 Engineered
care:
A partnership for smart health care solutions
The University of Calgary and the Calgary Health Region
have announced a partnership to research and develop new concepts
and technologies
that will improve patient care and create safer health care
environments with a new generation of wireless medical devices that
will eventually
be “built in” to the region’s new South Health Campus.
 This unique
partnership between frontline health care workers and electrical and
computer engineers at the University of
Calgary’s
newly created Calgary Centre for Engineered Care vaults the
University and region into the forefront of health care technology.
“New techniques and devices created by these teams will have a direct impact
on patient safety,” said Dr. John Conly, regional clinical department head
of medicine, Calgary Health Region and the U of C’s Faculty of Medicine. “Innovations
such as systems and sensors capable of real-time monitoring of vital signs and
movement, on-demand drug delivery systems and continuous blood and fluid analysis
will be built into the region’s South Health Campus and future health care
facilities.”
The Calgary
Centre for Engineered Care brings together a multi-disciplinary team
of researchers from science, engineering and medicine. The centre
was
created
to help facilitate their work and accelerate collaboration between the University
and region.
“This
area of research is truly exciting, considering the potential benefits
to the partners and the patients,” said Dr. Josh Leon, head
of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the U
of C’s Schulich School
of Engineering. “Improving quality of life for Albertans, demonstrating
research leadership and creating potential commercial spin-offs are all positives
that will come from this partnership.” New technologies
include:
- a smart
band-aid or wireless temperature system, which is placed
on the patient’s
temple to continuously monitor the patient’s body temperature and send
the information wirelessly in real time to the nursing station;
- a sensor
that continuously measures patient heart rate and blood oxygenation
sending the
data wirelessly to the nursing station;
- remote sensors
that promote healing as well as read and transfer information on blood
characteristics
to computers, which analyze the information in
real time;
- “smart” bed sensors that trigger an alarm at a nursing station when
a patient moves outside of a programmed space to alert the health care team when
a patient may be in danger of falling;
- “micro-machined” needles that deliver medications or extract fluids
by precisely penetrating the skin above the layer of nerve endings, eliminating
the painful insertion of traditional “hollow” needles.
As the
new technologies are further developed, they will be thoroughly tested
on the Medical Ward of the 21st Century, Unit 36 at the Foothills
Medical
Centre.
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