An internet-based system for home monitoring of respiratory muscle disorders

Home telemonitoring is of great interest in respiratory medicine where large numbers of people have long term conditions. We developed a telemedicine instrument for home monitoring of patients with disturbed respiratory muscles. The instrument measures the maximum inspiratory pressure (Pimax), the inspiratory time constant (τ_i) and connects to the Internet through TCP/IP protocol. The instrument was evaluated by means of a comparative analysis in 18 normal individuals and 15 COPD patients. In close agreement with the pathophysiology, a reduction in Pimax (p<;0.0001) and an increase in τ_i (p<;0.001) was observed in COPD patients. We concluded that the developed system could be a useful tool for the evaluation of inspiratory muscle and for the implementation of telemedicine services, contributing to reduce the costs of the assistance offered to patients with respiratory diseases.