Getinge, Semcon develop digital platform to reduce risk of infection during surgeries
Getinge has chosen to collaborate with Semcon in the development on new digital platform. “The project aims at helping health care facilities to reduce the number of health care associated infections that can occur during operations," says Jonas Andersson, Vice President Global Product Management, Infection Control at Getinge.
In Sweden, infections are the most common hospital injuries – a problem that is widespread even globally. According to an estimate by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, there are nearly nine million cases of healthcare associated infections in European hospital and long-term care each year.
"We know that one in ten people in hospital today ends up with a health care related infection. According to the research, there are many endogenous and exogenous parameters that affect, and in this project we want to be able to evaluate how the environment in the operating room affects," Andersson said.
“The digital platform that we are developing together with Getinge will help health care professionals to better track a number of endorse-based risk factors. Based on data from the platform, solutions can be developed to reduce the risk of infections in surgical environments. This in turn can contribute to less human suffering and reduced costs for health care," says Johan Kristensson, Team Manager and Business Manager at Semcon.
By using a number of sensors in an operating theatre, the digital platform can collect different types of data, which can both be viewed in real time and analyzed afterwards. This creates a better understanding of what is happening in the operating room and how to better work to reduce healthcare related infections.
A prototype will soon be tested in an operating room at a hospital. The project is based on a number of pre-studies that Semcon has done together with Getinge and in the project Semcon contributes with cutting-edge expertise in embedded, sensorics and UX.