As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, healthcare workers continue to risk their lives to treat patients and COVID-19 wards continue to stay full. In an effort to improve this situation, data analytics company SDG group has announced a new smartphone application called Docdot to help doctors triage and monitor COVID-19 patients remotely.
Front-line healthcare workers are seriously at risk while treating communicable diseases due to their proximity with patients. This has been significantly highlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is especially concerning since these healthcare providers are the driving force behind the fight against the disease. Technology, such as smartphones, can be a huge asset in this case.
A new Smartphone Application
As the number of smartphone users increases, their interface becomes more cutting-edge. Moreover, this gives application developers the ability to create new and innovative apps. The medical industry has also benefitted from this technology. Indeed, apps like easy-to-access pharmaceutical guides and patient record organizers greatly benefit medical professionals. Accordingly, as in-person communication becomes difficult, use of these apps continues to increase.
Through their new app Docdot, the SDG group aims to help doctors triage COVID-19 positive patients. They can also monitor their symptoms remotely.
“Under the current system, diagnosing, monitoring, and managing COVID-19 is contributing to its spread through contact. At present, individuals quarantined with suspected COVID-19 can record just one of the vital signs required to indicate the presence and progress of the virus, which is body temperature. The others – respiration, oxygen saturation, heart rate, and HRV – are usually recorded by health professionals, potentially in densely populated locations and in close proximity to the patient. This puts primary care, community care, and hospital workflows under immense pressure, places health workers and patients at an elevated risk, and contributes to the spread of the virus.”
HEATHER BEARDMORE, CEO, SDG GROUP UK
“Docdot gives health workers the information they need to triage patients at a safe distance or in quarantine, preventing unnecessary visits to GP surgeries, triage stations and hospitals, and reducing the risk of exposure among health workers and vulnerable patients. This maximizes the availability of healthcare resources for those who need them most, and contributes to slowing the spread of the virus.”
How does Docdot work?
Docdot uses facial recognition technology on smartphone cameras to detect a patient’s vital signs and process them using artificial intelligence. This recognition and processing technology (photoplethysmography was developed by Binah.ai. It enables smartphone cameras to use the light reflected by blood vessels under the skin to detect and record changes in the volume of blood flowing in blood vessels under the skin(that occur due to variations in respiration, blood pressure, etc).
The app can record accurate measurements for :
- Heart Rate (BPM),
- Oxygen Saturation (Sp02),
- Respiration (rpm),
- Heart Rate Variability (HRV),
- Stress (Beasky’s and US/European Index)
These measurements, coupled with a few targeted questions, can help doctors diagnose and monitor COVID-19 positive patients through tele-visits.
The data gathered by Docdot is also available on cloud storage. Epidemiologists can use it to predict the spread of COVID-19.
Source: SDG group
https://www.sdggroup.com/en-US/discover-potential-ai-driven-solutions
