22nd Annual Undergraduate Research Opportunities (UROC) Research Conference Poster Session University of Arizona – SUMC – August 7, 2017

CATS: A Mobile Application for Cardiac Surgery Patients Using the Cardiopulmonary Ambulatory Tolerance Score

Anh Tuan Dao, Computer Science undergraduate student was given the opportunity to present one of many research projects being conducted in the Computer Science Department. The research is aimed at providing doctors and the medical community with the means needed to reduce the number of patients who are readmitted following a hospital discharge. Hospital readmission is commonly utilized as a clinical outcome measure by hospitals and insurance companies and is becoming an increasing concern. Doctors need clear tools that will allow them to decide which patients are safe to be discharged without risk for readmission. Scoring systems that predict patients with high risk for readmission are essential for reducing readmissions. The study that Anh conducted this summer examines the Cardiopulmonary Ambulatory Tolerance Score scoring system developed by the University of Arizona’s Cardiac Surgery Department for cardiac surgery patients and implements the system as an android application. The application has the capabilities to measure movement distance, heart rate and oxygen saturation using a smartwatch and a pulse oximeter as additional peripherals.

As an undergraduate student with his eye on graduate school, Anh feels that presenting at the UROC conference was an important and valuable experience. He describes his conference experience as “an excellent opportunity for me to present my research to the public as well as to learn more about the research of other researchers from multiple disciplines. I was able to convey the details and the significance of my research to the audience and respond critically to my colleagues’ research. The amazing support that the UROC-PREP/STAR program provided has allowed me to learn graduate-level research writing and develop communication skills to articulate my research not only to academics and professionals in the field but also to a general audience.” Anh would like to thank department faculty and Shravan for their advice and guidance in the research, Dr. Huerta, Dr. Reynolds, and his peers in UROC for their support throughout the entire program.