Technological advances within digital medicine

Abstract

Abstract Contemporary advances within digital medicine have gradually changed the landscape of healthcare and biomedical research. Over decades, significant innovations have been witnessed in various aspects of digital medicine, including mobile health (mHealth) applications, telehealth, wearable healthcare technologies, and robotics. mHealth technology utilized artificial intelligence to mitigate the two major barriers for cardiac health promotion: (i)\xa0global deficit of healthcare professionals and (ii) ever-growing cost of healthcare services. mHealth applications have been used in preventative, diagnostic, and therapeutic aspects of medicine. Smartphone-based EKG and “pocket” echocardiography are two pioneering examples in diagnostic cardiology. Wearable technologies rely on implemented sensors to monitor for an array of physiologic parameters, such as vital signs, cardiac electrical activity, and physical activity metrics (e.g., steps count and energy expenditure). Fitness trackers and smartwatches, the most popular and commercially available wearable devices, solely play preventative role via self-quantifying of health metrics. To the contrary, other wearables are enabled to deploy therapeutic interventions—such as the wearable cardioverter defibrillator which can provide a life-saving shock in cases of dysrhythmias. Finally, advances in robotics and robotic-assisted interventions (e.g., percutaneous coronary interventions, peripheral vascular interventions, and catheter-based ablation of arrhythmias) have enhanced procedural accuracy, improved quality of clinical outcomes, and minimized occupational hazards associated with interventional cardiology.