Medical electronics are rapidly transforming healthcare

'A lot is possible, but is everything also desirable?'

Medical technologies are rapidly innovating healthcare. Dr. Erik Gelderblom, clinical physicist at the Radboud University Medical Center in Nijmegen, is partly responsible for the selection, implementation and development of medical technologies within the hospital. He will talk about the Medical Electronics event on February 7 in Leusden expectations and needs from a hospital perspective.

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A good example of an innovative technology that has a huge impact impact has its wearable monitors in healthcare. Gelderblom: “Within Radboud, 120 hospital beds are connected to portable monitors that measure a patient's vital parameters 24 hours a day. Previously, this only happened three times a day, as is still the standard in many hospitals. By continuously monitoring, we can quickly catch deterioration and reduce the number of unplanned ICU admissions. It saves healthcare costs and prevents worse suffering for the patient. The latter is of course the most important. But there are also challenges, especially around the reliability of the measurements. For example, there is still no portable sensor available with which you can accurately continuously measure a patient's core temperature or blood pressure. There is a need for that.”

Improving care with technology

In addition to wearable electronics, hospitals use a wide range of medical technologies to improve patient care, according to Gelderblom. Artificial intelligence, robotics, 3D printers and sensors: every healthcare professional uses them to a greater or lesser extent. Sometimes technologies are combined. Gelderblom mentions a wearable sensor as an example: “Fall prevention is an important theme in healthcare. We have a relatively large number of older patients who are often vulnerable and sometimes confused. These patients are at greater risk for falls. This often leads to complications and, in the worst cases, even premature death. We are doing everything we can to prevent this.”

Gelderblom continues: “We are currently using a Daza Optiscan that we place on the ground and which emits a signal when someone moves through the optical field. That works fine in itself, the device is robust and does what it is supposed to do, but actually you are already too late when the signal sounds. If a patient is in danger of falling, you must be there immediately. We would ideally like a fall prevention sensor. We investigated whether a camera in the ceiling could be used for this, but the underlying AI algorithm was not yet good enough for this. Wearable sensors may offer a solution. A lot of wearables are equipped with accelerometers and thus measure all movements of a patient. We need to further investigate this area of technology for robustness and the possibility of fall prevention instead of just detection. ”

Multiple options

“It is advisable to keep several technological options open,” Gelderblom explains. “There are patients who have a wearable or sensor, for physical or psychological reasons, so you should always have an external fall detection system available as an alternative.” The physicist believes it is important that hospital equipment is robust, repairable and durable. “Interoperability and maintainability are strict requirements that we impose on medical electronics. Suppose something simple breaks or a battery needs to be replaced, then we want to do that ourselves without help from external parties. Cost considerations play a role in this, because hospitals also have to deal with increased energy prices and inflation. But the main argument is sustainability. We notice that manufacturers sometimes design devices in such a way that if a small part breaks, a much larger part must be replaced. This almost forces you to replace the entire device. I understand that, from their point of view, but it is not environmentally friendly and sustainable. It is a shame to throw away a device that can still be easily repaired.”

Ethics
“As a hospital, we are happy with modular equipment and electronics,” says Gelderblom. “We also try to reuse devices where possible. So we look at three aspects when purchasing medical equipment: the functionality of the device itself, the costs and the sustainability. This also includes management.” Ethics also ultimately play a role in the development and purchase of medical electronics. Gelderblom: “The more technology, the more care we can provide. But how far do you go? This is also a question that needs to be answered when talking about medical devices. A lot is possible from a technical point of view, but is everything also desirable?

Attend a lecture?
Erik Gelderblom is like plenary speaker present during the Medical Electronics event on February 7 in Leusden. You can attend his presentation for free, but we do request that you register in advance via the website.