From Heart Failure to Kidney Disease, Patients with Chronic Conditions Will Automatically Inform Their Healthcare Provider About Treatment Efficacy.
BodiGuide Inc. announced a new technology capable of continuously measuring leg edema and quantifying fluid retention has been developed by the company. The device represents a breakthrough in wearable technology, allowing for the accurate measurement of a new physiological parameter that is critical in the management of chronic diseases such as heart or kidney failure.
A Primary Indicator of Human Health
The need to measure and evaluate fluid retention permeates the healthcare industry. Edema is produced by an accumulation of fluid in the intercellular tissue that results from an abnormal expansion in interstitial fluid volume, often in your feet, legs, and ankles. Leg swelling produced by retention of fluid in leg tissue is known as peripheral edema and is an important sign associated with many medical conditions.
In current clinical practice, assessment of edema and response to treatment remains highly subjective with healthcare providers relying on a combination of multiple parameters such as physical examination, blood chemistries, and patient reported weight change which often produce discordant information. A single physical edema assessment performed periodically in the clinic may not accurately represent the patient’s actual fluid status. BodiGuide’s new technology provides a means to continuously measure edema in real-time and to provide an objective assessment of the patient’s condition, which can be used as a basis for clinical interventions.
Edema is associated with many health conditions ranging from medication side effects, pregnancy, venous insufficiency, lymphedema, sleep apnea, migraines, infection, and joint surgery to underlying chronic diseases such as heart failure, kidney disease, and cirrhosis of the liver.
Currently there is no commercially available method of accurately measuring and monitoring peripheral edema. And the efficacy of treating the underlying cause of fluid retention could be dramatically improved through the use of BodiGuide’s new wearable device; an anklet that is specifically designed to directly measure and record the most important indicator of fluid imbalance, leg edema.
Dr. Marat Fudim, Advanced Heart Failure Specialist and Cardiologist at the Duke University Medical Center said, “In the field of heart failure, I see the BodiGuide Anklet as a very promising technology. Physicians across specialties taking care of patients with heart failure need a reliable way to monitor the efficacy of prescribed treatments such as diuretics but also other guideline-directed medical therapy, and quantification of leg edema is likely the most direct method of achieving that goal.”
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Until now, the problem in developing an effective and reliable measure of fluid retention has been the discomfort, inaccuracy, cost, or inconvenience imposed upon the patient to proactively take a daily measurement, a requirement that leads to low adherence. Among other problems, recent attempts do not measure leg edema directly but rather use multiparameter indices or surrogate markers. To effectively quantify fluid retention in the patient setting, the wearable device must be an accurate, continuous, direct measurement of ankle circumference that is comfortable, automated, unobtrusive, affordable, and worry-free for the patient.
BodiGuide’s technology could potentially revolutionize the effectiveness of healthcare providers by enabling access to vital physiological information. Clinical decisions regarding the type and dosing of prescribed medication must take into consideration various factors. Currently, these decisions are made by the clinical care team periodically during in-person or virtual clinical interactions based on limited or insufficient information.
Because it is a low cost, simple, direct method of measuring the efficacy of therapies and treatments, the BodiGuide Anklet is a healthcare innovation that can be implemented both effectively and at scale. It meets the universal need to secure positive benefits for health systems and patients, without the attendant costs and risks of disruption.
About BodiGuide Inc.
BodiGuide Inc.—a developer of biosensors, monitoring systems and wearable measurement devices—is committed to improving the efficacy of therapies and treatments using simple, accurate and reliable technology. The company provides patient-monitoring tools and technologies to transform the effectiveness of healthcare providers by enabling access to vital physiological information. The BodiGuide Anklet is a breakthrough wearable technology, that continuously measures leg edema, a new physiological parameter that will transform the management of acute and chronic conditions. For more information, visit: https://www.bodiguide.com/
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