Project Lead(s): Ayeesha Kamal
Issue
The reported lifetime prevalence of stroke symptoms in Pakistan is about 19%, with an estimated seven million people affected.
Chronic conditions, such as stroke, can result in catastrophically high healthcare expenditures that push vulnerable families below the poverty line.
Despite these challenges, there is potential to leverage mobile technology to improve chronic disease outcomes, as Pakistan has widespread mobile connectivity, with a cellular density of 77% and over 137 million mobile users.
Solution
This highly innovative project involved developing a glove that would make the wearer cognizant of the main risk factors for stroke.
The device would measure blood pressure, glucose, cholesterol and heart rate. In addition, the glove would be linked to a mobile phone to provide an intelligent readout of results (visual and audio) to the user.
The leather glove has photodiodes, pressure and EKG sensors, integrated with a central circuit. The photodiode sensors gather lipid and glucose information and the EKG sensor collects EKG signals, while the pressure sensor measures systolic and diastolic blood pressure.
The measurements are readable by patients in the form of colour codes that tell them whether they are at low, high or moderate risk, regardless of numeracy and literacy skills.
Proof of concept involved examining the usability of the glove to identify risk factors, as well as to identify the decision-making approach in response to these risk factors.
A sample of three Pakistani families with about 20 volunteers was chosen for testing.
This sample was comprised of healthy volunteers and patients suffering from non-communicable diseases, who were familiar with the concept of the glove and had verbally consented to testing.
One glove per family was provided, along with an Android phone with the mobile app installed for the glove.
In addition to the initial teaching session, two 24-hour help lines were established.
All subjects recorded their daily measurements in the glove, which was retrieved electronically from the glove database. All subjects who showed abnormal values were interviewed for any symptoms and were further referred by the study physician.
Outcome
In total, there were 110 measurements made by 11 participants (four male, seven female), ranging in age from 24 to 75 years.
Using measurements obtained from the glove, it was possible to identify subjects with hypertension, atrial fibrillation and pre-diabetes.
Feedback from users indicated use of the glove made them feel more informed and involved in disease management.
Knowledge from the project has been disseminated in conferences and publications.
The project team plans to apply for Phase II Transition To Scale funding, as further validation of the prototype is required in community settings.
Additional funding for the project was received from the University Research Council, Aga Khan University ($15,000 US) and Baylor College of Medicine, U.S.A. ($35,000 US).