Maltese doctors devise €1.5 million remote patient warning system

Nursing staff can monitor patients’ vital functions without being physically at their bedside, thanks to a €1.5 million intelligent warning system devised by the University of Malta and Italian universities.

The MEDIWARN project is a collaboration between the University of Catania’s Faculty of Engineering, the University of Malta’s Faculty of Medicine, and Azienda Ospedaliero - Universitaria Policlinico ‘G. Rodolico-San Marco’ in Catania.

The improved warning system includes the use of advanced fuzzy logic to predict when a patient would be about to deteriorate clinically.

The system then alerts nurses and doctors to intervene at an earlier stage, with a higher chance of success of treating a patient and prevent potentially harmful events.

With the increase in the occupancy rate of the beds, it is inevitable to have a decline in the standard of care unless there is adjustment of thow the nursing staff care for each patient.

Physicians in Malta and Catania developed this system together with engineers to interpret clinical parameters and give a score that shows the likelihood of a harmful event. The system uses the vital parameters of patients through the use of a peripheral sensory system, as a computer assigned to the ward, equipped with artificial intelligence, will provide a picture of the evolution of the patient’s clinical status.

The information is then sent to tablets in the possession of medical personnel.

Analysis of the innovative monitoring system’s trials were said to be promising.

“Through the MEDIWARN project, the health institutions will surely benefit from better management of medical and nursing staff with a direct impact on the quality of service provided to patients,” University of Malta rector Prof. Alfred J. Vella said. “I am certain that this research will improve the quality that deems necessary for the care of those hospitalised patients who need continuous monitoring and adequate care. The University of Malta will keep its doors open for opportunities , like this, to contribute to a better future in the health industry.”

Dr Stephen Sciberras, who is part of the research team, said the project aimed to fill a void in standard care, that of trying to foresee which patients will deteriorate. “We are now at the end of this project having learnt much more than what we anticipated.”

Dr Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi, parliamentary secretary for European funds said the project, funded by the European Regional Development Fund, will be concluded by end-2021.