“Thanks to the Biosensing laboratories, within a few years it will no longer be necessary to take blood samples for analysis, but the application of a simple bracelet will be enough to measure blood sugar, electrolytes, sodium, potassium and bnp for heart failure, with the data that will be transmitted remotely in real time directly to an operations center “. He affirmed it Antonio Cittadini, full professor of Internal Medicine at the Department of Translational Medical Sciences of the Federico II University of Naples, as part of the conference “Internal Medicine 4.0”, which brought together 70 specialists from all over Italy in Naples. “With professor Paolo Netti and the Crib we are developing at Federico II laboratories that use the latest generation biosensors through systems already available – adds Cittadini – in order to perform most of the tests thanks to sensors that are applied to the skin, without the need for needles and blood samples. All this, for example, to intervene in the treatment of heart failure. This also demonstrates the centrality of the role of Internal Medicine for the treatment of most diseases. For twenty years we have been working on a subgroup of patients suffering from heart failure and hormonal deficiencies and we have discovered that, by intervening with specific treatments on hormonal deficiencies, the progression of the disease is prevented and the heart condition is also improved “.
“A lot is being done in Naples in the field of research applied to health care and in the training of young people and doctors – he assures Maria Triassipresident of the School of Medicine and Surgery of the Federico II University – and Internal Medicine 4.0 above all means synergy between new technologies and human relationship with the patient, through the use of telemedicine and sensors that help the doctor, but can never replace him ” .
“The change in the world of health and healthcare passes through innovation and digitization – he says Vincenzo Santagada, Councilor for Health of the Municipality of Naples – and making the data “walk” allows patients to be in constant contact with health facilities and operators. But health workers 4.0 are also needed and it is right to focus on training. Furthermore, I am convinced that the discussion on the electronic health record should also be accelerated ”.
Per Annamaria Colao, president of the Italian Society of Endocrinology, “in Europe there is an increase in obesity which is accompanied by a worrying increase in internal diseases. These are two aspects that go hand in hand and in Campania the problem is amplified, because the region is the black jersey for childhood obesity. Prevention strategies need to be improved to block most of the deadly pathologies that obesity brings with it ”.
Per Nicola Montano, elected president of the Italian Society of Internal Medicine, technology remains “a fundamental tool, which even the pandemic has allowed us to carry forward in an important way, advancing with its use. But technology applied to medicine must be used as a tool and not as an end “.
Andrea Biancopresident of the Italian Association of Preventive and Rehabilitative Cardiology, speaks instead of living well: “Cardiological rehabilitation focuses a lot on the treatment of heart failure because we have found that patients have greater advantage from rehabilitation cycles, for them the mortality rate is lowered and above all they live better”.