Patients who are transferred to an ordinary ward after a successful operation for further recovery from ICU are no longer continuously monitored there. However, it is important that doctors and nurses report any complications that arise in good time. The smart camera can play an important role in this.
Typically, these patients have their heart rate and breathing checked every six to 10 hours in the nursing ward. Sometimes manual monitoring takes place at times that are unpleasant for the patients. For example, in the middle of the night, if the patient has to be awakened for this. In the meantime, the patient is only visited when he / she asks for it. Due to the relatively long period between controls, the risk of an unexpected complication is relatively high. The smart camera that has now been developed can take care of the continuous monitoring of those patients. “The camera is a godsend for monitoring patients in the nursing ward,” says Arthur Bouwman, anesthetist at Catharina Hospital.
Smart camera monitors vital functions
The smart camera that has been extensively tested in the lab in recent years, monitor continuously the heart rate and breathing of a patient. When something is wrong with one of these vital signs, doctors and nurses are alerted so that they can intervene immediately. The researchers think that continuous monitoring by the smart camera can reduce the number of complications and unexpected deaths, of which about 40 percent occur in the ordinary nursing ward.
“The camera works on the basis of artificial intelligence. It is aimed at the patient’s chest and face. This allows him to see precisely whether there are subtle changes in the color of your face or the movement of your chest that could indicate possible complications, ”says Sveta Zinger, associate professor at the Department of Electrical Engineering and specialized in medical image analysis.
Laboratory tests have shown that the smart camera is able to remotely measure vital functions such as heart rate, respiration, temperature and oxygen level in the blood. The interpretation of those measurement data is done with the help of machine learning. “To see whether the camera also works in a clinical environment, we are going to do an experiment in the IC department of the Catharina Hospital. Ten patients and five healthy volunteers are monitored non-stop for eight hours, combining the data from the camera with the measurement data from the IC equipment, the ‘gold standard’ when it comes to monitoring. In this way we can train the camera in situations that it is not yet familiar with, for example when there is less light or when a patient turns his face away, ”says Zinger.
Added value in the nursing ward
Catharina Hospital sees major advantages for the smart camera. The hospital treats many cancer patients and specializes in cardiovascular diseases. These are exactly the patient groups for which continuous monitoring is of great importance. Especially when they no longer have to stay in the IC or Medium Care wards.
“Complications can adversely affect recovery and in some cases even be fatal. Timely intervention is therefore of great importance. Moreover, a camera is less of a burden than regular checks with an electrocardiogram, in which the patient gets electrodes stuck to his body, or a pulse oximeter, where a clip is slid over your finger to measure the amount of oxygen in your blood. The patient can then – as far as his health permits – move normally and is not limited by cables with electrodes. Nothing is more harmful to a patient than lying still in bed, ”says anesthetist Arthur Bouwman.
It is expected that the smart camera will mainly be used in nursing wards in the future. “I don’t think the camera can ever replace classic monitoring in IC and medium care. There is too much ‘noise’ in those places for that, which disturbs the image. But we do want to test the camera for monitoring at home, ”says Bouwman.
Cameras aimed at people. This immediately raises the question about privacy. The researchers emphasize that the camera is only placed when the patient gives explicit permission for it. Patients are not recognizable on the camera images. “The algorithms that we use are only enough for anonymous pixels,” says the researcher. Patients who wish to do so can temporarily turn off the camera themselves. Naturally, the monitoring of vital functions is therefore switched off.
Extensive investigation
The use and applicability of the camera is currently under further investigation. During that research, the effect of the cameras on the patients is also examined. For example, whether or not the cameras are experienced as pleasant. But also whether they are user-friendly and the number of times a false alarm is given remains limited. It is also investigating how machine learning can help doctors and nurses interpret the vast amounts of data collected by the cameras so that they can make better clinical decisions.
The first results of that research are expected in the summer of this year. The FORSEE project, an initiative of the Eindhoven MedTech Innovation Center (e / MTIC), and subsidized by ZonMw, NWO, the Heart Foundation and the Dutch CardioVascular Alliance (DCVA), will eventually last five years.
Opening event 2021
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