Improving Patient Quality of Life with Smartphone Technology

This document is a case study that outlines a collaborative project between the Jeroen Bosch Hospital and the Technical University of Eindhoven aimed at improving the quality of life for patients with intermittent claudication (IC) using smartphone technology. The study identifies the challenges associated with diagnosing IC, particularly the difficulty in distinguishing its symptoms from other pathologies. It presents a solution involving the use of a smartphone accelerometer to measure disease-specific changes in gait patterns of IC patients. The JBZetje app facilitates remote supervised walking therapy, allowing patients to report pain during walking tests conducted in their daily environments. The data collected, including tri-axial acceleration and patient-reported symptoms, enhances the monitoring of gait patterns and supports better diagnosis and follow-up care. The study concludes that the app demonstrates potential for clinical applicability, suggesting that gait measurements could be integrated with algorithms for predicting treatment outcomes and enabling telemedicine solutions for IC patients.