Wearable Electronic Systems: Applications to Medical Diagnostics/Monitoring

The combination of an ageing population and the increase in chronic disease has greatly escalated health costs. It has been estimated that up to 75% of healthcare spending is on chronic disease management (mainly cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and obesity) (World Health Organization 2010). It is now widely recognised that there is a need to radically change the present Healthcare systems, historically based on costly hospital-centred acute care, and make them more appropriate for the continuous home-based management of chronic diseases. The goals of the new approach are the improved management of the chronic disease through encouraging lifestyle changes and the effective early detection and treatment of any problem before it necessitates costly emergency intervention.