Mesothelioma Study Using Fitbit to Monitor Patient Recovery

Millions of Americans use Fitbit devices to track their daily activities, exercise and sleep patterns. But a student intern at the Pacific Heart, Lung & Blood Institute (PHLBI) in California is using the popular fitness tracker for a different purpose — as a tool to measure postsurgery recovery for mesothelioma patients. Blair Kimble, a third-year undergraduate student at UCLA, is leading the latest clinical research project for the Pacific Mesothelioma Center (PCM), a division of PHLBI. Kimble is working closely with mesothelioma surgeon Dr. Robert Cameron, the scientific advisor at PHLBI. The study investigates some of first quantitative measures of postoperative mesothelioma patient recovery using Fitbit wristbands to collect data about a patient’s walking habits, heart rate and sleep patterns before and after surgery. “Using their data from before surgery as a baseline for their activity, we are then able to track how quickly they return to that normal baseline after surgery,” Kimble wrote in a PHLBI blog post explaining the study. The overall goal of the project is to use the Fitbit devices to motivate patients to return to presurgery physical activity levels, according to Dr. Raymond Wong, PHLBI lead researcher and head of the intern program. “This could ultimately result in shorter hospital stays on average and the use of Fitbit trackers as standard postsurgery monitoring,” Wong told Asbestos.com. Patient Recovery Is Under Investigated As mesothe...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Tags: Blair Kimble cancer immunotherapy research cryotherapy Dr. Raymond Wong Dr. Robert Cameron Dr. Steven Ching extrapleural pneumonectomy fitbit fitbit cancer recovery heated intraperitoneal chemotherapy Loyola Marymount University meso Source Type: news