MO1054: Development of Home Dialysis Patient Support System Using Cloud System II––Addition of Exercise Therapy Function
Authors: Okawa Akiko , Kobayashi Natsumi , Sekine Yuki , Umeda Tokuo 
Published: May 2022

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

The number of patients requiring home dialysis in Japan is increasing due to COVID-19 and the aging of the population. Home haemodialysis has been performed in Japan since the 1960s. However,  as of March 2019, there were 720 home haemodialysis patients in Japan, which is only 0.2% of the total number of dialysis patients. The possible causes are as follows.

The number of home haemodialysis patients has not increased markedly due to safety concerns as home haemodialysis patients perform dialysis at home, and the out-of-pocket costs are high. In addition, patients and caregivers must be able to manage themselves, and the burden on both patients and caregivers is heavy. Therefore, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (Japan) has advocated the need for home patients to share information with medical institutions to improve their quality of life, including COVID-19 measures. We have built a system to support home dialysis patients. Here, we have added an exercise therapy function to this system to encourage patients to continue exercising.

METHOD

The items recorded/displayed in the patient's home peritoneal dialysis support system included records such as time, blood pressure, blood glucose level, urine volume, meal content, replacement start time, dialysate/plasma ratio, drainage volume, injection volume, water content and water removal and drainage. These inputs were entered via drop-down menus and displayed visually in graphs or by uploading images. The medical staff could see photographs of the affected areas and of meals entered by the patient. Patients could also share their opinions and treatment schedules with the medical staff at the medical institution. In addition, when exercising, the patients used an ergometer that allowed them to sit or lie down. The developed system incorporates records of the patient's exercises. Data were captured directly from the ergometer into the developed system in CSV format and could also be entered manually via drop-down menus.

RESULTS

Using the developed system, we were able to enter and view patients’ vital data and display photographs showing the color and volume of the drainage pack. By viewing these photographs, the medical staff could confirm the photographs of the affected areas, the color of the packs and the contents of the patients’ meals. In addition, displaying the patient's vital records in a graph allowed for visual evaluation over time, which was useful when giving advice to patients. Using the two-way communication function, patients were also able to share their opinions and treatment schedules with the medical staff of the medical institution. Patients can now consult with medical staff, making their homes more like part of the hospital and giving them greater peace of mind.

Figure 1 shows an example of the display of the developed system. Figure 2 shows an example of the patient's pedaling exercise results input from the ergometer. The amount of pedal movement performed by the patient was conserved through the dynamo and used to charge mobile devices. This allows the patient to charge their mobile devices while exercising, thus encouraging them to continue exercising.

CONCLUSION

We have developed a support system for home haemodialysis patients that allows the input and display of patients’ vital records and consultation with medical staff online. We have added a function to the system to encourage home haemodialysis patients to continue exercising. By using the developed system, patients can now perform home dialysis, including continuous exercise safely and with peace of mind, and healthcare professionals can access all medical information of patients, including changes over time.

This research was supported in part by Gakushin Kaken (JP18K19710, JP20H03982).