Bedside technologies help save lives in ICUs

The combination of data collection with artificial intelligence analysis streamlines hospital processes and ensures greater agility in healthcare, especially in severe cases requiring admission to intensive care units (ICUs).

Algorithms developed and refined with machine learning are used to issue alerts to medical teams, enabling faster and more effective interventions.

An experience in this regard is being improved at the Heart Institute (InCor) of the Hospital das Clínicas of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of São Paulo (HC/FMUSP). The institution's respiratory ICU uses parameters such as oxygenation, heart and respiratory rates, as well as mechanical ventilation data to anticipate complications and guide actions to avoid negative outcomes.

Real-time monitoring at the bedside at InCor is part of a broader project of the hospital complex, the Connected ICU, which involves other sectors, including infectious diseases and clinical emergencies.

PREVENTING SEPSIS AND NEUROLOGICAL SEQUELAE

In operation since 2016, an artificial intelligence platform named Laura robot, developed by the Laura Fressatto Institute in Curitiba (PR), indicates when there is a risk of a patient's condition in the ICU progressing to sepsis, with generalized infection and inflammation.

The robot is connected to each individual's electronic medical record, with continuous access to information such as vital signs and test results. In the face of any pattern change, the machine emits signals, facilitating interventions to improve the patient's prognosis.

Awarded in 2019, the innovation is present in dozens of hospitals across Brazil. According to its creators, it is responsible for reducing clinical deterioration response time by up to 90% and overall mortality rates by up to 25%.

One of the winners of the 2023 VEJA SAÚDE Oncoclínicas Medical Innovation Award developed an ecosystem to prevent neurological sequelae in at-risk newborns. The solution conceived by PBSF (Protecting Brains and Saving Futures) is a brain monitoring network that involves data collection, transmission, and analysis.

The artificial intelligence of the mechanism considers indicators such as heart rate, oxygen saturation, and electroencephalogram data to anticipate the risk of seizures, clinical deterioration, and brain injury. Interpretation is performed remotely by a specialized team, providing bedside professionals with the necessary support to intervene as early as possible.

Projects using artificial intelligence to digitally transform the healthcare sector are under review by the jury of the 2024 edition of the VEJA SAÚDE Oncoclínicas Medical Innovation Award, which will conclude in September, when the winners will be announced. Stay tuned for updates here.