Teleassistance for remote home oxygen monitoring in neonates
Santiago Murillo-Rendón, Isabel C. Echeverri-Ocampo, Carolina Márquez-Narváez, Fernando Arango-Gómez, Belarmino Segura Giraldo, Camilo Salgado Jiménez, Oscar Julián López-UribeObjectives
To evaluate the feasibility and clinical impact of an IoT-based teleassistance system for remote monitoring of preterm neonates receiving home oxygen therapy.
Methods
A historically controlled cohort study was conducted in Manizales, Colombia, with three phases: (1) baseline data collection from neonates receiving traditional follow-up (n=32), (2) development of an Internet of Things (IoT)-based teleassistance system integrating physiological monitoring, cloud storage, and mobile applications, and (3) pilot testing in a prospective intervention cohort (n=25). The primary outcome was the duration of home oxygen therapy.
Results
Median duration of home oxygen therapy was reduced from 34 days (IQR 25–46) in the control group to 10 days (IQR 7–17) in the intervention group (p<0.001). Reliable communication was achieved through 4G and Wi-Fi, while LoRa performance was limited by geographic constraints.
Conclusions
IoT-based teleassistance was associated with a reduction in the duration of home oxygen therapy in preterm neonates and demonstrated feasibility for remote monitoring in resource-limited settings.