The project’s main goal is to design a low-cost contactless IoT (Internet of Things) edge device for real-time vital signs monitoring, using a set of sensors that collect patients’ cardio-pulmonary rates and body temperature readings. The data collected by the system will be processed locally to provide a diagnosis, but also sent to a centralized platform where Artificial Intelligence algorithms will be able to detect the existence of specific diseases early on.
In view of the current pandemic, it becomes imperative to have systems in place to monitor patients safely and continuously, in order to act quickly and contain the spread of the disease. In this sense, CoViS may prove especially helpful in the detection and prediction of clinical complications which affect high-risk groups, particularly the elderly population.
The use of non-contact techniques, based on Doppler radar and infrared thermal images, is not only more comfortable for patients by eliminating the use of wires, but also allows health professionals to avoid permanent contact with patients who have these highly contagious diseases.
The device may be placed in hospitals, nursing homes and other care centers, above the beds where patients rest, allowing the continuous, non-invasive acquisition of data.
CoViS (Contactless Vital Signs Monitoring in Nursing Homes using a Multimodal Approach) will be led by Wavecom in cooperation with IT’s Radio Systems Group in Aveiro, Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa (ISEL) and Instituto Politécnico de Viana do Castelo (IPVC), thus bringing together a multidisciplinary team with strong expertise in electronics, telecommunications and information technologies.
Ultimately, the team’s goal is to turn CoViS into a Wavecom product, which will enter the company’s lineup of IoT solutions.
Photo credit: Wavecom.pt