Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death worldwide, accounting for about 17 million deaths per year. Cardiovascular rehabilitation (CVR) is therefore crucial for prevention, with data showing a 20% decrease in mortality.
However, after completing hospital care, patients often lose enthusiasm and interest in improving their lifestyles. For this reason, the CUOREMA project aims to develop an innovative and personalized mobile health system, to increase adherence to post-hospital cardiovascular rehabilitation.
The CUOREMA application, currently under observational study at Malcantonese Hospital (OSCAM) and Centre Hospitalier de Corbie (France), integrates data from wearable devices —allowing patients to autonomously and automatically record their physiological parameters, activities, and training sessions—and provides bio-behavioral, motivational, and personalized feedback based on the user's profile and the data collected.
This supports continuous progress and the achievement of CVR goals, also through interaction with virtual coaches who offer suggestions and advice based on Swiss and European rehabilitation guidelines. In addition, the app provides cardiologists with a more efficient and structured tool to monitor patients' health and progress, aiming to improve both quality of life and health outcomes.
“The solution we developed required strong multidisciplinarity and personalization,” explains Francesca Faraci, head of the Biomedical Signal Processing (BSP) group, “with the development of a personalized and adaptable behavioral model based on AI algorithms.”
Various data types are used as information sources: those collected via sensorized shirts, as well as questionnaires and contextual information obtained through a chatbot. This way, statistical and causal modeling algorithms are able to create highly personalized behavioral profiles.
Radoslava Švihrová, Ph.D. student, points out: “Over time, user needs may change, requiring continuous updates and adaptations of the initially created model. Significant changes and results are communicated to the user (biofeedback), explaining the (causal) relationships and their impact on lifestyle.”
The project, funded by the Eurostars program and the State Secretariat for Education, Research, and Innovation (SERI), involves partners from academia, clinic, and industry: the Malcantonese Hospital, the companies My MHealth (UK), Game Solution Lab (NL), ALFAGAMMA (CH), and L.I.F.E. (IT).