The Internet of Things for Healthcare

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The internet of things (IoT) is the interconnection via the internet of physical devices, buildings, and other items — embedded with electronics, software, sensors, actuators, and network connectivity that enable these objects to collect and exchange data. It is also a hot topic in the healthcare industry today. For example, hospitals take advantage of the technology for real-time location services with badges that can track patients, staff, and medical devices along with asset management. Such assets include infusion pumps, wheelchairs, defibrillators, scales and other items that employees tend to tuck into out-of-sight corners yet are needed frequently for treating patients. In addition to real-time location services, IoT devices also help with environmental monitoring such as checking the temperatures of refrigerators or hand hygiene compliance. Sensors can also be deployed to track how often spaces are used.

Companies like Kaa (www.kaaproject.org) have created an open-source IoT platform which allows original equipment manufacturers and healthcare system integrators to establish cross-device connectivity and implement smart features into medical devices and related software systems.

Take My Temperature Dr. McCoy!

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ThermaDock for iPhoneWith the Medisana ThermoDock® a healthcare provider is one step closer to having a medical toolkit like Dr. McCoy on Star Trek. The ThermoDock provides reliable and accurate measurement of body temperature with non-contact infrared technology and plugs into an iPhone®, iPod touch® or iPad® — at a safe distance from flu germs, grumpy children, and steaming coffee mugs. Although a certified medical device and typically pointed at a forehead, this gadget can also be used to check the ambient temperature of a room or the great outdoors and has a memory for storing multiple user profiles. The ThermoDock works with the free VitaDock® app to track data and the hardware component costs less than $100.

Hospital Data Centers Straining to Keep Up With New Demands

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The hospital data center — once an onerous operational cost center — is now a critical component in delivering quality patient care, ensuring regulatory compliance, and enabling collaboration among caregivers. Hospital networks today support everything from traditional accounting to highly advanced remote surgery and diagnostic procedures using telemedicine. As use of digital imaging increases logarithmically so does the need to store more and more information — and in a wider variety of formats — that must be accessible in real time. Historically, stakeholder groups for data center projects consisted of information technology, facilities management, and security staff. Today, active participants may include the Chief Medical Officer, Chief Information Officer, compliance managers, sustainability managers, risk management staff, and a variety of physicians and other caregivers.

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RFID Gaining Momentum in Hospitals

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Hospitals are increasingly using radiofrequency identification (RFID) technology to optimize equipment and supply management, improve patient flow, streamline hospital operations, and improve patient safety. RFID uses radio waves to automatically identify and track the movement of items or people. The basic hardware includes an RFID tag (consisting of a microchip with an antenna) and a reader or receiver. RFID can be either passive or active. With passive RFID, the small RFID tags must be within a close range of a reader — making it a good choice for inventory management. Active RFID tags transmit at higher power levels and have wider ranges with an extended battery life. Transmitting a constant signal, they can provide continuous tracking of people or items that move frequently and over large distances throughout the hospital.

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Virtual NICU Being Developed in Southern California

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Virtual medicine allows patients to receive specialized care even when they are in remote locations far from medical experts and care specialists. It may eliminate the need to transfer a highly fragile infant from one hospital to another and allow high-quality care to be made available to infants in rural or remote locations — particularly given the national shortage of neonatologists. Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles and the Center of Fetal and Neonatal Medicine are developing and implementing a virtual neonatal intensive care unit (vNICU) structure to initially link two hospital sites. The long-term goal is to create a network of hospital NICUs across Southern California connected via telemedicine.

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