In brief
HealthCap is a mobile app from the startup DeepHealth that records readings from an ordinary blood pressure monitor by photographing them, then consolidates the data into chart reports that users can show their doctors at follow-up visits. It has a basic version and a paid enhanced version, and had about 1,000 users at the time of the article.
The COVID-19 pandemic has unsettled many people, but it has also drawn greater public attention to personal health. Healthcare startup DeepHealth, founded by 蔡錦輝, Associate Professor at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, focuses on health management. Its debut product, HealthCap (拍健), lets users record blood pressure monitor readings through a phone camera, making it easier for individuals and doctors to track blood pressure and prevent hidden conditions such as hypertension and stroke.
DeepHealth founder and director 蔡錦輝 said that HealthCap is a mobile app. After measuring blood pressure with an ordinary blood pressure monitor available on the market, users photograph the readings on the monitor with the app, and the data is recorded in the app. “There is no need to spend over a thousand dollars on a Bluetooth blood pressure monitor; the most ordinary monitor will do.”
Photograph Blood Pressure Readings and Get Consolidated Chart Reports
The system also consolidates each blood pressure measurement a user takes into a chart report. At follow-up appointments, users can show the report in the app directly to their doctor and quickly grasp the trend in their blood pressure. 蔡錦輝 said: “If the systolic pressure does not exceed 135, and the readings do not go up and down between morning, noon and night, blood pressure can be considered normal.” HealthCap's reading-recording function can equally be applied to medical devices other than blood pressure monitors. In fact, the paid version of the app recently added a function for recording blood glucose data. 蔡錦輝 explained that recording blood pressure monitor readings was chosen as the starting point because there had long been no systematic, low-cost way of tracking such data.
“Even if patients are very diligent and note down their blood pressure data with pen and paper, some readings may still be missed; for patients, recording blood pressure is a hassle. Doctors, on the other hand, do not mind the trouble if they will really use the data. But the problem is that at a follow-up visit, the patient has only 5 minutes with the doctor, and the doctor has no time to study the patient's blood pressure trend on the spot and then slowly work out the average.”
Majored in Statistics, Switched Midway into Healthcare
Another DeepHealth director, 葉家俊, said that applying the reading-recording technology to electronic scales would also be possible, “but some people weigh themselves every day only because they want to lose weight or are undergoing certain sports training, whereas blood pressure reflects a person's risk of cardiovascular disease and even stroke.” When users find that their blood pressure has risen recently, they can act immediately, such as by controlling their diet and exercising regularly, to slow or even prevent hypertension.
As head of a healthcare startup, 蔡錦輝 came to medicine midway: majoring in statistics at university, then pursuing a PhD in medical sciences at CUHK after graduating. “No matter how good you are at statistics, even if you become a mathematician, if you want to use your expertise to help people, you need to pick a field. I chose healthcare.” Now Associate Professor at the CUHK Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, 蔡錦輝 initially researched mainly colorectal cancer screening, joking that they “knew how to treat gastrointestinal diseases but could not actually perform endoscopies on patients”, and later turned to big data applications in healthcare.
In fact, HealthCap was conceived by 蔡錦輝 together with a star student, 朱子勤, now DeepHealth's Chief Executive Officer (CEO). 蔡錦輝 noted: “I work on blood-pressure-related research and have always wanted to collect more blood pressure data.” 朱子勤, who majored in public health, is also privately keen on computer science and data analysis and, self-taught in programming, developed a mobile app that records blood pressure data through photos, which is HealthCap. 蔡錦輝 also recruited 葉家俊, who had worked at banks and insurance companies, to help DeepHealth expand its business.
Remote Pre-Consultation Lowers the Risk of Infection
Admittedly, HealthCap's reading-recording function is hardly cutting-edge technology. “But if you obsessively stress AI (artificial intelligence), image processing and similar technologies, doctors may not even know what you are talking about.” 葉家俊 reiterated that they will not show off high technology to doctors: “What doctors want is blood pressure data and chart analysis, to make consultations easier.”
HealthCap launched in May last year, with a basic version and a paid enhanced version of the platform. Both provide blood pressure recording, but the latter additionally offers some health management information and a blood glucose recording function. The enhanced version also supports multiple people sharing one account, helping to record blood pressure changes for elderly family members.
As for the paid service, it is mainly provided to users through partner doctors and non-governmental organisations. 葉家俊 disclosed that the platform is currently used by clinics and day centres for the elderly, with about 1,000 users at present, and hopes to work with government clinics in future, “since chronic patients mostly go to government clinics.” 葉家俊 said that partner doctors can remotely review patients' blood pressure data through the back-end system before seeing follow-up patients, and arrange in advance whether to change their medication. With COVID-19 raging and clinics suddenly becoming high-risk places for infection, doctors can use the data to decide whether a patient needs to attend a follow-up as scheduled, or whether the required medication can simply be mailed.
Original article URL: https://bit.ly/32DeQ7y