Article

TERVA: system for long-term monitoring of wellness at home.

VTT Information Technology, Tampere, Finland.
Telemedicine and e-Health (impact factor: 1.42). 02/2001; 7(1):61-72. DOI:10.1089/153056201300093958
Source: PubMed

ABSTRACT Long-term monitoring of physiological and psychosocial variables in out-hospital conditions would be beneficial for investigating changes in wellness status of an individual or to understand interaction between physiological and behavioral processes. We aimed to design a personal wellness monitoring system (TERVA), which would allow monitoring of wellness-related variables at home for several weeks or even months. The designed TERVA system runs on a laptop computer and interfaces with different measurement devices through a serial interface. Measured variables include beat-to-beat heart rate, motor activity, blood pressure, weight, body temperature, respiration, ballistocardiography, movements, and sleep stages. In addition, self-assessments of daily well-being and activities are stored by keeping a behavioral diary. To test the system, one healthy man used the system for 10 weeks. The system was successfully applied in out-hospital conditions. The success rate of the measurements was 70-91%, depending on the variable under consideration. The pilot study indicated that the recorded data accurately reflected the health status of the subject. The TERVA system provides a method to record and investigate wellness-related data over several weeks, or even months, outside the hospital among subjects capable of using a personal computer. Several applications of the system are discussed.

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Keywords

behavioral diary
 
behavioral processes
 
blood pressure
 
body temperature
 
designed TERVA system runs
 
different measurement devices
 
healthy man
 
laptop computer
 
Long-term monitoring
 
motor activity
 
out-hospital conditions
 
personal wellness monitoring system
 
psychosocial variables
 
recorded data
 
serial interface
 
subjects capable
 
TERVA system
 
wellness status
 
wellness-related data
 
wellness-related variables
 

I Korhonen