyPectus system recorded, stored, and provided data to patients and clinicians. The MyPectus system will inform clinicians about issues related to noncompliance: discrepancy between patient-reported and sensor-reported data regarding brace usage; real-time, actionable information; and patient motivation.