Digital Health and Possible Solutions to Improve the Care in the Field of Nephrology.

Abstract

Digital health is an area that emerges from the association between health needs and technological solutions. With the growing access of people to the internet and the ease of acquiring equipment that allows internet connection, we are observing an exponential increase in the strategies that use technology to connect patients and healthcare providers. Telenephrology is a channel of communication that facilitates the access to the nephrologist for both primary care physicians and patients and has been implemented in several countries. Applications for smartphones are frequently used by both patients and healthcare providers, and these tools are changing the way we practice nephrology and medicine in general. Social networks emerge as an important way of communicating between healthcare professionals and patients and a source of connection for people with the same interests. Artificial intelligence, big data, and other technological solutions, including wearable devices that measure and monitor different health parameters, are revolutionizing healthcare and the field of nephrology. Implantable devices are in development, including devices to monitor electrolytes in dialysis patients, systems to track medication intake, wearables to monitor exercises, monitoring of blood pressure, heart rate, arrhythmia, and peripheral oxy-hemoglobin saturation, among others. The wearable artificial kidney, a device which would perform renal function during ambulation and social activities outside of the hospital, has been under investigation for many years. In this chapter, we highlight the most recent advances in digital health applied to nephrology.