Minimal or No Touch Electrocardiography Recording and Remote Heart Rhythm Monitoring during COVID-19 Pandemic Era

Abstract

At the end of year 2019, the world faced an outbreak of a highly virulent novel Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), which changed the way physicians, including cardiologists, do their routine clinical practice. As distance limitation and efficient use of personal protective devices must be employed to prevent the pandemic spreading, even simple electrocardiogram (ECG) taking that involves directly placing electrode leads on a patient’s body may become riskier. This review will discuss the possibility of minimal or no touch EKG using the latest wireless technologies, beneficial in monitoring COVID-19 patients for cardiovascular problems or patients who seek cardiac care, but with posing risk of concomitant COVID-19.

Keywords

• COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, physical distancing, electrocardiogram, heart rhythm monitoring