At the end of January, MobiHealthNews reported that Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center (SPHCC), was using California-based connected health startup VivaLNK’s continuous temperature sensor to monitor COVID-19 patients, which reduces the risks of caregivers being exposed to the virus.
SPHCC recently announced that they are using Bluetooth IoT products and solutions provider Cassia Network’s gateways, together with VivaLNK’s medical wearable sensors to monitor COVID-19 patients.
HOW IT WORKS
VivaLNK's body temperature sensors are applied directly to the patient to provide continuous, real-time monitoring of any changes in body temperature. Cassia's gateways are being used to receive real-time patient data from the sensors and wirelessly transmit this data to a nurse's station for continuous monitoring.
Cassia's IoT Access Controller, a powerful network management tool is being used by medical staff to monitor patients and to provide a holistic view of their vitals in real-time. Cassia's gateways allow up to 40 Bluetooth Low Energy devices to be paired and connected simultaneously while providing the long-range connectivity needed to cover multiple rooms in the SPHCC.
The SPHCC along with seven other hospitals throughout China are currently using Cassia's gateways with additional deployments in other medical centers in the near future.
THE LARGER TREND
SPHCC has been applying advanced tech to help in the diagnosis and monitoring of COVID-19 patients. It has also worked with Yitu Healthcare, a Shanghai-based AI startup, to co-develop the AI-powered Intelligent Evaluation System of Chest CT for COVID-19, MobiHealthNews reported.
China has seen a dramatic drop in confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 31 new cases and 4 deaths as of 3 April, according to an update by China’s National Health Commission.
A 2017 Aruba study indicated that 73 percent of healthcare organizations use IoT for monitoring and maintenance, which was ranked as the number one IoT use by 42 percent of executives – higher than all other industry sectors. This highlights the importance of IoT-driven patient monitoring in healthcare. Given the highly contagious nature of the coronavirus, IoT tech and telehealth, which facilitates remote monitoring and consultation, has really come into the fold.
ON THE RECORD
"Cassia is excited to be working with VivaLNK to help fight the spread of infectious diseases such as COVID-19 as well as helping save lives," said Felix Zhao, CEO of Cassia Networks. "With the combination of VivaLNK's continuous health monitoring solutions, Cassia's Bluetooth gateways and IoT Access Controller, we can better equip clinical centers and medical staff worldwide with the critical tools they need to address this, and future pandemics."
"The concept of remote patient monitoring using wireless medical wearables can extend into a clinical environment where there is a need to minimize patient contact and for a more flexible deployment model," said Jiang Li, CEO of VivaLNK. "The combination of VivaLNK sensors and Cassia's gateways enables medical centers to rapidly deploy patient monitoring solutions not only in China but worldwide."
