CHF 1.2 million for digital health-powered patient care and incident prevention
Today an Innosuisse project to strengthen hospital care teams and doctors is launched. Digital health startup QUMEA (‘maximum prevention – minimum intrusiveness’) will work with partners ARTORG Center for Biomedical Engineering Research at the University of Bern and the Bern University of Applied Sciences (BFH) to prevent patient incidents – such as falls – at source. Early-stage detection of cognitive changes and examination of gait parameters are analyzed, targeting patient safety and efficacy of care. A large-scale study will assess the effectiveness of the solutions in different patient groups and settings. The project is funded by an Innosuisse grant of CHF 1.2 million under the impulse program Swiss Innovation Power.
The collaboration is further supported by industry partners at University Hospital Felix Platter Basel, the Universitäre Psychiatrische Dienste (UPD) Bern and Tertianum, the leading Swiss service provider for elderly care. «To provide the best possible care, our nursing staff must have on hand a detailed yet concise picture of the current state of their residents as well as their progression over time. We are extremely happy to participate in this project and deploy the QUMEA solution together with our clients» says Dr. Luca Stäger, CEO of Tertianum.
The project aims at extracting indicators linked to gait, mobility and cognitive impairment of individuals by performing real-time analysis of continuous, yet anonymous motion and movement data acquired by the high-precision 3D radar sensor of QUMEA. These indicators will be harnessed by the QUMEA Care solution and provide care teams and doctors in real-time with better insights into patient behavior and emotional state. Enabling care teams and doctors to adapt and improve care and treatment by preventive measures will increase patient safety together with the efficacy of care.
«The research partners we could win to collaborate with in this project are the perfect match for the goals we set out to achieve. The consortium combines technology experts in gerontechnology, biomedical engineering and rehabilitation with experienced care teams and doctors, eager to embrace innovative solutions for timely intervention» says Dr. Christoph Barmet, Chief Product Officer at QUMEA.
This is the second time a QUMEA-led innovation project is receiving substantial research funding from the Swiss Innovation Agency Innosuisse which has been supporting QUMEA since its inception, including coaching and mentoring programs. QUMEA CEO Cyrill Gyger: «We are very grateful for the support that Innosuisse is providing to the Swiss digital health community. Data-driven solutions that are backing care teams and facilitating prevention are a core ingredient of sustainable healthcare. At QUMEA we are dedicated to work out winning solutions for that purpose.»
