The PASSiON Care Prototype – an adaptable and patient-centred clinical platform for the rehabilitation of people with chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy – was recently awarded by the Northern Regional Section of the Ordem dos Enfermeiros. The solution was developed by a multidisciplinary team bringing together INESC TEC, the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP), the Abel Salazar Institute of Biomedical Sciences (ICBAS) and the School of Health of the Polytechnic Institute of Viana do Castelo (ESS-IPVC).
Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy (CIPN) is a common neurological complication associated with neurotoxic chemotherapy (occurring in 30% to 40% of cases and, in some chemotherapy procedures, reaching 85%). It is a type of injury that affects the nerves of the hands and feet, manifesting through a set of sensory-motor symptoms such as numbness, tingling, pain, loss of proprioception or gait disturbances. In addition to impacting the quality of life and functional autonomy of patients, as well as increasing the risk of falling, this condition may even lead to the reduction or suspension of cancer treatment. Furthermore, to prevent and manage CIPN, pharmacological options are limited and no specific tools currently exist.
With this in mind and considering that responding to this condition may rely on the adoption of non-pharmacological strategies (namely physical exercise and sensorimotor training), PASSiON Care (Physical Activity, Sensoarimotor Support, and Interactive Oncology Care) was created. It is a multiplatform mobile application designed to support oncology patients with CIPN in their rehabilitation process and, simultaneously, promote fluid and secure communication with their healthcare team. “We developed a digital prototype to support the prevention and self-management of CIPN, integrating physical exercise, sensorimotor training and symptom monitoring, based on scientific evidence and user needs,” explained Marta Campos Ferreira, researcher at INESC TEC.
The solution, composed of a mobile application integrated with a wearable device, offers daily personalised training plans adjusted according to clinical assessments and continuous user feedback, as the goal is to provide a highly personalised and dynamic rehabilitation experience. Furthermore, it incorporates safety mechanisms that identify critical symptoms and suspend physical activity when necessary.
“PASSiON Care includes self-guided sensorimotor exercises to address specific deficits and records detailed health and performance metrics, improved by integration with Fitbit devices. It also features a fully integrated telemedicine system that facilitates communication between users and healthcare professionals, supported by a robust technical infrastructure based on Firebase, a modular architecture and multilingual accessibility resources,” added Marta Campos Ferreira.
The prototype was tested with 12 oncology patients at Hospital de Gaia, achieving “excellent results” in terms of usability and demonstrating its capacity to address real needs in clinical practice. “PASSiON Care represents a significant step forward in digital health solutions for CIPN, offering an adaptable, patient-centred and clinically oriented rehabilitation platform.” According to the researcher, the solution is now preparing for a larger and longer pilot implementation at the same hospital.
The solution received the 3rd Research Prize awarded by the Northern Regional Section of the Ordem dos Enfermeiros, at the 5th Scientific Meeting – Investigação em Enfermagem: Interdisciplinaridade e Inovação, held at the Instituto Português de Oncologia do Porto. The development of PASSiON Care involved a multidisciplinary team bridging engineering and health, including Duarte Lopes, master’s student in Informatics Engineering at FEUP, and Anabela Amarelo, PhD student in Nursing Sciences at ICBAS, supervised by Marta Campos Ferreira – who is also a lecturer at FEUP – and Carla Silvia Fernandes, lecturer at ESS-IPVC.
The researcher mentioned in this news piece is associated with INESC TEC and the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto
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