Press Releases

In a country where respiratory diseases are the third leading cause of death and where one in four deaths is caused by respiratory diseases, there has now appeared the SmartReab Telemonitoring System, developed by a partnership between North Lisbon Hospital Centre and the University of Lisbon Faculty of Medicine, with support from the Vodafone Portugal Foundation.

The SmartReab Telemonitoring System, introduced in the Pneumology Service of North Lisbon Hospital Centre, will make it possible to extend the monitoring of physical activity beyond the hospital environment, monitoring and safely encouraging patients to remain active in their home environment and in their community.

“According to the WHO, physical inactivity is the fourth leading risk factor with global impact, responsible for 10% of mortality. In chronic respiratory patients, physical inactivity is also a risk factor for hospitalisation and early mortality”, said Professor Cristina Bárbara, Director of the Pneumology Service of North Lisbon Hospital Centre and Director of the University Pneumology Clinic of Lisbon University’s Faculty of Medicine.

In more seriously ill respiratory patients, the SmartReab System will also help to adjust the adequacy of the levels of oxygen required for those who follow this therapy daily.

With the increase in physical activity, it is estimated that the SmartReab System will contribute in the medium and long term to:

• Encouraging a healthy lifestyle in chronic respiratory patients;
• Reducing the number of emergency episodes due to better clinical control and minimise exacerbations of respiratory disease;
• Reducing the number of hospitalisation episodes as a consequence of the reduction in emergency episodes.

“For the doctors and their teams, this telemonitoring system provides real-time, continuous data with the patient in a home and community setting. In addition to flagging abnormal occurrences, it also safely encourages increased physical activity and monitors the benefit obtained by respiratory rehabilitation programmes though the adoption of healthy living habits”, said Professor Fátima Rodrigues, Coordinator of the Respiratory Rehabilitation Unit of Pulido Valente Hospital, where the SmartReab System was developed.

The Clinical Director of North Lisbon Hospital Centre, Dr. Margarida Lucas, reflecting on of the work carried out, welcomes the clinical benefits observed in patients.

“We can say that this is a concrete example of success and innovation stemming from the partnership between the institutions involved”, said Dr. Carlos das Neves Martins, Chairman of the Board of Directors of North Lisbon Hospital Centre.

“This is another example of the successful use of modern technologies at the service of society. One of the major interests of the Vodafone Foundation is the promotion and development of technological solutions that contribute to improving the quality of life of the community and which act as a lever to develop new solutions in important areas like health”, said Mário Vaz, Chairman of the Vodafone Portugal Foundation.

To view the video presentation, go to: https://youtu.be/4Vlc4zVQHHE