Q&A: Eva Geurts on getting heart patients on their bikes

What is the value of a cycling app for heart patients?

Physical activity through a training programme is important for heart patients, especially to avoid a relapse. Cycling is a popular outdoor sport that people can do wherever and whenever they want. Many heart patients, however, are afraid to cycle outside of the rehabilitation centre, where the medical staff provides assistance when patients cycle on home trainers. Patients often also lack the motivation to get started. The cycling app has to provide the necessary guidance to make sure that the patients can enjoy themselves on a bike.

How will the app put heart patients at ease?

By inserting the specific data of each patient, the app will be able to tell them, for example, when they should slow down because their heart rate is near to the maximum that is allowed by their doctors. If they ride with electric bicycles, the app can warn them to start up the motor to relax more and slow down their heart rate.

Also, an important feature to motivate patients is that the app will help them follow the recreational cycling routes in Limburg, where it is pleasant to ride. Patients only need a heart rate monitor and a smartphone to get going.

Will the app also be to the benefit of hospitals?

Since the number of heart patients will keep on increasing, due to the ageing population, hospitals are looking for ways to assist patients from a distance. The app will enable medical staff to monitor their condition and training programme by sending them all the data of the cycling trip. The medical specialists can then, for example, evaluate whether the training programme is adapted to the patients’ needs or should be adjusted.

When will the cycling app be commercially launched?

Experts at the Jessa hospital in Hasselt, with whom I cooperated for my Master’s thesis, are now fine-tuning the prototype of the app. They are carrying out tests on heart patients in the coming months and hopefully the app will be available on the market soon after.