Remote monitoring and prognosis of the development of atherosclerotic plaque based on IoT and Cloud Computing

Our goal in this paper is to explore the innovative applications of the Internet of Things and Cloud Computing in the intelligent analysis of human health related data. The targeted application is the remote monitoring of the development and progression of atherosclerotic plaque in the coronary aortas of the heart muscle using small, wearable, sensors based on the Doppler shift effect and the use of electromagnetic/optical signaling. The innovative element of our approach is that we propose to monitor the progression of the atherosclerotic plaque, which gradually leads to more and more narrowing in the arteries at the point of deposition of the atheromatous material, by measuring the volume of the aorta as well as the blood flow rate. Arterial volume and blood flow measurements are captured by specialized sensors as well as wearable IoT devices and are communicated to Cloud-based applications for processing and intelligent analysis. Remote monitoring of patients can result in early detection of atherosclerosis as well as provide a channel for accumulating (anonymously) large volumes of health-related data which can help professionals and policy makers in improving health care.