EH 6/2014

AN EVENT AN orgANisATioN salons-sante-autonomie.com To exhibit please call +33 1 73 28 72 15 J O I N U S 19-21 MAY 2015 PARIS EXPO - PORTE DE VERSAILLES EquipmEnt,solutions & stratEgiEs for the opEration & transformation of hEalth EstablishmEnts MEET ThE FREnch hOSPITAL kEyPLAyERS In PARIS! www.european-hospital.com 9HIGHLIGHTS & PRODUCTS Despite the hype, this technol- ogy is still only at the gateway towards mainstream healthcare Report: Cornelia Wels-Maug Wrist-watches, wrist and arm bands, tags, finger rings, clips, smart glass- es, shoes, insoles, smart patches (as thermometers), sensors woven into fabrics for T-shirts and socks and, of course, implantable devices as well as ingested pills were displayed by 23 exhibitors in the Wearable Technologies Show at Medica this year. Among physiological, biochemi- cal and motion sensing technologies there was even an entire laboratory solution for home monitoring, with Fraunhofer Institute of Technology demonstrating how patient tracking can be implemented. This platform, developed and tested by researchers at Fraunhofer FIT, with the Berlin- based Charité hospital, T-Systems and other international partners, uses non-invasive sensors and other technology to sample blood and determine specific markers in blood, aiming to monitor cardiac diseases among the elderly at home. Wearable sensors to measure vital parameters can be connected to this platform, which collects the various sensors’ data for internet transmission to a patient’s caregiver for analysis. Should the data exceed or fall short Medica is a key event in the calendar, provided the opportunity to meet customers, distributors and suppli- ers from around the world who are all in Dusseldorf at the same time. Highlighting the intensity of the event and the potential business it can generate, this year DTR Medical took the largest team ever to Medica, even sharing a photo with National Health Service (NHS) expert com- mentator Roy Lilley who visited the stand during the show. New launches at Medica Regular visitors will have certain- ly noticed a difference this year. To coincide with Medica, the DTR Medical brand was given a new and fresh feel with extensive use of colour to differentiate the grow- ing range of specialities the com- The all-electric eMotio couch, the most efficient examination couch ever designed, should become the new assistant for general practition- ers and specialists. Promotal carried out the largest study ever conducted in medical furniture, with 200 doctors from six European countries. The final product, the result of three years development, allows the doctor to fully concentrate on the diagnosis, whilst gaining time and space. The patient benefits from increased comfort and lower stress for a more balanced exchange. To optimise a medical examina- tion, the eMotio couch offers numer- ous possibilities as standard. Gain in time and comfort thanks to: • Favourite positions with one press: two 100% configur- able exam positions, return to welcome position, couch/ chair positions • Fast, easy surrounding access • Clippable lamp and stirrups in only a few seconds, no need for clamps • Optional gynaecology posi- tion, with possibility to raise the pelvis up to 105 cm (41.34 Inch) http://www.promotal.com/en/ pany supplies. At the same time an upgraded and refreshed website now includes a new and improved product search functionality featur- ing alongside a new company Blog section highlighting recent news and new developments that will interest customers. New partners welcomed The recognition of the need for sin- gle-use instruments expands around the world a little more each year. At the core of this is the recognition that single-use instruments bring many benefits including savings for health providers, public or private, of Time, Life and Cost or ‘TLC’. The identification of this is the start point for any new distributor who sees the potential for mutual growth and development with DTR Medical. The latest edition of the TLC brochure will help new users find the market in their country. At Medica the team reported par- ticular interest from new partners in Canada, France, South Africa and Thailand and would like to thank all the visitors who came to the stand. www.dtrmedical.com of a particular threshold, caregivers can intervene if necessary. Using an app on his/her smartphone, the patient can read the measurements along with the clinician’s instructions. Yes, given diminishing healthcare resources, the prospect of caregiv- ing becoming more effective due to mobile sensors looks promising; yet their use − although much hyped by the ‘quantified self’ movement − is far from a familiar feature in healthcare institutions. ‘I’m still critical about the use of wearable sensors in healthcare, because the regular incorporation of sensor data into a clinical information system is not straightforward,’ cau- tions Markus Stein, Head of Patient Management at Ethianum, an almost fully digital clinic in Heidelberg. ‘The development of interfaces is complex and therefore expensive. ‘This is further complicated because there is no data standard for vendors of mobile sensors and service providers. As a result there are only proprietary interfaces that must be tailored to each healthcare provider, leading invariably to a cost explosion,’ he adds. In addition, there is the inherent risk that a battery-powered wear- able sensor runs out of energy while monitoring a patient. Are there any real uses of wearable sensors in medical care? Stein: ‘The use of digestible pills is probably an interesting case for wearable sensors; they are already used to gain insights into the gastro-intestinal tract.’ Other than this, there appear to be very few current uses. Researchers from the medical information sciences division at the University Hospitals of Geneva, Switzerland, work on wearable sen- sors to monitor chroni- cally ill patients. Team member Frederic Ehrler PhD: ‘Ageing and chronic diseases drive up healthcare costs. Self-monitoring might be an avenue to decrease the pressure on health professionals, but we need to merge the different sensors into an aggre- gated physiological sensors network to consolidate all gathered data to improve care. ‘In our project we use an Arduino platform, to which we connect ten different mobile sensors. This gives us a good starting point to identify problems associated with the inte- gration of multiple sensors. Lots of work went into solving the techni- cal problems and now we concen- trate on developing solutions for specific diseases. For this, we involve many stakeholders in the process to respond best to users’ needs.’ Antoine Widmer, University of Applied SciencesWestern Switzerland, Sierre, explains how the university is working with paramedics in Fribourg to develop an app which, combined with Google Glasses, enhances pre- hospital care by speeding up diagno- sis. ‘Because every minute counts, we presently test Google Glasses with paramedics who can collaborate in real-time with clinicians in the hospi- tal. Via the built-in camera the physi- cian can see and hear what a para- medic witnesses and can give precise medical guidance – on mediation, for example. Another plus is that this solution allows physicians to remain in hospital where they are needed most, but they can help multiple paramedic crews. This saves time and resources.’ Are there glitches in the system? Widmer: ‘The hardware needs improvement: battery life is not yet sufficient, nor is the internet connection stability.’ Paul Doherty, Vice-President of Sales at Shimmer, stressed in his Medica presentation: ‘Wearable tech- nology will be one of the most important decision support systems in the future of healthcare.’ However, before this can happen, industry standards must be defined to curb integration costs; viable business models are needed and a secure, smooth aggregation of diverse data sources needs to be in place. It will still take considerable time before wearable sensors become part of mainstream healthcare provision. Medica: Wearable sensors Medica success: DTR launches new lines for 2015 eMotio, the examination couch that reinvents the medical examination CourtesyofHES-SOValais-Wallis,Switzerland CourtesyofShimmer Shimmer3 is a wearable wireless sensor that provides superior data quality, adding value to the data collection process To exhibit please call +33173287215

EH 6/2014

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