Mobile Health (short formmHealth) is an emergingand fast-growing sector

that brings mobile communicationsand life sciences together. mHealthcan and will support the health sectorin a way that allocates resourcesmore efficiently and may potentiallysave the NHS billions of pounds. IMIHealth AG has developed technologyusing mobile communications and isa first mover in the area of wellnessmanagement conducted in a user-friendly manner and at your fingertips.

When Dr Lingg, who founded IMIHealth AG, worked at Seva SanghSamiti Hospital in the Sunderbans,West Bengal, India, he saw daily linesof people waiting to obtain medicalsupport some of whom had urgentneeds and others who were perfectlyhealthy. That is when he developedthe idea of using a mobile device tocapture and analyse basic vital signsthereby permitting the user to monitorthe state of their health as well asgiving medical professionals theopportunity to achieve fast and effective access to relevant data –wherever and whenever. This was themoment when the vision of IMI andLingg was born – long before anybodyused the expression mHealth.

“We want to monitor people’s healthand not treat diseases – that is thejob of doctors and other specialists.”With this mission statement Linggclearly defines the IMI approach thathe refers to as ‘salutogenic’, incontrast to the ‘pathogenic’ approachthat prevails in the Western world.Prevention is also cheaper than treat-ment as the economic side of thisalternative view to health. On theother hand IMI delivers a reliable toolfor doctors to supervise patients andbe able to conduct remote checks.

The mHealth solution and the conceptThe formula for the IMI mHealth solution is:

Concept + Hardware + Software = inte-grated and interactive mHealth service

ConceptBased on the principle that wellnessand health is individual and that anyinfluencing factor on the humansystem must be verifiable in its effect,IMI believes in the power of open,integrated systems. Open for smartapproaches and applications (apps)and thus open for improvementsthrough the input of users. Theempowerment of people to be able totake conscious decisions about whatthey should eat, what they could doto improve their wellbeing and whothey want to participate is a ‘Health2.0’ approach according to Lingg.

HardwareIMI can offer mobiles (see Fig. 1) or tablet PCs as all-in-one devices,separate devices as an add-on formobiles with Bluetooth connection or, provide the technology for thirdparties to white label their products.

SoftwareIMI owns mobile and server-basedsoftware that is secure, patented andable to be connected to most commonoperating systems and browsers. Data

protection in this environment ismandatory and may be provided tomilitary standard if required.

Integrated mHealthThe concept of the IMI mHealthframework is integrated to build aperfect quality control loop that isopen enough to have permanentupgrades through applicationproviders, users and experts from all over the world (see Fig. 2).

The concept is also integrated in theholistic idea that the human body is a complex system and everythingpeople do has an impact whetherthey want to lose weight, improve theirshape or optimise nutrition. Thesepoints are all just single aspects of aperson living in our so-called ‘highlydeveloped’ civilization. But losingweight could make some people sickand training too hard could over-burden the heart. This is why the IMIsolution monitors these aspects andpeople can function in a balancedway, taking care of their metabolismand cardiovascular requirements.

The loop: From measurementto data captureTo be able to test all different impactson the human system, a measurementpoint is needed that:■ Can be used instantly and in

any environment;

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…enabling wellness management at your fingertips…

mHealth innovative technology…

Public Service Review: Health and Social Care: issue 30

Fig. 1

■ Functions for all users in the same way;

■ Has an immediate response toevery impact on the human body.

The cardiovascular and the autonomousnervous systems of the human bodyare sending instant signals about ourwellbeing. IMI has found a way tointerpret those signals utilising itspatented algorithm. That is why IMIdeveloped a device that can be inte-grated in every mobile phone usingfour sensors on the back that can beequally applied from the fingertips orthe breast. The measurement are ofone channel ECG, pulse and bloodoxygen that calculates and reportsblood pressure, the status of metabo-lism and the autonomous nervoussystem with special focus on stresslevels (see Fig. 3).

After a measurement, that can beconducted daily and takes twominutes 20 seconds, the result willbe shown immediately on the deviceand – whenever connectivity to theinternet is possible – also in apersonal user area online. Based on

that spot check, advice can be givenon optimal nutrition and cardio work-outs. There is also a special sportapplication available that shows anoptimal training guide. Well-recog-nised and approved databases likeNutri-Find and WikiFood are used tobuild up a detailed nutritional diary,containing recipes and other usefulsources of information. The comparisonof advice given and what actuallyhappened will enable the software tomake an analysis. There are alreadysome precious ‘pearls’ with regard toapps and databases that are availablein the mHealth sector, dealing withspecific aspects of wellness andhealth. IMI has developed a string tobe able to integrate those develop-ments and hence be able to providea ‘string of pearls’ together with theloop. Eventually, all the captured andstored data will provide valuableinformation, both demographicallyand geographically, on a global basis.

Appealing graphics and an easilycomprehensible menu structure onthe mobile phone and internetaccount makes the IMI Healthproduct a discrete and viablecompanion in daily life.

The user area is programmed toprovide a white label solution andcan be branded and adopted formany purposes by institutions and companies.

Protected private sphereData protection is mandatory for thecapture, storage and use of personalhealth data. The user area is ‘https’-

based and leaves it up to the user, ifhe/she wishes to be the single user intheir account or grant access to theGP, partner or even share the experi-ences and discoveries in socialcommunities. All data is stored on the server in a way that every user is identified through a personal ID.Personal data to identify the user andthe collected and stored informationis retained in two separate databases.An assignment is only possiblethrough the ID and access to personaldata is specifically protected.

SummaryThe integrated and interactive mHealth service provided by IMIHealth AG technology facilitates:■ Remote monitoring;

■ Self-empowerment;

■ Secure data storage for mediumand long-term analysis;

■ A large range of supporting mHealth applications;

■ A range of differing hardwaredevices;

■ A built-in and effective controlsystem.

In a world in which people are living longer, the available medicalresource, with the inherent cost, isbeing stretched to breaking point. It isvital that mobile communications areused to monitor people remotely. IMIHealth AG has developed technologyfrom a vision to make this a reality.

Remote monitoring together with theaccurate evaluation of the collecteddata creates wellness management at your fingertips.

Leslie WagstaffeChief Executive Officer

IMI Health AGFelbaweg 109494 SchaanLichtenstein

Tel: +423 230 3060

leslie.wagstaffe@imi-health.comwww.imi-health.com

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Fig. 3

Fig. 2