Innovation of Remote Vital Signs Monitoring and Telemedicine Systems Using Internet of Things for Rural Health Care

The emergence of the COVID 19 pandemic called the attention of the public to the challenges that the healthcare system in the Philippines needs to overcome. Rural and remote areas that have geographical disadvantages were also affected due to limited access to healthcare services during the implementation of lockdown in the country. This paper focuses on the developed remote vital sign monitoring and telemedicine system called PaglauM. It is a device that measures a person’s heart and pulse rate, blood oxygen saturation, body temperature, heart rhythm, and heart’s electrical activity and comes with an application that can be used to monitor the user’s vitals and access telemedicine services. This study involved 30 participants for the testing and evaluation of PaglauM compared to available medical devices. The results of the conducted test showed promising output in delivering pre- diagnosis of health. With the use of PaglauM, rural areas that struggle in providing health care because of limited health care facilities and geographical disadvantages can be helped by this cost-effective vital monitoring device that implements the use of telemedicine, providing a way for rural areas to connect to tertiary hospitals regardless of their distance.