"Just like in the spring, when we came up with the RP-95 3D printed protective half mask, we now in the second wave of COVID-19 had been looking for clever technologies to help healthcare professionals. This was the main motive for the creation of the On-line Bed system, ”describes Vít Dočkal, head of the CIIRC CTU Project Office and also the founder of TRIX Connections.
The On-line Bed system is built on the Microsoft Azure platform and works as a web service that receives up-to-date data on the occupancy of individual hospital beds. It can connect data in real time not only from hospitals, but also from other inpatient care providers, which can be activated in the event of a critical shortage. In cooperation with the College of Mining - Technical University of Ostrava (VŠB-TUO), a data structure was created within the pilot for the University Hospital Ostrava, corresponding to its 21 departments. A test of the connection between the hospital and the system was performed on 2 November, 2020, confirming that the system is ready to receive and process this data. By analogy, it is possible to create a structure for all hospitals in the Moravian-Silesian Region and further extend it to all regions in the Czech Republic.
"The On-line Bed system is ready to be connected to various platforms used by individual hospitals to maximize the effectiveness of existing solutions," says Petr Kadera on behalf of the development team. "Now, of course, it depends on whether other hospitals and regions are involved in the system to provide centralized and up-to-date information."
„Systém Lůžka On-line je připraven na napojení na různé platformy, které využívají jednotlivé nemocnice tak, aby maximalizoval efektivitu již existujících řešení,” říká Petr Kadera za vývojový tým. „Nyní samozřejmě záleží na tom, zda se do systému zapojí i další nemocnice a kraje, aby mohl poskytovat centralizované a aktuální informace.”
The online monitoring can monitor the occupancy of several categories of beds, from specialized and fully equipped for the most difficult patients (ARO, ICU), as well as standard hospital beds, to temporary beds set up to deal with crisis situations outside hospital facilities. It also monitors other specific parameters, such as lung scanners equipment, oxygen administration equipment, etc.
“VŠB-TUO was involved almost immediately after the first phone call with Dr. Dočkal from CIIRC followed by an immediate visit of their team in Ostrava, ”describes the beginning of cooperation on this project Petr Šimoník, Vice-Dean for Cooperation with Industry from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Informatics VŠB-TUO. "It simply came to our notice then. We have created a team of doctoral students in the field of biomedical engineering who have knowledge of the hospital environment and equipment and are able to lead our group in implementing the system and coordinate activities especially between hospital IT departments, regional crisis staff and CIIRC development, ”continues Šimoník.
The VŠB-TUO team is composed of students and teachers provided the service of top programmers. Thanks to this, it was possible to introduce bed monitoring in a matter of hours really without the need for hospitals to have their own specialists. Petr Šimoník adds: “In the case of the willingness of hospitals, we are able to cover the entire region with the system in units of days. We deliberately built a strongly erudite team, the composition of which can be copied in other regions. From our point of view, we are perfectly aligned with CIIRC and ready to integrate the system and pass on knowledge to other teams in the Czech Republic. ”
"This example of cooperation between research and academic institutions, such as CIIRC CTU and VŠB-TUO, to help those who need it, again shows how it is possible to very quickly transfer innovative ideas into practice and what the innovation process should look like," says Ondřej Velek, Director of the Czech Institute of Informatics, Robotics and Cybernetics, CTU.
The “Beds On-line” system was jointly developed by CIIRC ČVUT and TRIX Connections and is also offered on a non-commercial basis as a humanitarian project to help technical academic disciplines in the Czech healthcare system. The application's data infrastructure is based on a solution from Microsoft, which also provided its products non-commercially. The implementation process of the entire project is being documented from the beginning and is going to be the first reporting output of the ATLAS21.cz platform, which was created on this occasion at CIIRC CTU in order to inform about the positive impacts of Czech technological solutions during the pandemic.
"The On-line Bed System is part of the necessary technologies discussed by the Council for Strategic Technologies according to the resolution of the Government of the Czech Republic," confirms Robin Čumpelík, Coordinator of the Czech Republic's Innovation Strategy and adds: " On-line beds are part of the concept of system solutions for managing the current crisis in cooperation with CIIRC CTU, Masaryk University, VŠB-TUO and Charles University. ” It was Charles University in the spring of 2020 that prepared the ARDS Network project. This is another necessary project that enables systemic training of medical staff and the introduction of intensive care technologies on the example of the use of ventilators and lung scanners.
Thanks to donors and partners, without whom it would not be possible to implement the project in its pilot phase:
VŠB-TUO
Moravian Silesian region
T SERVIS, s.r.o.
Microsoft
Audiovizuální centrum studentů ČVUT
Ing. Jan Dokulil & Slávka Dokulilová, Jihlava
Aleš Kobylík a Technodat, CAE-systémy, s.r.o.
Ladislav Košárek
Atlas 21 is an emerging open platform for Czech technologies and actions that help better manage the crisis associated with the pandemic. It informs about the latest technological solutions, the innovative potential of Czech companies and the academic sphere, and about society-wide activities that help in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. It brings reports, articles, live broadcasts and interviews with leading experts, artists and academics. We present top Czech technologies that help the company. In addition to practical information on crisis management, ATLAS 21 aims to share news about the abilities of the Czech people, joy, respect, inspiration and hope - not only in times of pandemic. ATLAS 21 is a volunteer project that depends on the support of donors - be it legal or natural persons.
