Researchers from Eindhoven University of Technology (TU / e) and the Catharina Hospital have developed a camera that continuously and automatically monitors patients. The smart camera spots subtle changes in the face or chest that could indicate potential complications, so doctors and nurses can intervene in time. “The camera is a godsend for monitoring patients in the nursing ward,” says Arthur Bouwman, anesthesiologist at Catharina Hospital. The camera will be further developed and clinically tested in the coming years.
Suppose you are a heart or cancer patient and you have undergone surgery. If the procedure is successful, and you no longer need to stay in the intensive care unit or the medium-care unit, you will usually be transferred to a regular nursing unit for further recovery.
You are not continuously monitored there. Nevertheless, it is important that doctors and nurses keep an eye on whether complications arise. That is why in most hospitals someone comes to your bed every six to ten hours to take your heart rate and check your breathing.
Well arranged, you would say. But the time between those checks is quite long, with the risk that something will happen in the meantime. Moreover, the check-ups are quite annoying, especially when you are sleeping. How nice would it be if there is a system that you can permanently monitor remotely, without being bothered by it?
Smart room
Researchers at TU / e and the Catharina Hospital in Eindhoven think they have found the solution: an intelligent camera that constantly checks your heart rate and breathing, and signals doctors and nurses when something is wrong.
The researchers think this will reduce complications and unexpected deaths, of which approximately 40 percent takes place in a normal nursing ward.
“The camera works on the basis of artificial intelligence,” says Saint Zinger, associate professor at the Department of Electrical Engineering and specialized in medical image analysis. “The camera 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, which could indicate possible complications. ”
From lab to hospital
The camera has been extensively tested in the laboratory in recent years. “This showed that a smart camera can measure vital data, such as heart rate, breathing, temperature and the amount of oxygen in the blood, remotely. And with machine learning we can then also interpret that data, ”explains Zinger.
The FORSEE smart camera uses so-called remote photoplethysmography (rPPG). This optical technology measures the patient’s heart rate, and indirectly the respiration and oxygen saturation of the patient, by detecting volume changes in the blood in the small blood vessels under the skin through a camera.
“To see whether the camera also works in a clinical environment, we are going to conduct an experiment in the IC department of Catharina. 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 he is not yet familiar with, for example when there is less light or when a patient turns his face away. ”
Anonymous pixels
For those who are not immediately impressed by the idea that there is a camera next to the bed, Zinger emphasizes that the privacy of the patient is paramount. For example, the participants in the study give explicit permission and there is also a button on each camera with which the patient can switch off the device, if he or she wants to.
“Moreover, the patients are not recognizable on the recordings. Anonymous pixels are enough for the algorithms we use, ”says the researcher. Zinger also knows from experience that many patients have no problem with CCTV at all, because they also see the benefits.
Benefits for the patient
The Catharina Hospital also sees major advantages for the smart camera. “Our hospital specializes in cardiovascular diseases and also treats many cancer patients. It is very important for that group that they are closely monitored. Complications can adversely affect recovery and in some cases even be fatal. Timely intervention is therefore of great importance, ”says anesthetist Arthur Bouwman.
In addition, a camera is less stressful than regular checks with an electrocardiogram, in which the patient is attached electrodes 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 Bouwman.
The doctor expects that the camera can mainly be used in nursing wards. “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 ”.
False alarm
The first results of the study are expected in the summer of 2021. In the end it works FORSEEproject, 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 last five years.
The researchers also look at the effect of the cameras on the patients. Do they like the cameras or not? And on the nurses. For example, it is investigated whether the cameras are easy to use and do not give false alarms too often.
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.
More information about the FORSEE project in this YouTubemovie.
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