How custom smartwatches can help detect condition in cancer survivors

08.10.2024 17:30

NBC4i.com

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) - New clinical testing from Ohio State's James Cancer Hospital is detecting a condition that is seen in patients, specifically cancer survivors.

Researchers at The James are testing out custom smartwatches to find early signs of lymphedema. The condition, which can be painful for patients, deals with fluid build up and causes swelling, usually in the arms or legs. According to Dr. Carlo Contreras, a surgical oncologist who's leading the trial, patients who have underwent surgery or radiation for cancer are at the highest risk of lymphedema.

"Usually, its treatment that's targeted lymph nodes in the armpit area or the groin," Contreras said. "This type of swelling doesn't show up instantly but slowly starts to manifest years after that treatment is complete. If it's not caught early and it keeps getting worse, it can get to the point where you can't reverse it anymore. It can be painful and it can change your quality of life."

The Project Limb Rescue trial is a new way to detect lymphedema with the user-friendly and inexpensive monitoring for patients at risk or who have been diagnosed with the condition. Patients in the study will wear the custom smartwatch that will collect data using adhesive-based sensors to pick up on those early signs, according to Contreras.

"One of our goals was to bring this back to the patients and to find a noninvasive, convenient way that patients could assess for their own arm swelling overtime at home," Contreras said.

When early signs of lymphedema are detected, it can help avoid or alleviate any issues including painful swelling, while educating patients on what is happening and finding the best ways to treat it. Teresa Lau, a breast cancer survivor, was recently diagnosed with cancer. Lau underwent surgery where 24 lymph nodes were removed and she went through radiation therapy. After treatment, she was sent to physical therapy where she was starting to show signs of lymphedema. Now, Lau is one of the patients in this new trial.

Breast cancer survivor Teresa Lau is examined for signs of lymphedema by breast oncology clinical nurse specialist Lynne Brophy at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center—Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute Stefanie Spielman Comprehensive Breast Center. Brophy is a co-investigator on a clinical trial that uses smartwatch technology to detect early signs of lymphedema swelling that affects millions of cancer survivors.
Surgical oncologist Carlo Contreras, MD, is leading a clinical trial at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center—Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute that uses a smartwatch to measure fluid levels in the arm and detect lymphedema, severe swelling that is common among cancer survivors who had lymph nodes removed.

"I think it's a great thing they are developing," Lau said. "If you live two hours away and you think your arm is feeling different ... you can put on these smartwatches and the doctor can actually read it and say "oh yeah, there's something going on here."

According to The James, the condition can be treated with exercise, compression garments, lymphatic drainage massages and pneumatic pumps that can cause fluid to move throughout the tissue and reduce the swelling, but there isn't a cure and therapy could be inconvenient for some patients.

For more on study and if you want to participate, follow this link.