Future advances in mobile integration of implanted devices for cardiac care

Cardiovascular disease remains the major cause of mortality and morbidity in the industrialised world despite significant progress in prevention and treatment. Modern cardiology increasingly depends on measurement of physiological parameters within the cardiovascular system, ranging from non-invasive measurements such as ECG complexes, heart rate, and blood pressure, to invasive measurements of intra-cardiac pressures, cardiac output, blood gas tensions or biochemical assay of circulating blood including pH, potassium, glucose, lactate and others. This paper addresses major future advances in mobile integration of implantable devices for cardiac care, and highlights new research opportunities in biomedical informatics.