New remote monitoring app being trialled in UK hospitals

A new digital-based invention with the potential to significantly cut the amount of time children need to stay in hospital while saving the NHS millions of pounds is being trialled at Great Ormond Street, Royal Manchester Children's Hospital and Newcastle General hospital.

Aparito's system combines wearable technology and a smart phone app that facilitates the capture of vital patient information at home and in real time, allowing doctors to monitor the development of diseases remotely without the need for invasive, hospital-based tests.

According to the PR, aparito is able to record "much more valuable data than is possible to gather from patients being monitored while in hospital," and it can also provide "a realistic insight into the severity and impact of the disease on day-to-day life, unseen before".

"Tracking the development of rare diseases can be very time consuming and invasive for our patients who are all children," noted Dr Paul Gissen from Great Ormond Street.

"Our trial with the aparito device will hopefully not only give us more detailed data about their illness, allowing us to better manage their care, but also give parents and the children a greater sense of freedom and involvement in monitoring their own conditions."

The device, which was developed by former children's nurse Dr Elin Haf Davies Phd, the founder of aparito, is now up for an international Eyeforpharma award.

"To be shortlisted for this award is incredibly rewarding for us. We are a small company in Wales and this really puts us up there with all the big players in the field," said Dr Davies. "This confirms that our approach to provide passive monitoring that will identify clinically meaningful patient outcomes resonates at all levels."