Globally the healthcare industry has reached a critical stage in which the ratio of healthcare professionals to the population is growing larger. In the US the implementation of the Affordable Health Care Act will introduce millions of new consumers, further stressing a system that is already operating beyond capacity. Until the growing challenges of workforce capacity are met, healthcare organizations have to use any viable resource to improve the situation. The industry as a whole is introducing new technologies in order to manage the assets more efficiently and provide quality care with the resources they have available to them. One way of capitalizing on the shortage of healthcare workers is by using video technology.
A new nonintrusive video camera and analytics platform to monitor medical conditions introduced by Xerox is being researched at hospitals in India and New York. This technology provides healthcare workers a way in which they can observe patients with chronic illnesses such as cardiovascular and respiratory diseases that require continuous monitoring.
Whether the patient is in the hospital or in a remote location the manpower required to provide care for these individuals is very costly. The new Xerox technology uses live video cameras and data analytics without wires, discomfort or risk of infection to the patient. By converting the data collected by the cameras to vital signs, the patented software algorithm is able to document small changes that are imperceptible to the human eye and calculate a heart rate. This also includes scanning the skin of the patient from a distance and eliminating the need to have sensors attached to the patient.
When this technology is perfected it will be possible to diagnose and monitor patients in remote locations where healthcare service is limited. The services of specialists that are not available in a particular community can be accessed no matter where they are and diagnoset patients that would otherwise go without the proper care.
The research is a collaboration between the Xerox Innovation Group conducted in India by Xerox Research Centre India (XRCI) and Xerox Research Center Webster (XRCW) in New York. The research is being conducted at the Manipal University Hospital in Manipal, India and the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York.
Edited by
Cassandra Tucker
