Mobile Apps in Cardiology: Review

BackgroundCardiovascular diseases are the deadliest diseases worldwide, with 17.3 million deaths in 2008 alone. Among them, heart-related deaths are of the utmost relevance; a fact easily proven by the 7.25 million deaths caused by ischemic heart disease alone in that year. The latest advances in sm...

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Main Authors: Martínez-Pérez, Borja, de la Torre-Díez, Isabel, López-Coronado, Miguel, Herreros-González, Jesús
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: JMIR Publications 2013-07-01
Series:JMIR mHealth and uHealth
Online Access:http://mhealth.jmir.org/2013/2/e15/
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author Martínez-Pérez, Borja
de la Torre-Díez, Isabel
López-Coronado, Miguel
Herreros-González, Jesús
author_facet Martínez-Pérez, Borja
de la Torre-Díez, Isabel
López-Coronado, Miguel
Herreros-González, Jesús
author_sort Martínez-Pérez, Borja
collection DOAJ
description BackgroundCardiovascular diseases are the deadliest diseases worldwide, with 17.3 million deaths in 2008 alone. Among them, heart-related deaths are of the utmost relevance; a fact easily proven by the 7.25 million deaths caused by ischemic heart disease alone in that year. The latest advances in smartphones and mHealth have been used in the creation of thousands of medical apps related to cardiology, which can help to reduce these mortality rates. ObjectiveThe aim of this paper is to study the literature on mobile systems and applications currently available, as well as the existing apps related to cardiology from the leading app stores and to then classify the results to see what is available and what is missing, focusing particularly on commercial apps. MethodsTwo reviews have been developed. One is a literature review of mobile systems and applications, retrieved from several databases and systems such as Scopus, PubMed, IEEE Xplore, and Web of Knowledge. The other is a review of mobile apps in the leading app stores, Google play for Android and Apple’s App Store for iOS. ResultsSearch queries up to May 2013 located 406 papers and 710 apps related to cardiology and heart disease. The most researched section in the literature associated with cardiology is related to mobile heart (and vital signs) monitoring systems and the methods involved in the classification of heart signs in order to detect abnormal functions. Other systems with a significant number of papers are mobile cardiac rehabilitation systems, blood pressure measurement, and systems for the detection of heart failure. The majority of apps for cardiology are heart monitors and medical calculators. Other categories with a high number of apps are those for ECG education and interpretation, cardiology news and journals, blood pressure tracking, heart rate monitoring using an external device, and CPR instruction. There are very few guides on cardiac rehabilitation and apps for the management of the cardiac condition, and there were no apps that assist people who have undergone a heart transplant. ConclusionsThe distribution of work in the field of cardiology apps is considerably disproportionate. Whereas some systems have significant research and apps are available, other important systems lack such research and lack apps, even though the contribution they could provide is significant.
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spelling doaj.art-50b5553ffaa840d59c394456797266382022-12-21T23:21:24ZengJMIR PublicationsJMIR mHealth and uHealth2291-52222013-07-0112e1510.2196/mhealth.2737Mobile Apps in Cardiology: ReviewMartínez-Pérez, Borjade la Torre-Díez, IsabelLópez-Coronado, MiguelHerreros-González, JesúsBackgroundCardiovascular diseases are the deadliest diseases worldwide, with 17.3 million deaths in 2008 alone. Among them, heart-related deaths are of the utmost relevance; a fact easily proven by the 7.25 million deaths caused by ischemic heart disease alone in that year. The latest advances in smartphones and mHealth have been used in the creation of thousands of medical apps related to cardiology, which can help to reduce these mortality rates. ObjectiveThe aim of this paper is to study the literature on mobile systems and applications currently available, as well as the existing apps related to cardiology from the leading app stores and to then classify the results to see what is available and what is missing, focusing particularly on commercial apps. MethodsTwo reviews have been developed. One is a literature review of mobile systems and applications, retrieved from several databases and systems such as Scopus, PubMed, IEEE Xplore, and Web of Knowledge. The other is a review of mobile apps in the leading app stores, Google play for Android and Apple’s App Store for iOS. ResultsSearch queries up to May 2013 located 406 papers and 710 apps related to cardiology and heart disease. The most researched section in the literature associated with cardiology is related to mobile heart (and vital signs) monitoring systems and the methods involved in the classification of heart signs in order to detect abnormal functions. Other systems with a significant number of papers are mobile cardiac rehabilitation systems, blood pressure measurement, and systems for the detection of heart failure. The majority of apps for cardiology are heart monitors and medical calculators. Other categories with a high number of apps are those for ECG education and interpretation, cardiology news and journals, blood pressure tracking, heart rate monitoring using an external device, and CPR instruction. There are very few guides on cardiac rehabilitation and apps for the management of the cardiac condition, and there were no apps that assist people who have undergone a heart transplant. ConclusionsThe distribution of work in the field of cardiology apps is considerably disproportionate. Whereas some systems have significant research and apps are available, other important systems lack such research and lack apps, even though the contribution they could provide is significant.http://mhealth.jmir.org/2013/2/e15/
spellingShingle Martínez-Pérez, Borja
de la Torre-Díez, Isabel
López-Coronado, Miguel
Herreros-González, Jesús
Mobile Apps in Cardiology: Review
JMIR mHealth and uHealth
title Mobile Apps in Cardiology: Review
title_full Mobile Apps in Cardiology: Review
title_fullStr Mobile Apps in Cardiology: Review
title_full_unstemmed Mobile Apps in Cardiology: Review
title_short Mobile Apps in Cardiology: Review
title_sort mobile apps in cardiology review
url http://mhealth.jmir.org/2013/2/e15/
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