USAID Grant Funds Wireless Monitoring of Ebola Patients

 

Scripps Translational Science Institute in San Diego is leading a consortium to develop a program through which wearable, wireless health sensors, a wireless vital signs monitoring platform and advanced analytics technology will be tested in a new approach to treat Ebola.

Funded by a grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development, the program is aimed at improving health outcomes for Ebola patients, increasing the safety of healthcare workers and reducing the risk of spreading the virus to others. Dubbed STAMP2—short for Sensor Technology and Analytics to Monitor, Predict and Protect Ebola Patients—it will test the effectiveness of wireless technology to monitor and analyze vital signs of patients either suspected or confirmed to be infected with the Ebola virus.

The hope is that continuous monitoring of vital signs, coupled analytics, can lead to much earlier warning and with it, earlier intervention. In addition to Scripps Translational Science Institute, wireless vital signs monitor developer Sotera Wireless, Inc., wireless health sensor developer Rhythm Diagnostic Systems, and personalized predictive analytics technology company PhysIQ will all collaborate on the program. 

By integrating the ViSi Mobile System from Sotera Wireless and a Band Aid-type sensor—the MultiSense device from Rhythm Diagnostic Systems—into systems of care, patients will be able to be monitored at all times, so that changes in their condition can be recognized sooner, and without needless exposure to healthcare workers. Data from the monitors will be transmitted wirelessly to a personalized physiology analytics platform developed by physIQ, which will use advanced machine learning algorithms to detect subtle changes in a patient’s physiological profile over time, compared to the patient’s physiological baseline

“The new approach will provide unprecedented visibility into a patient’s physiology that we believe will be invaluable in improving care in minimizing risk of exposure during an Ebola virus outbreak,” said Steven Steinhubl, M.D., director of digital medicine at Scripps Health, in a written statement. “This will open the door to being able to identify warning signs very early on, when potentially lifesaving care can be provided.”