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| Research Projects |
- Computer-Assisted Drug Management & Screening Systems
Approximately one-third of all independently living elderly people are
not compliant with their drug therapy. This lack of medication
management results either in undermedication or overmedication, causing
unnecessary and often serious health risks.
So far care schemes and retrospective assessment procedures have been
the only applicable solution to tackle this problem, but with the
increasing aging of the population and cost constraints in the health
sector other more (cost-) effective methods must be introduced.
We conduct ongoing research into computer-assisted screening and
management services that allows health care providers and drug-treated
individuals to tackle this issue.
- Chronic Pain Analysis of a Person with Spinal Cord Injury
The basis of this research is to evaluate the contributors/alleviators
to the intensity of pain in a chronic pain sufferer during everyday
living. By monitoring the routine movements, measuring the speed,
distance and time that a everyday task takes and comparing it on a day
to day basis with the additional information inputted by the
participant, regarding the* *type and intensity of* *pain felt at the
time of measured events, valuable data can be gathered and assessed to
see if environmental changes can be made to alleviate in any way, the
intensity of pain and improve quality of life.
- Enhanced Vital Sign Observation and Recording using Wirelwss Sensors (VISOR)
The VISOR system provides a scalable wireless sensor architecture that provides for the needs of a mobile patient population in either a standard hospital ward structure or in step-down facility either adjacent to, or networked to a conventional hospital. The VISOR system is deployed in either a single ward or multiple ward environment. It collects patient’s data in real-time and sends it to a Central Server for data archival. The real-time data then gets sent to a Client Application, which is used by the hospital medical staff to keep track of the patient’s readings.
The system features a number of different types of sensors. One of the sensors is an oximeter, which determines a patient’s heart rate and blood-oxygen saturation levels. A second supported sensor is a chest expansion strap, which determines a patient’s respiration effort. Another sensor is a snoring sensor, used to detect if a patient is snoring. The ECG sensor is used to retrieve the relevant data for heart disease detection. The Temperature sensor will measure the room temperature and patient temperature. The Legacy Medical interface connects to existing medical devices in the hospital to retrieve BioData.
- Biosense
The project aims to develop a wireless PulseOximeter, which can be used on ambulatory patients in hospital environments. It allows the patient to be continuously monitored even as they move around, without having to be attached to large or cumbersome machines. The patient’s data is collected in real-time and sent to a central server, where it is archived. This data can then be sent to a client application on a client PC, which can be used by medical staff to keep track of patient’s sensor readings.
Part of the requirements of the project is to develop a device that is not only lightweight, portable and has a low power consumption, but also to develop one that can support different types of existing sensors. Therefore, not only does the device provide support for Pulse Oximetry, it also provides support for a Respiration Effort system, and a Snoring Sensor, both of which can be used in the diagnosing of Sleep Apnea in patients.
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