Wearable Integrated Technology for Health Monitoring of Hospitalized Patients in the Euregio Meuse-Rhine

Problem statement – In the hospitals, patients have to be hooked up to many devices in order to monitor vital parameters such as temperature, heart rate, O2 saturation… In addition, nurses have to perform a lot of manipulations to collect and record data in the Electronic Medical Record (EMR), preventing them to really taking care of the patients. The challenge addressed by this project is to bring back the patient at the heart of the health care system, and guarantee an optimal follow up of the patient during his hospitalization. This will be achieved by simplifying the collection, integration and processing of the monitoring data.

Project goal – The objective of the project is the creation of a wearable multi sensor monitoring device that is comfortable for the hospitalized patients and compatible with the IT infrastructure of the different hospitals of the Euregio Meuse-Rhine.

The monitoring device that will be developed will record medical data and analyse it in order to help the medical team to take the most adequate decision for the patient. It will also be able to inform of risk situation via alarms. The objective is to get a monitoring device validated/demonstrated in relevant environment, in this case the  hospital environment and take into account the reality of patients and nurses. The hospitals will therefore play a crucial role in the specifications of the monitoring device, its validation and its integration into their infrastructure.

Keywords – in-hospital patient monitoring – sensor development & validation – integration of data into the hospital EMR

Partners – The participation of Hasselt University in this project is made possible by the financial support of the INTERREG V-A Euregio Meuse-Rhine program and the Province of Limburg.

Website – More information can be found on the official WearIT4Health website