Rationale and Scope

Traditional medical practice is based on post-event follow-up. An ailment manifests itself on a subject, the subject turns into a patient and follows-up with a clinical visit to diagnose and fix the problem. There are several problems with this approach. In certain cases continuous post-visit intervention is required for a significant period of time, potentially for life. Insulin monitoring and administration in diabetics is a relevant example. In other cases, definite diagnosis cannot happen within a short clinical visit, but days of monitoring are required. Obstructive sleep apnea is a relevant example. Yet in other cases pathological symptoms that may prompt a medical visit are never sensed by the subject until a fatal incident. Heartbeat irregularities are a relevant example. During surgical intervention, it is often the case that continuous assessment is needed. Tumor removal is a relevant example. In all these cases continuous physiological monitoring is of essence for diagnosis, intervention, and post-intervention purposes. In several other circumstances sustained physiological monitoring is necessary. Examples include psychophysiological assessments and metabolic monitoring in obesity studies. To put this in a broader perspective, pathophysiology is a dynamic process. Therefore, the “snapshot” assessment paradigm to address the problem is a total mismatch.

Sustained physiological monitoring, often in lockstep with intervention, is the way of the future. It is a noble but challenging goal, which researchers from various disciplines only now begin to address. By its own specification, sustained physiological monitoring needs to be transparent and safe – otherwise the damage incurred may outweigh the benefits. There are three ways to achieve this: non-ionizing imaging, wearable sensing, and in-body sensing. Research falling under one of these three categories has been reported in isolation in various forums and journals the last few years. This Workshop is probably the first attempt to bring everything under the same roof. The invited speakers have been chosen very carefully to cover comprehensively the subject matter and provide a unifying perspective, which is the major objective of this Workshop.

In the age of instant communication and continuously running stock tickers, the day of continuous physiological monitoring for those who need it (and even for those who apparently do not) may not be far away.