부산대학교 도서관

Neuropathic pain is a difficult condition to treat and would require reliable biomarkers to personalise and optimise treatments. To date, pain levels are mostly measured with subjective scales, but research has shown that electroencephalography (EEG) and heart rate variability (HRV) can be linked to those levels. Internet of Things technology could allow embedding EEG and HRV in easy-to-use systems that patients can use at home in their daily life. We have developed a system for home monitoring that includes a portable EEG device, a tablet application to guide patients through imaginary motor tasks while recording EEG, a wearable HRV sensor and a mobile phone app to report pain levels. We are using this system in a clinical study involving 15 spinal cord injury patients for one month. Preliminary results show that relevant data are being collected, with inter and intra-patients variability for both HRV and pain levels, and that the mobile phone app is perceived as usable, of good quality and useful. However, because of its complexity, the system requires some effort from patients, is sometimes unreliable and the collected EEG signals are not always of the desired quality.