BIOLOGIX

Covid-19: Internet of Things-based system detects worsening of clinical signs and allows referral of patients to hospital

An IoT-based system developed by the São Paulo startup Biologix to diagnose and monitor sleep apnea at home can help remotely monitor patients with suspected or mild Covid-19 symptoms and refer them to a hospital if they experience worsening signs clinical.
Made possible through a project supported by the PIPE / PAPPE Subvention Program, the technology will be tested by two private hospitals in São Paulo.
“Today there are several applications aimed at monitoring patients with suspected or mild symptoms of COVID-19, but based on subjective responses from the patient himself, and not on monitoring clinical signs as the system we developed allows to do”,
tells Agência Fapesp Tácito Mistrorigo de Almeida, CEO of Biologix.
The system consists of a portable and wireless sensor. When placed on the tip of the index finger, the device captures the patient's oxygen saturation and heart rate data.
Data is collected in real time by a free mobile application, available on Android and IOS platforms. The program sends the information to the cloud and automatically to the control panel of the medical team that is monitoring the patient.
When observing through the system a drop in oxygen saturation - which is one of the main indicators of the worsening of COVID-19 and which also occurs in apnea, in which there are respiratory stops associated with a drop in the level of oxygen in the blood -, the medical team contacts the patient or his companion.
If, in addition to the drop in oxygen saturation and heart rate, the patient or his companion reports fever, increased difficulty in breathing, cough and fatigue - which are the main symptoms of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus infection -, they are advised to follow quickly to a hospital.
“The system makes it possible to refer patients to the hospital at the right time and, thus, reduce the risk of contagion through interaction with other people and protect mainly health professionals”, says Almeida.
In addition to hospitals, the technology can be used by healthcare operators and medical plans to monitor not only patients with suspected COVID-19 or mild symptoms, but also to monitor the elderly and people who are at risk for severity of the disease.
"The system can also be used in the hospitals themselves, to monitor patients with less severity in nursing beds and keep the intensive care units (ICUs) available for the most critical cases," says Almeida.

Source: Biologix/Disclosure